Arch. Gerasim overwhelmingly voted for as bishop of Dallas

(OCA) - One hundred and nine clergy and lay delegates representing parishes throughout the Orthodox Church in America’s Diocese of the South gathered at Christ the Saviour Cathedral here on Monday, February 16, 2015, for a special Assembly, during which Archimandrite Gerasim [Eliel] was nominated to fill the vacant See of Dallas and the South.

Archimandrite Gerasim [Eliel] received 81 votes on the first ballot—more than the required two-thirds majority—with the remainder of the votes divided between four other candidates. His name will be submitted to the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops for canonical election at their spring session in March 2015.

His Eminence, Archbishop Nikon, Locum Tenens, celebrated the opening Divine Liturgy and chaired the Assembly. He also will preside at the diocese’s Pastoral Conference, which will conclude on Thursday, February 19. Archpriest Dr. Steven Voytovich, Dean of Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA, will be the guest speaker.

Since September 2013, Archimandrite Gerasim has served as Rector of Saint Seraphim Cathedral, Dallas, TX. After his graduation from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary in 2012, for which he served as class valedictorian, he served for one year as Assistant Priest at Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral, Los Angeles, CA. From 2000 until 2009, he served as Abbot of Saint Herman of Alaska Monastery under the Serbian Orthodox Church. A detailed biographical sketch is available here (PDF).

Comments

  1. CampingFebruary 18, 2015 at 6:53 AM

    Who were the other candidates? I never see their names mentioned and I yet we are told Gerasim was "the most experienced of the five candidates." Well, who are the other four?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brantley HobbsFebruary 18, 2015 at 9:22 AM

    The other candidates were:

    Bp. Daniel (Brum), newly consecrated auxiliary for the Diocese of the West
    Bp. Ireneu, auxiliary for the Romanian Episcopate
    Archimandrite Alexander (Pihach), currently the rector of St. Catherine's in Moscow
    Fr. Calinic Berger, whom I don't know much about.

    Fr. Gerasim is considered the most experienced because he has been involved with the DOS for several years now, and currently acts as the administrator of the Diocese and rector of the cathedral in Dallas. He knows and is known by the people of the diocese, and is widely liked. He's young and energetic and culturally a very good fit.

    The other candidates were strong, but, in my opinion, none were the "total package" like Fr. Gerasim.

    We've been waiting a long time, and this is not the first time Fr. Gerasim's name has been put forth by the DOS to the Synod. Here's hoping they approve him this time, and not require him to jump through more hoops.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sr. Vassa: There's no ontological impediment to priestesses

Image
Is the male-only priesthood a discipline or essential to the nature of being a priest? Sr. Vassa (again unflinchingly taking up a contentious topic by climbing up the ladder to the highest platform and then jumping into the deep end head first) dives right in and says there is no reason beyond personal preference to not have female clergy. You know, when people ask me about women in priesthood, they say, 'Sister, why can't women be priests?' And I say, 'Women CAN be priests. We don't WANT them to be priests.' Because you see, God can do anything, and the Church, by divine authority, uh, can do anything, but, the Church doesn't want to - and that's a legitimate reason. What I don't like is when we TRY to pretend that there are other reasons for this, because it's legitimate not to want something, and there are reasons not to want this - right? - but, we shouldn't pretent that there's some... reason, that, for example, the maleness...
Read more

OCA takes strong stand for canonical Orthodoxy

( Orthochristian.com ) - The primate of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and All America and Canada, will concelebrate with the primate of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine, in western Ukraine later this week. The Ukrainian Orthodox Diocese of Chernivtsi and Bukovina “awaits the visit of the primate of the Orthodox Church in America on June 1–2, 2024. Solemn services will be held in the Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Chernivtsi, with the participation of both primates.” The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America formally rejects communion with the schismatics of the “Orthodox Church in Ukraine,” recognizing only the canonical UOC under Met. Onuphry. The Ukrainian primate was the honored guest at the OCA’s 18th All-American Council in July 2015.
Read more

A Response to “On administering Holy Communion in a Time of a Plague”

This was sent to me and deserves a read. You can read the Calivas article here . We can all agree that we are living in unusual times. However, the nature and extent of the illness that we face, and the proper response of the Church, is a matter of much disagreement. We have seen various responses to the COVID-19 epidemic: calls to close our Churches as infectious vectors, and demands to open them as places of spiritual healing. Directives a) ordering the cessation of sacramental life as part of an effort to “flatten the curve,” and cries for access to the divine grace that flows forth from those very mysteries; b) calling for the restriction of “at-risk persons,” and serious questions about the validity of such controls, c) instructions to liturgists to wear personal protective equipment during the celebration of the divine services and the distribution of the holy Mysteries, and uncertainty about the fitness of such practices. Who has been championing what and on behalf of whom? The ...
Read more