National Leadership 100 Sunday
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Church of America will issue an Encyclical on behalf of the Holy Eparchial Synod designating October 17, 2010 as the second observance of National Leadership 100 Sunday. The date was chosen as the Sunday prior to the Feast of St. Iakovos, a tribute to Archbishop Iakovos of Blessed Memory, the visionary Founder and namesake of the Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund.
In 1984, under the guidance of Archbishop Iakovos, Leadership 100 was created as an Endowment Fund of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese through which Greek Orthodox leaders were asked to commit themselves to maintain these life-sustaining ministries of the Church. It was formally named The Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Endowment Fund in 1998 as a separately incorporated endowment fund supporting the National Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and advancing Orthodoxy and Hellenism.
Membership in Leadership 100 today is inextricably bound up with these critical National Ministries to which close to $30 million in grants have been distributed over 26 year. They range from scholarship funds for Holy Cross School of Theology to prepare future Priests; Information Technologies, Internet Ministries and GOTelecom to communicate the Faith; Stewardship, Outreach and Evangelism (including Home Mission) to spread the word; Youth, Young Adult, Marriage and Family Ministries to support the faithful; Religious and Greek Education to educate the faithful; Parish Development to support parishes of all sizes and in every Metropolis; and Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations to express unity of purpose.
In addition, Leadership 100 has in recent years creatively extended its support throughout the Church by supporting the Metropolis Ministries just as it has innovated support for the ministry of the entire Church to the needs of the world in the past with start-up funding for International Orthodox Christian Ministries (IOCC) and Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), and assistance after the September 11 national tragedy, Hurricane Katrina, the devastating fires in Greece and other emergencies here and abroad.
Constantine G. Caras, Chairman of Leadership 100, has named Michael R. Henry, a member of the Board of Trustees as Chairman of National Leadership 100 Sunday. Henry has recruited members of the Leadership 100 Board of Trustees as Chairpersons in the Direct Archdiocesan District and all Metropolises to work with Parish Priests in all parishes to develop a program in which members of Leadership 100 will address the importance of the continuing support and growth of the critical National Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in a changing world, supporting the faithful and meeting human need.
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios and the respected Metropolitans who head Metropolises throughout the nation will direct each Parish Priest in their respective jurisdictions to read the Encyclical. Many parishes are planning a program during the coffee hour after the Divine Liturgy.
Today, Leadership counts more than 841 members from a broad spectrum of Greek Orthodox leaders, men and women of all ages from every field of endeavor, including 89 Leadership 100 Partners, young Greek Americans given an opportunity to join at a lower contribution level, progressing as they pursue their careers, and five Leadership Junior Partners, sponsored in their youth, at age 12 or younger, with the option to join at age 21.
