Vol. 2, No. 3, March 2023
The Atlanta Inter-Orthodox Parish Association (AIOPA) is a team of clergy and laity representatives from different canonical Orthodox parishes around the Atlanta area. The goal of AIOPA is to foster connections among different parishes and jurisdictions, to develop a strong sense of one local Orthodox Christian Family and, as such, to contribute to the unity of the Orthodox Church in the United States of America as defined by the Assembly of Bishops. AIOPA is a committee of the Atlanta Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood (AOCB), which seeks to bring people the knowledge of the Orthodox Church and to assist those throughout the city of Atlanta who are in need. Both AOCB and AIOPA use www.atlocb.org for communication.
Letter from Fr. Anthony Salzman
St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church
A Fast Time
If you really want to shake things up, follow the Lenten Fast with more zeal than you did last year.
Sometimes we get stuck in a rut, and the road to knowledge of God and experience of God, is not one we can exhaust in this life time or eternity. In the book “The Way of the Pilgrim”, the pilgrim is searching for someone to teach him how to pray continuously. It is a fascinating story of how he begins to discover how to do this and what it does to his spiritual life, his love and knowledge of God, and how he deals with everyone he encounters.
He tells the story in such a way as to make you believe that this is for everyone; that anyone can undertake this journey, and should, otherwise what are we doing with our life?
What we notice during this pursuit is that his material well-being, food, clothing shelter, are barely given a second thought. He survives on a crust of bread most of the time, so involved is he in his pursuit of studying the Bible, the Philokalia and saying the Jesus prayer.
It is this example of extreme devotion and priority that makes me look forward to the simple fasting the church has proposed for the faithful. In comparison to what the Pilgrim eats, what we eat looks like an outright feast.
The important thing here isn’t the strictness or degree, the important thing is the “Focus”. Great Lent is really “Spa Time” for Orthodox Christians. We get to set aside everything and concentrate on our spiritual life. Who else gives us the permission, the opportunity to do this. More prayer services are offered. Food becomes very simple; just something to keep you alive, doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive.
You look for opportunities to give alms as that is one of the legs of the stool of Great Lent, prayer, fasting and alms giving. You are encouraged to read more, and by this establish new habits that can carry on after Lent. You have permission to ‘slow down’. We have had a 3-week period of preparation for Great Lent. And it is a special time for those who follow the Liturgical calendar. A week of ‘no fasting’, a week of normal fasting and a week of dairy every day, leading up to Forgiveness Sunday and Clean Monday. And then throughout Lent there are special services to look forward to that we only do one season throughout the year, Cannon of St. Andrew, Pre-Sanctified Liturgies, Akathist Hymn, and then Holy Week.
This is a period where we are given the means and the opportunity to ‘draw near to God’. Take it and see if Pascha isn’t brighter and more beautiful this year, and you aren’t in a better place and have a deeper connection and experience of God.
Blessed Lent,
Fr. Anthony
AIOPA updates
The monthly AIOPA meeting will be held on the last Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM on Zoom. Please plan on attending if you are in the workgroups!
The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America convened in Los Angeles, California from January 28-31st for its 12th Meeting. Thirty Hierarchs participated in the meeting chaired by Archbishop Elpidophoros. The final session of day one included a presentation from the two pilot cities – Atlanta and Akron – for the Assembly’s Inter-Parish Association program. Fr. Christos Mars delivered the AIOPA presentation for Atlanta. Both pilot regions expressed their gratitude to the Hierarchs for their support and the value of the program. Inter-Parish Associations bring together the clergy and laity from all the local, jurisdictional parishes. Their purpose is to get to know each other better and collaborate on both home and outreach projects which enhance their local communities. In turn, the ultimate goal is growth of the Orthodox Christian Church.
We would like to officially welcome Charles Glotzbach, from the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church, to the AIOPA family. Charles is replacing Natalia Saratsiotis who is now the Parish Council President of the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church.
The Hierarchs’ blessings, guidance and support are critical to maintaining the momentum for the AIOPA work. His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel of ROEA/OCA, gave his blessing to send the following link to "A Declaration for Orthodox Christian Unity in America". He was the first to sign the document and asks that you consider signing it and sharing it with your parish. We are looking forward to expanding and maintaining the direct dialog between parish representatives and their respective Hierarchs for all parishes participating in the AIOPA effort.
We have continued featuring our clergy in The Clergy Spotlights, sharing a little bit about where they came from, their journey in becoming a priest, hobbies and family. We now have six spotlights and are looking forward to receiving more from our clergy.
Past Events
On February 18, St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church celebrated its Nameday Feast with vespers and a casual reception outside with bonfires, Greek dancing, and a cookout dinner of grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. The celebration was attended by representatives from St. Philothea Greek Orthodox Church and the Annunciation Cathedral.
On February 25, Sts Raphael, Nicholas and Irene Greek Orthodox Church organized the Sts RNI Glendi.
Thank you for your continued support of AIOPA and stay tuned for future Pan-Orthodox events in the next edition of the Orthodox Chronicles!
“In His High Priestly Prayer to His Father, Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ prayed for His disciples, the members of the Church that He established … “that they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me” (John 17:21).”