GUMCIUAI PRESS

No articles published

This edition is empty. Nothing is being collected, analysed or published at the moment.

Top Orthodox stories

View archive ›

Pastoral Retreat Provides Time for Prayer, Reflection, and Renewal

Clergy from the Orthodox Church in America gathered for a four‑day retreat to pray, learn, and renew their fellowship. The event featured presentations, workshops, and liturgical services, including a special Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God.

For four days, clergy from across the Orthodox Church in America set aside the ordinary demands of parish life to pray, listen, learn, and be renewed in fellowship with one another.

The 2026 Pastoral Retreat of the Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Pastoral Life was held September 29–October 2 at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, IL. About 100 bishops, priests, and deacons participated in this year’s retreat. Clergy gathered around the theme “The Fields Are Ripe for the Harvest,” sharing in a dedicated time of prayer, reflection, conversation, and brotherhood.

His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon noted in his opening remarks: “Setting aside a time for prayer, reflection, and pastoral renewal is not an escape from our responsibilities as pastors. Rather, these moments of rest and renewal are necessary so that we might be strengthened and re-energized to return to our sacred ministries by nourishing our own souls and strengthening the spiritual brotherhood of the priesthood.”

The retreat featured presentations by Archpriest John Parker, Dean of Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in South Canaan, PA, and Mother Christophora, Abbess of Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Ellwood City, PA.

Father Parker spoke on “Radical Growth and a Return to the Roots of Discipleship,” inviting clergy to reflect on the pastoral implications of growth and the need to remain rooted in the fundamental work of forming disciples of Christ.

Mother Christophora offered a reflection entitled “The One who Endures to the End will be Saved: Clues from the Cloister,” drawing upon the wisdom and experience of monastic life to explore perseverance and faithful service.

Orthodox Church in America

or
Drop a photo or file
photo of an article (OCR) · or .txt/.md/.html

Write to us

Corrections, right of reply, or anything else. Every message is read by the editor.

Write an article

Anyone can contribute. The editor reviews every submission before it goes live.

AI analysis · drop a file or paste a link

Ingest a piece and analyze it with AI

Drop a file or paste a link. Then run the flow and watch the AI analysis, step by step.

Drop a file
Drop a file here
or tap to choose · text, .md, .html, .csv, .json
or
Paste a link
Result · ready to publish

Community · write an article

Write an article

Draft your piece, use “Write more with AI” as many times as you like to expand it, then submit. The editor reviews it before it goes live.

Title
Your name (shown as author)
Your email (kept private, for the editor)
Category
Article photo (required)
Drop a photo here
or tap to choose · JPG/PNG · max 3MB
Article
Your article appears after the editor approves it.
Comments
Shown after approval.
Daily archive

All news, by day

Pilgrimages

Places to go, and who takes you

Monasteries, shrines and relics across the Orthodox world, with what is actually known about visiting them. Every entry names where its details come from.

Map & data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Do you organise pilgrimages?

Tell us who you are and where you depart from, and your circuits appear beside the places they go to. Nothing is published until a person here has read it.