Dear Fathers and Friends,
Greetings from the OTSA Executive Committee. Our Annual Meeting is rapidly approaching and we want to encourage you to register and to let you know the details of the conference, which promises to be excellent.
- Registration: Register NOW. Deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 11, 5 pm EST. Registration is FREE to members in good standing, which means you must be current in your dues. If necessary, you can add your dues to the cart with registration. For non-members and inactive members, the registration fee is $30.00. There is no fee for those with complimentary or provisional membership. Register for the meeting here.
You will receive confirmation of your registration, and, during the week of the meeting, you will receive by email the Zoom link to the Conference as well as information about the Business Meeting.
- Conference Program: The latest version of the program outline as well as longer version of the program with abstracts is available at the 2020 Annual Meeting page.
- The meeting will be virtual, via ZOOM. The theme of the meeting is Theological Anthropology, and we have a wide range of papers and a panel presenting on that topic, offering a variety of perspectives, promising lively and insightful discussion. We also have a panel on the timely topic of the relation of the Academy and the Church, arising from the blog OTSA has sponsored. We will have the opportunity to pray together, reflect on crucial topics, renew acquaintances and friendships, and make new ones.
- Breakout sessions: Although we will be meeting virtually this year, we hope to foster as much of the positive value of an in-person conference experience as possible, including time to network with friends and colleagues. Your input is especially important in organizing the breakout sessions, which is where we can continue the conversation more informally, and build friendships. Would you like to arrange a dinner meeting with a friend? Time to chat with a colleague? Please let us know if you would like to make reservations for a “dinner table” during the Thursday and Friday dinner hours; the thematic “lunch tables” on Friday at lunch- and whether you want to host a thematic table; and the social gatherings on Thursday and Friday evenings after the presentations. Send us the names of your party and we can set up a breakout group for you. Email Teva: teva@mit.edu or Helen: helen60076@yahoo.com.
- Annual Business Meeting: Our annual business meeting, which will take place at the annual meeting after lunch on Friday, is open to full members in good standing. The agenda will include reports from the president and treasurer; discussion regarding our plans for incorporation; review and discussion of the new structure between the Assembly of Bishops and its various affiliated or associated organizations – including OTSA; evaluation of special funding projects; the presentation of candidates for membership; a possible Spring seminar/webinar; and the topic and location of next year’s annual meeting. Members in good standing will be sent the proposal from the Assembly of Bishops for review on Saturday, November 7th, so, if necessary, please pay your dues by midnight November 6th.
- Florovsky Lecture: Attached is a flier for the Florovsky lecture, which we urge you to share widely, as it is free and open to the public. The speaker is Fr. Michael Plekon, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Religion and Culture, The City University of New York-Baruch College. The title of the lecture is “Community as Church, Church as Community: Death and Resurrection in the Parish Today.” Registration for the Lecture is separate, available here.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
- OTSA Small Grants: OTSA provides seed money and/or small grants for Orthodox initiatives. Those interested in applying for a grant should provide a proposal, which includes a short description of the project/initiative (~300 words), information about the requesting organization, and the funding request amount. The deadline for application for grants for this year is November 6, 2020.
- Academy and the Church Blog: Our newest post is by Fr. Michael Plekon, “Prayer in the Classroom.”
Please consider offering a post to this blog, which is ongoing. We will address the topic further at a panel at the Annual Meeting.
- In Memoriam: We are deeply saddened by the recent passing, on November 2, of one of our long term members, Metropolitan Maximos (Aghiorgoussis), formerly of Pittsburgh. Metropolitan Maximos was born in Chios in 1935, attended the Patriarchal Theological School of Halki, and received his PhD at the University of Louvain, Belgium. From 1966 to 1979 he was Professor of Systematic Theology at Holy Cross School of Theology, serving also during his tenure as President of Hellenic College and as Academic Dean of Holy Cross. He was consecrated as Bishop (and later elevated to Metropolitan) of Pittsburgh, and served there from 1979 until 2011, when he retired due to health reasons. He was a beloved professor, spiritual father, hierarch, colleague, and servant of the Lord. May his memory be eternal.
Respectfully submitted,
Teva Regule, PhD, OTSA President
Helen Creticos Theodoropoulos, PhD, OTSA Secretary