JOHNSTOWN, PA [Diocesan Chancery] -- Following in the footsteps of Sts Cyril and Methodios, and demonstrating in concrete action their renewed committment to hands on missionary work, the National Senior ACRY has organized a small weekend mission and service weekend at St. Herman's House of Hospitality in Cleveland, Ohio, taking place from today, Friday Aug 12- Sun Aug 14. The team is comprised of officers and members of the ACRY, Priests and other Diocesan faithful who are committed to assisting as they are able the work of this phenomenal Orthodox Christian Outreach to the disadvantaged of the greater Cleaveland Ohio area. The team will be in place throughout the weekend and will conclude with their participation in Divine Liturgy at our nearby Diocesan Christ the Saviour Parish in North Royalton, Ohio.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- The schedule of His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa for August 1 - September 5, 2016 has been released by the Diocesan Chancery.

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- For the past four years, a weekly on-line scripture study has been broadcast live from St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Warren, Ohio. Taught by the Very Rev. Protopresbyter Kenneth Bachofsky, Professor of Scripture at Christ the Saviour Seminary, the participants have studied the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. John and the Book of Revelation. These weekly lectures, which are delivered in a clear and concise manner, drawing on the patristic voice of the Fathers of the Church

JOHNSTOWN, PA [Diocesan Chancery] It is with great pleasure that His Grace, Bishop Gregory and the members of the Diocesan Stewardship Commission announces that the first ACROD stewardship coordinator retreat will be held at Camp Nazareth, from Friday September 16th to Sunday September 18th, 2016. The theme of the retreat is “Parish Application of Stewardship.”

Many of the Diocesan parish stewardship coordinators and parish council members have expressed concern about how to implement a stewardship program into their parishes and this retreat will focus on those concerns.

JOHNSTOWN, PA [Diocesan Chancery] --- Today, (Saturday July 9th) the 2016 Orthodox Youth Mission Team (OYMT) left for West Virginia. The team will be participating in a week long mission trip with the Appalachian Service Project (ASP) in the town of Huff Creek, WV in Wyoming County. The goal of ASP is to make homes “warmer, safer and drier.” The team of 34—24 high school youth and 10 adult leaders from 7 parishes of the Carpatho- Russian, Orthodox Church in American and the Greek Orthodox Dioceses in CT, NY and NJ are excited for this opportunity to serve the Lord and put their faith to work helping families in this very impoverished area of the country. Recent floods in the area have made families lives even more difficult.

JOHNSTOWN, PA [National ACRY] - The Potomac A.C.R.Y. Chapter #25 is proud to be the hosts for the upcoming National A.C.R.Y. Convention, which will take place Labor Day weekend, September 2nd through the 5th, 2016 at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center located in Bethesda, MD. The hotel is conveniently located on the Red Line of the DC Metro Area Subway System. The entrance to the subway (Metro) is literally at the corner of the hotel parking lot! A room rate of rate $109 (+ tax) has been obtained which is an incredible rate for the Washington D.C. Metro Area!!!! These room rates are also secured for the day before/after the convention

JOHNSTOWN, PA [National Sr. ACRY]-- With the blessing of His Grace, Bishop Gregory, the National Senior ACRY is pleased to announce the first Sr. ACRY mission trip to Saint Herman’s House in Cleveland, Ohio in an ongoing effort in the ACRY to provide opportunities for hands-on mission work. With the success of ACRY Ambassador Daniel Coffman’s Real Break Trip to Saint Herman’s, the national board has decided to spend a weekend helping at the house.

Saint Herman’s House was founded in 1977 with the purpose to provide shelter, clothing and food to the homeless men of the greater Cleveland area. At any given time, they can house up to 28 men and provide more than 73,000 meals a year.

PITTSBURGH, PA -- [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette] The leaders of their global churches may have some difficulty in getting together after a 1,200-year gap. But in the basement of a South Side Flats church on a recent Thursday afternoon, members of Western Pennsylvania’s diverse array of Orthodox churches put aside religious labels for a humbler cause. As they do each week, volunteers laid out breads, pastries, cereals, canned goods and other foods on shelves and folding tables, setting up for the food-pantry distribution at Holy Assumption of St. Mary Orthodox Church. Colorful icons of saints, along with black-and-white photos of past parishioners, filled the walls behind them. Before opening the doors, the pastor led them in an ancient Easter chant known as the “Paschal Troparion”: “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in tombs bestowing life.”

JOHNSTOWN, PA [National Senior ACRY] --- Each year the ACRY offers the following scholarship to ACRY members: Freshman, Sophmore, Junior, Senior/Metropolitan Orestes, Graduate, Trade/Technical, Seminarian and Mary Kay Wanchak Memorial. The deadline for ACRY Scholarship applications and recommendations is June 15th, which is fast approaching. Applicants are kindly asked to please check with those from whom they have requested recommendations that they were written and sent to the Scholarship Committee.

It is with great sadness and prayer that the Diocesan Chancery announces that the servant of God Peter Tatsis, the father of His Grace Bishop Gregory, reposed in the Lord on Monday June 6, 2016.

Peter was born in Asimohori, Epirus, Greece on August 15, 1931. He immigrated to the U.S. at age 19 following the Greek Civil War and settled in New York City for 5 years. He married his wife of 58 years, Antonia, on February 9, 1958. They then settled in Charlotte, NC. Along with his wife, Peter operated many restaurants including the Hutchinson Avenue Grill, Tatsis Restaurant, the Patriot Restaurant, Tasos Restaurant and the Crimson House Restaurant. When he semi retired, he became a courier for First Union Bank in Charlotte. Peter was a member of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Charlotte, NC