Anniversary 2023 - St. Phoebe Center

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St. Phoebe Center’s 10th Anniversary Events

In 2023, the St. Phoebe Center celebrated its tenth anniversary with a number of Zoom events and an in-person symposium on Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today. See below to learn about these events and watch recordings.

In-person Anniversary Symposium: Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today

Held November 10-12, 2023, at Holy Cross Hellenic College Brookline (Boston), MA, this symposium reviewed the history and need for deaconesses in the Orthodox Church today and considered the pragmatics of how the Orthodox Church might welcome women–who comprise more than half of the Church–into the diaconate once again to meet the ministerial needs of the Church and world. The St. Phoebe Center presented our “Proposed Guidelines for the Revival of the Ordained Female Diaconate in the Orthodox Church Today.”

Read the Symposium program here.

Watch Recordings of Symposium Sessions Here

Coverage of the Event

“Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today”: Some Observations from The Wheel by Denise and Fr. John Jillions
“US Orthodox symposium on women deacons proposes a way forward” from Religion News Service by Meagan Saliashvili
Press Release: “Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today: A Symposium”
“St. Phoebe’s Symposium Reflection” on Orthodox Feminist by Kathryn McCord
“Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today” by Sister Cecelia of New Skete

Texts of Presentations at the Event

Diaconal Ministry and the Calls to Revive the Female Diaconate by Dr. Teva Regule

Keynote on Friday, November 10, 2023

Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today: The History, the Need, and the Future

Greetings from St. Phoebe Center Founder: Ann Marie Mecera

Opening Prayer and Welcome: His Eminence Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago

Welcome from Holy Cross Hellenic College: Dr. Jim Skedros

Keynote “Deaconesses for the Orthodox Church Today: The History, the Need, and the Future:” Dr. Carrie Frederick Frost

Respondent: Archdeacon John Chryssavgis

Sessions on Saturday, November 11, 2023

Calls for Deaconesses and Women’s Ministry in the Church

Moderator: Ms. Sara Tsugranis

Panelists:

Dr. Teva Regule

Ms. Sophia Kyrou

Dr. Ioana Popa

Can Women go in the Altar?: Addressing the Myths around Ordaining Deaconesses

Moderator: Ms. Kristina Baktis

Panelists:

Dr. Valerie Karras

Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris

Dr. Paul Ladouceur

How to Restore the Ordained Order of Deaconesses Today: Proposed Guidelines

Moderator: Ms. Ann Marie and Mr. Gust Mecera

Speakers: Rev. Dr. Perry Hamalis and Dr. Carrie Frederick Frost

Respondents: His Eminence Metropolitan Nathanael of Chicago, Dr. James Skedros, and Dr. Elizabeth Prodromou

Ways to Advocate for Deaconesses

Moderator: Dr. Teva Regule

Breakout groups led by St. Phoebe Center Board Members representatives from Axia Women:

How to increase roles of women and girls in your parish
How to address myths and misleading information about Deaconesses
How to hold an event about Deaconesses
How to include Deaconesses in Church School curricula

Anniversary Zoom Events

St. Phoebe Center Network: Celebrating Our Anniversary Year

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Hosted by St. Phoebe Center Board Members Kristina Baktis, Susan Smoley, and Sara Tsugranis

This event was for St. Phoebe Center Network Members only, to provide updates and plan initiatives to support the restoration of the ordained deaconess.

If you want to engage in St. Phoebe Center’s work and provide hands on support, please join the Network to attend future Network events. Questions about Network Member status can be addressed to network@orthodoxdeaconess.org.

The Legacy of Rhodes, Featuring Deaconesses: A Tradition for Today and Tomorrow

Tuesday, May 9, 2023

This event was moderated by St. Phoebe Center Chair Dr. Carrie Frederick Frost and co-hosted with Holy Cross Orthodox Press, Very Rev. Dr. Anton C. Vrame

In 1988, Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios I convened a conference in Rhodes, Greece on “The Place of the Woman in the Orthodox Church,” that included the recommendation that the Church ordain women as deaconesses once again. Thirty-five years later, the St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess and Holy Cross Orthodox Press is asking, “What is the legacy of Rhodes?” This session featured a new book on deaconess dedicated to the legacy of the Rhodes Consultation, Deaconesses: A Tradition for Today and Tomorrow (edited by Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis, Dr. Niki Papageorgiou, Ms. Marilyn Rouvelas, and Dr. Petros Vassiliadis).

Panelists:

Dr. Patricia Fann Bouteneff, Axia Women

Rev. Dr. Alkiviadis Calivas, Emeritus Professor of Holy Cross Hellenic College

Dr. Valerie Karras, Orthodox Christian Theological Historian

Watch the Recording of Legacy of Rhodes

Girls’ and Women’s Liturgical Service

Sunday, June 25, 2023 on Zoom

Moderated by St. Phoebe Center Board Member Dr. Teva Regule

Co-sponsored with Axia Women, Dr. Patricia Fann Boutneff

Greater participation of girls and women in the liturgical assembly of the Orthodox Church benefits the entire community. This event, co-sponsored with Axia Women, offered the perspective of Orthodox women who have experienced these ministries as girl altar servers and tonsured readers or chanters. Topics explored included how to encourage the expansion of these ministries and how they do, and do not, connect with the revival of the ordained order of deaconesses.

Panelists:
Dr. Susan Ashbrook Harvey
Ms. Elizabeth Bouteneff
Dr. Hermina Nedelescu
Ms. Sophia Kyrou

Watch the Recording of Girls‘ and Women’s Service

Myth-busting: Addressing the Myths around Ordaining Deaconesses

Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Moderated by St. Phoebe Board Secretary Dr. Helen Creticos Theodoropoulos

This Zoom session directly engaged with concerns and and incorrect teachings about the revival of the ordained order of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church, addressing such issues as: the unfounded but wide-spread belief that women are not allowed in the sanctuary/altar, lingering and theologically indefensible connections between women’s bodies and impurity, and “slippery slope” concerns about deaconesses leading to women priests.

Panelists:

Rev. Fr. Peter Baktis, Mother of God Joy of All Who Sorrow Church

Sister Vassa Larin, PhD, Coffee with Sister Vassa

Carrie Frederick Frost, PhD, St. Phoebe Center Board Chair, Western Washington University

Watch the Recording of Mythbusting

Church of Our Granddaughters by Carrie Frederick Frost: An Evening with the Author

Sunday September 3, 2023

St. Phoebe Center Chair Carrie Frederick Frost spoke and conversed about her new book Church of Our Granddaughters.

From the publisher: Church of Our Granddaughters is a visionary work of theology and ethics that looks hopefully and lovingly two generations into the future, imagining the Orthodox Church’s practices and realities rightfully aligned with its core theological teachings and truths regarding women. This reverent but bold work offers the necessary insight and inspiration to create a community that welcomes all its members, our granddaughters as well as our grandsons, thus allowing the Orthodox Church to better incarnate its mission of service and transfiguration.

Watch the Recording Here