The delegates of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (Order of AHEPA), the leading service association for the nation’s millions of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes, elected George E. Loucas of Novelty, Ohio, Supreme President, and James Kokotas of Brooklyn, New York, Supreme Vice President at the 96th Annual Supreme AHEPA Convention, Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 26, 2018.

In 2009 Stewardship was added and the Ministry became the Department of Stewardship, Outreach & Evangelism. Our mission continues to focus on the parish, providing parish leadership with practical tools and training to engage active and inactive members, inquirers and those unaware of Orthodox Christianity personally in order that they learn more about the faith and ministries of the Greek Orthodox Church, leading them to become fully committed members of the Body of Christ, actively participating in and supporting the ministries of the local parish, the Metropolis and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. Efforts are made to coordinate programs and initiatives with other departments and organizations of the Archdiocese.

With its seeds sown at the 2002 Clergy-Laity Congress in Los Angeles, the Center for Family Care (CFC) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America was founded in 2005. The ministry arose from a calling, in the words of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, “to affirm the importance of family as a blessed gift from God and to address the specific needs of families as they try to live in a very challenging culture and world.” In the ensuing 13 years the CFC has diligently worked to deliver a variety of multimedia resources and participate in numerous events throughout the Archdiocese, with most of those efforts funded by generous support from Leadership 100, for the spiritual formation of the Archdiocese’s faithful.

I joined the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries in June of 2013. Our task was clear yet daunting: how could we rethink and reimagine ministry for young people in a way that was both more effective and more Christ-centered? We all know why the stakes are so high. Every parishioner in the Orthodox Church knows that, over the past few decades, we’ve had increasing difficulty connecting with young people.

The Orthodox Software Initiative is a ministry that implements, with training, data software systems that unify standardized reporting at Parish, Metropolis and Archdiocese levels to enhance all aspects of Church life.  It enables communication, ministry, ministering, parishioner interaction, sacramental, parish and ministry management, financial management and tracking, and more consistent and accurate reporting.