Dear Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this glorious Feast of the Nativity of Christ we celebrate a truly a wondrous event in which God, in His infinite and marvelous grace, became man bringing us enduring hope, newness of life, and eternal salvation. The Son of God, the Lord of Glory and King of kings who upholds the universe by His word of power, became man so that we human beings might be redeemed, renewed, united with Him, and become fellow citizens with the Saints and members of God’s kingdom.

The magnitude and depth of the event of the Nativity of Christ are impossible to grasp, but the message is clear and true. It is a message of grace, hope, and salvation to all humanity and to all the created order.

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

My beloved Faithful Clergy and Laity of our God-Protected Diocese:

It is hard to believe that this month marks the fourth anniversary of my Consecration and Enthronement as your Bishop. During my visits to the parishes you have heard me preaching on the state of affairs, locally and globally. Conflicts, wars and senseless violence continue to inflict pain and suffering and spill blood everywhere. I am deeply saddened that peace continues to elude us. This lack of peace is the direct result of increased selfishness and hatred throughout the world. Whatever we as inhabitants of this planet are doing it is not working, somehow it is not enough. Obviously we as humans can not achieve peace on our own. We need the help of the Lord.

We offer praise and glory to the Triune God, who deemed us worthy to reach the twenty-fifth anniversary since the day when, by the mandate of our Holy and Sacred Synod, we ascended the martyred Apostolic Throne of the Church of Constantinople. With God’s grace, having gladly run this long course of service in the First-Throne among the Orthodox Churches, we look back the experiences, events, prayers, journeys and activities, while at the same time looking forward with a spirit of optimism and steadfast hope to the future, even as today we exclaim the words of our saintly predecessor, St. John Chrysostom: “Glory be to God for all things.”

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

JOHNSTOWN, PA -- [Diocesan Chancery] -- The XXIII Diocesan Council-Sobor, hosted by the Johnstown, Deanery and presided over by His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, will take place from Sunday October 9 thru Wednesday October 12, 2016 at Christ the Saviour Cathedral and Educational Center and The Holiday Inn Downtown in Johnstown, PA. Centered on the Theme: "Whatever He says to you, do it!” (John 2:5), the clergy and faithful will review the progress of the Diocese over the past three years and chart the course for the future. While registration takes place on Sunday evening from 3:00 pm - 8:00 pm, the Sobor will officially open on Monday morning with the celebration of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Christ the Saviour Cathedral at 8:00 am which will be broadcast live .

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

BROOKLINE, MA [Orthodox Christian Fellowship] - The following encyclical about College Student Sunday 2016, to be observed in all Orthodox parishes in North America on Sunday October 2, 2016, has been issued by His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, the Episcopal Liaison to the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America:

We greet you with joy as we announce the date for College Student Sunday, benefiting Orthodox Christian Fellowship. To support the incredible efforts of our students, College Student Sunday will be the first Sunday of October, running in conjunction with OCF’s Orthodox Awareness Month. This year, the date falls on OCTOBER 2.

Orthodox Christian Fellowship continues to provide students with opportunities to encounter Christ and grow in their Orthodox faith through their growing network of on campus OCF chapters led by talented students, clergy, and lay advisors as well as through programs such as regional retreats, College Conference, Real Break, and the Summer Leadership Institute.

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 [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.