Family Ministry Grant Renewed

2016

Jul 1

Leadership 100 renewed the grant for Family Ministry at The Center for Family Care of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America for $230,000 in 2015. An initiative of His Eminence Geron Archbishop Demetrios, the program has been commissioned with providing resources for family ministry to the Metropolises, parishes, and faithful of the Archdiocese. Leadership 100 has provided financial support to assist the work of the Center, which is under the direction of Fr. Constantine L. Sitaras, since 2005 and the Family Ministry program since 2014.

A renewal of the Leadership 100 grant for 2015 has helped develop the critical-care component of Family Ministry and to continue creating a strong network of family ministry workers throughout the Archdiocese. It will also provide the means to create, print, and disseminate resources to support parish family ministry programs and provide training of family ministry workers through the promotion of the best practices for ministering to families—those that regularly participate in the life of the parish and reaching out to those who are inactive.

Family Ministry has been working to renew the connection between the family and the church relationship by showing families that the Church and its attributes are essential to their well-being. To assist this effort, the following resources for use in the home and the parish have been prepared and distributed:

Challenges in Pastoral Care: Depression and Mental Health –a guide for pastors, family members and individuals will be created.
‘Zine Parent Companion – examples are Journey through Great Lent and Heaven on Earth: The Divine Liturgy
–new brochures for parish leaders and parish family members to inform them on Family Ministry.

Ongoing development of current programs and resources include: