Edited by Athanasia Kontogiannakopoulou
Worship & Catechism
Because worship is the Alpha and Omega of the spiritual life, that is why this year too we must emphasize this great theme. The conscious participation of the faithful in Worship should be the object of all our attention. The same applies to the catechesis of our children, catechumens, and all members of our Church.
Growing Partners
The issue of finding suitable persons to minister at the Holy Altar is a major issue that should be of constant concern to us. For this matter, but also for the matter of finding lay associates, we must have our attention focused on our parishes. We should constantly pray, “Lord, send priests and co-workers to Your Church in Korea.”
Camping Project
The experience of the previous years from the camping work and the benefits that the children and the older ones gained from it, should have already convinced us to continue with more zeal, instead of sacrificing everything, this effort.
Publishing Project
We have already planned to publish ten new noteworthy books. Our goal is to increase the quality and quantity of our Orthodox publications and for our Orthodox Publishing House to one day, by God’s grace, become better known in Korea.
Youth Link
The Youth of our Church, into whose hands we will tomorrow hand over the baton of our parishes, must be our immediate concern. Again this year we will hold special devotional opportunities for the young people, meetings, camps, and in general we will try harder to provide better spiritual nourishment for the young people of the Association.
Modern media
Since in our time more and more people are visiting the internet, it is necessary for the spread of the Orthodox message in Korea to put more emphasis on the “electronic pulpit”, which is the new media (new website, creation of DVDs, electronic access to Orthodox sermons and Byzantine music).
Charity
Love, the Christian virtue par excellence, must be practical and not words. With God’s help, last year our Church’s charitable activity increased in comparison to previous years. And this year it should increase even more.
Bookstore
The progress of our publishing house makes it necessary to have a bookstore – book café in a central part of Seoul, accessible to more people. This was discussed last year, but our goal was not realized due to lack of funds.
Training Centre
And for the Orthodox Asian Educational and Conference Centre, which will also house the first Orthodox Theological School of East Asia, we did not proceed with the planned construction work due to lack of funds. However, we must try again to do everything possible with God’s help.
My brothers and sisters, in order to realize in this year all that we have mentioned before, we must have the help and grace of God. But in order to have the grace of God we must necessarily have a humble attitude. For, as we know, “God opposes the proud, and gives grace to the humble” (James d 6). In 2012 we should make it our goal to cultivate a humble attitude. So, please come together with a humble attitude for the glory of God and the progress of our Church in Korea. Amen.” The Korean Ambrose
