Final Plenary Session of the 21st All-American Council Concluded
On Friday, July 18, 2025, the hierarchs, clergy, and lay representatives of the Orthodox Church in America met for the sixth and final Plenary Session of the 21st All-American Council in Phoenix, AZ.
The sixth Plenary Session began with a report on the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America by its representative, Priest Nicholas Anton. The Assembly’s work includes coordinating the efforts of its official non-profit, pan-Orthodox agencies, including International Orthodox Christian Charities, Orthodox Christian Mission Center, Orthodox Christian Fellowship, and Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry. Two new agencies have recently joined this list: Orthodox Youth & Young Adult Ministries and Orthodox Volunteer Corps. The Assembly also directly oversees a number of ministries that provide resources to Orthodox Christians or assist them with their work in local communities. Of special note are its Mental Health Ministries, which manages the Directory of Orthodox Christian Mental Health Professionals, a resource utilized by many clergy and laity of the OCA.
The Military Chaplains Report was introduced by Archpriest Theodore Boback. He expressed the need for more clergy to pursue chaplaincy in the armed forces. Priest Thaddaeus Werner explained his work as an Air Force chaplain in helping soldiers acquiring religious accommodation for their sincerely-held religious beliefs. He and other Orthodox chaplains are responsible for the spiritual fitness of those entrusted to their care, providing them with religious rites and sacraments, death notifications and memorial services, clinical pastoral care, and moral leadership advisement. Archpriest Sean Levine concluded the report with real-life stories about the work of military chaplains on the ground.
Archpriest Steven Voytovich presented the Institutional Chaplains Report. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of clinical pastoral care, and this occasion prompted Fr. Steven to reflect on the history of chaplaincy and the nature of pastoral care in hospitals, hospices, and other clinical settings. Fr. Steven then discussed the ongoing work of institutional chaplaincy in the OCA.
The installation of the newly-elected and appointed Metropolitan Council members was conducted by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon. After this, His Beatitude offered some final remarks to the delegation, reflecting on the past week. His Beatitude spoke about the newly-commissioned icon of All Saints of North America, remarking that it was not so long ago when St. Herman of Alaska was the only canonized saint on this continent. His Beatitude said, “Now, we ask intercessions of 19 saints who have shone forth in North America. We do not, of course, depend on the quantitative aspect of this reality. Rather, it seems to me that our present icon is a fitting image of whence we have come and also whither we are going. We all know of the icons of all saints of the venerable and more ancient Orthodox Churches, whose numbers are even larger than ours. Even without the centuries of ascetical and martyric witness of which our sisters have the benefit, it seems to me that it is our calling and our mission, now that we have been gathered together by Christ, to heed the words that conclude the Gospel reading from this morning: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen (Matt. 28:19-20).’” His Beatitude then thanked everyone for their participation in the work of the Council.
The concluding prayer “It is truly meet…” was sung, and, with this, the 21st All-American Council was officially adjourned.