Ep. No. 497

December 14, 2010

TO ALL CLERGY, CHURCH-SCHOOL CONGREGATION EXECUTIVE BOARDS, DIOCESAN COUNCIL AND AUDITING BOARD MEMBERS, AND THE KSS OF THE WESTERN AMERICAN DIOCESE OF THE SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

Following the ancient Tradition of the Church, in the spirit of Her conciliar nature, and in accordance with Article 21 point 3 of the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America, We hereby summon the Annual Assembly of the Diocese of Western America, to be held at St. John the Baptist Serbian Orthodox Church in San Francisco, CA on Friday, February 18, 2011.  The Assembly will begin at 8:30 a.m. on February 18, 2010 with the Divine Liturgy followed by the Invocation of the Holy Spirit. The Assembly of the Diocese is comprised of:

1. The Bishop
2. Active Clergy, both orders
3. Presidents of all Church-School Congregations or their Alternates
4. Members of the Diocesan Council
5. Members of Auditing Board
6. One Elected delegate from each Church-School Congregation
7. Two representatives of the Federation of Circle of Serbian Sisters of the Diocese

Should the President of the Church-School Congregation also be a member of the Diocesan Council, the Vice-president of the Executive Board may represent the Church-School Congregation at the Diocesan Assembly.

The enclosed Credentials form requesting the names of the Delegates who will represent your congregation, must be submitted to the Diocesan office no later than Monday, January 31, 2011. The Assembly Agenda with the Financial Committee and Parish Reports will be emailed to our parish clergy to distribute to their delegates. Booklets containing these documents will be distributed to each delegate when they register at the Assembly.

A Parish Report with the signature of the parish Priest must also be received by the Diocesan office by Monday, January 31, 2011. You may mail your report to our office or email it to secretary.westsrbdio@gmail.com with a digital signature of your parish Priest.

The Annual Clergy, KSS, and Diocesan Council meetings will be held on Thursday, February 17, 2011, also at St. John the Baptist Church in San Francisco. The Clergy and KSS meetings will be held following the lunch, which begins at 1:00 pm. The Diocesan Council Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 17^th in the evening at 7:00 p.m. Separate notices will be mailed regarding these meetings.

Let us approach these gatherings of clergy and laity with joy and gladness and with the hope that God will grant us a productive and prosperous Assembly.  We anticipate that every delegate will fully participate in not only the work of our Assembly, but most importantly in the Divine Services and Holy Eucharist.

With Archpastoral Blessings,

Bishop Maxim