Marks the five-year anniversary of the enthronement of His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America. After arriving in New York on June 19th, 2019, His Eminence met with hierarchs, clergy, and Archdiocesan staff; three days later he was consecrated in the Holy Trinity Archdiocesan Cathedral, New York, NY, June 22nd. When he arrived at the Archdiocesan offices on the 23rd, he told the staff present that “this is the first day of a long and fruitful ministry.”
A brief purview of His Eminence’s experiences, accomplishments, and contributions to the wider church prior to his election will demonstrate his preparedness for the particular challenges of ministry that the Exarch of our Archdiocese is called upon to meet. As a young deacon in the Patriarchal Court, he trained closely with the Ecumenical Patriarch, who encouraged him to sharpen every one of his skills in preparation for service to the Church, and as a priest he was entrusted with the administration of the Chief Secretariat of the Holy and Sacred Synod. When he was elevated as the Metropolitan of Bursa and Abbot of the Holy Trinity Monastery at Halki, he took on the welfare of the ancient See and the care of the Theological School and Monastery.
In his enthronement address he noted, “I am here—your new Archbishop—to listen to you, to dialogue with you, and to work with you. My prayerful aspiration is to stand before you and beside you, to lead by example and exhortation, and to minister through service and sacrifice.”
From more frequent meetings with the Metropolitans of the eparchial synod, to a greater investment in Jewish-Christian relations, to the re-invigorated ministries under His Eminence’s leadership like African American outreach and Spanish language ministries His Eminence has continued to listen, dialogue, and serve the needs of the Church in America and around the world. Meeting these diverse needs has in part been made possible by his awareness of “the importance of building bridges, of creating relationships,” because “such connections are precisely what the church is all about.”
As His Eminence begins the next five years after his enthronement, and looks forward to the Archdiocese’s many and exciting goals, these words from his inaugural address remain pertinent: “This is what it means to be church: to look back at its traditions and to look forward to sharing its treasures by establishing its roots in the local surroundings and circumstances.”
Many Years to His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America!
Εἰς πολλὰ ἔτη Δέσποτα!
Photos: GOARCH/Dimitrios Panagos and Brittainy Newman.