Detroit site of Second Annual St. Macrina Institute Conference August 7-8
DETROIT, MI [MW Diocese Communications] — The Saint Macrina Orthodox Institute for Diakonia and Catechesis will hold its Second Annual Conference at Saint Andrew House here August 7-8, 2015.
The theme — “Ministry: The Moving Icon” — will be developed by the featured speaker, Father Bogdan Bucur, Professor at Duquesne University and pastor of Saint Anthony Antiochian Orthodox Church, Butler PA. The Diaconal Practicum will led by Archdeacon Joseph Matusiak.
“The Conference is open to continuing students, as well as those considering beginning the program,” according to Priest Elijah Mueller, facilitator. “The Conference is for education, fellowship, and an opportunity to connect to the Bishop and the Diocesan Institute. We hope this will provide the opportunity for some to begin discerning a vocation as a catechist or deacon, others to confirm work that they are doing already, and still others to complete the steps necessary to begin petitioning to be ordained to the diaconate.”
Saint Macrina Orthodox Institute is the Diocese of the Midwest’s certification program for catechist and diaconal training.
“Our theme takes up the understanding of ‘hierarchy’ that is present in the works of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, as explained by His Grace, Bishop Alexander of Toledo: ‘Dionysius gives us his definition of hierarchy as ‘a sacred order, knowledge, and activity assimilated so far as possible to the form of God and leading up in due proportion to the illuminations given it by God.’ Its purpose… is to make its members ‘images of God… clear and spotless mirrors reflecting the primordial light,’ which is to say that ‘hierarchy’ refers both to the collective, that is, in our case to the worshipping Church, and to the individual Christian.’”
Detailed information and a registration form may be accessed here. Deadline for registration is July 17.
Update: The final schedule has been set for the Second Annual St. Macrina Conference, and may be accessed here.