Diocesan Office

His Grace's Schedule

Clergy Assignments

Upcoming Ordinations and Elevations

Deacon Paul Olson to the Holy Priesthood on Sunday, December 7, 2008, at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Los Angeles, California.

Subdeacon Maxime Najim to the Holy Diaconate on Sunday, December 7, 2008, at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Los Angeles, California.

Deacon Justin Havens to the Holy Priesthood on Sunday, December 14, 2008, at Ss. Peter and Paul Church in Salt Lake City, Utah.

January 3-4)

His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH Presides over the Annual Diocesan Delegates Meeting
October 22-24, 2004
Fairfield, California

On the weekend of October 22-24, 2004, the Delegates representing the various parishes and organizations, gathered at St. Timothy Church in Fairfield , California for the Annual Fall Delegates Meeting. This event marked the first gathering of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West.

On Friday, October 22, 2004 , the excitement filled the air as the delegates eagerly awaited the arrival of the newly Enthroned Bishop of Los Angeles and the West, His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH, to the church for Daily Vespers, which opened the weekend’s events. Upon his arrival, Sayidna was received into the Church and presided over the Vespers service. Following the service, Sayidna, spoke about the life of St. James, whose memory we celebrated that day. The attendees were then treated to a Lenten meal in the Parish hall.

On Saturday, October 23, 2004, the day’s events began with morning prayers and then the organizations held their meetings. The Fellowship of St. John the Divine had a very productive open discussion on how to retain the Young Adults and prevent them from leaving the Church after their High School years. The discussion also focused on creating a segue from Teen SOYO to the Fellowship.

The Teen SOYO meeting started off with ice breakers and executive reports, where each officer informed the delegates of what they have been doing while in office thus far. They also covered past events such as the special convention in Pittsburgh , youth month, Special Olympics awareness day, and also talked about the Youth Worker Fund. The new business we covered was the work being done on the Diocese SOYO website, the upcoming events, such as the winter retreat, the ski trip, the upcoming OYO trip and the desert deanery retreat, and they also discussed the festival themes and ways to participate. They then had a forum about ways to get the parish youth groups going, or more active and then adjourned the meeting.

In the Antiochian Women’s Meeting, Diocesan President Widad Terazi thanked all the ladies of our beloved churches on achieving the goal for the "funds for the Orphanages.” She reminded the ladies that when you finish one project, another project will come up. The new project for the Antiochian Woman across the Archdiocese is to raise $500,000 for the "Priest Retirement Fund." The woman were please to hear Sayidna announce that the coming year will be “The Year of The Youth". All our children need the help of our priests, parents and all the adults in our churches. This is because the society we are living in these days is full of temptation and corruption.

After a lunch break, the first General Assembly of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West was called to order by Michael Habib, Vice President of the Fellowship of St. John the Divine. Each of the organizational Presidents gave reports to the Assembly about their respective meetings. Sayidna addressed the Assembly and shared his vision for the future of this Diocese. Lew Malouf, Chairman of the Diocesan Conference Planning and Coordination Committee, discussed the upcoming conferences and held an open forum discussion on ways to improve the conferences. The meeting was concluded with prayer and adjournment.

Later that evening, Sayidna presided over Great Vespers at St. Timothy. At the conclusion of Vespers, the Very Reverend Father Joseph Purpura, Chairman of the Archdiocese Department of Youth Ministries, addressed the Delegates about the workings of his department and the importance of ministering to the youth in our Churches. The evening concluded with a barbeque dinner in the Parish Hall.

On Sunday, October 24, 2004 , the climax of the weekend was the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at St. Timothy. Following the beautiful Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, Sayidna presided over a one-year Trisagion Service for the Very Reverend Father Paul Romley of blessed memory and eternal repose. Fr. Paul fell asleep in the Lord during the Delegates Meeting gathering last year. May his memory be eternal.

The Diocese of Los Angeles and the West extends their heartfelt appreciation to the Reverend Father Silas Ruark, the Host Pastor, Mr. Michael Haskins, the Event Chairman, and all of the faithful of St. Timothy Church for their labor of love in hosting this gathering. May our Lord reward them abundantly for their efforts.

Friday Night Daily Vespers

Organizational Meetings

Saturday Night Great Vespers

Hierarchical Divine Liturgy

October 10-12, 2008

November 14-16, 2008

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