On Saturday, August 9, clergy and lay delegates from the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania gathered for an Extraordinary Diocesan Assembly at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Philadelphia.

His Grace, Bishop Tikhon, was the main celebrant at the Divine Liturgy that morning, together with concelebrating clergy from the diocese. Following the Divine Liturgy, a light breakfast was served as the delegates completed the registration process.

The Assembly was opened at 11:30 a.m. with the singing of “O Heavenly King.” The Chancellor of the Diocese, V. Rev. John Kowalczyk, presented the agenda and called for a report from the credentials committee. He then introduced His Grace, Bishop Tikhon, who appointed the Assembly officers and offered some remarks, which can be found here.

The Assembly lasted until 4:00 p.m. with a break for lunch. The entire time was devoted to the discussion of, and voting on, the resolutions that had been received by the resolutions committee appointed by Bishop Tikhon. A total of seven resolutions were presented to the floor for discussion, six of which were submitted to the committee (and can be found here), and one of which was submitted that morning here.

Each of the resolutions was considered individually and called forth a lively discussion from the delegates. Of the seven resolutions presented, the following three were accepted by the Assembly:

Resolution 1, accepted with amendments

Resolution 2, accepted unanimously

Resolution 3, accepted unanimously

These three resolutions will be forwarded to the preconciliar commission as proposed resolutions from the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania.

In addition, the Assembly reviewed the proposal for a merger between the OCA and the Antiochian Archdiocese as presented by Dr. David Ford. Dr. Ford spoke briefly on his proposal and a discussion followed. No action was taken by the diocese on this proposal.

Dr. Ford has since further revised his proposal, in light of the
discussion at the Extraordinary Assembly.  It can be found here.

The Assembly was closed with the singing of “It is truly meet…”