A Meeting of the Committee on Discussions with the Corresponding Committee of the ROC MP to be Held on June 18-20

As reported earlier to clergymen of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, preceding the joint meetings of the committees established by the hierarchies of the Church Abroad and the Moscow Patriarachate, a preliminary meeting of the Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia will be held in Munich. Participating in the meeting will be:

His Eminence Archbishop Mark of Berlin, Germany and Great Britain, President; His Grace Bishop Ambroise of Vevey; Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), Deputy Dean of Holy Trinity Seminary, Jordanville; Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff, Rector of Holy Transfiguration Cathedral in Los Angeles; Mitred Protopriest George Larin, Rector of Holy Virgin Protection Church in Nyack, NY (appointed member of the Committee by His Eminence Metropolitan Laurus); and Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff, Secretary of the Germany Diocese, Advisor. On June 21, the Committee members will depart for Moscow, where that same day a meeting will be held with the participation of His Grace Bishop Evtikhii of Ishim and Siberia, member of the Committee, and Priest Nikolai Savchenko, a clergyman in Russia of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Advisor (who had spoken at the Expanded Clergy Conference in December 2003 on the ecumenical movement).

Joint sessions of the Committees of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate will be held from June 22-24 in Moscow at the building of the Office of External Church Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate at Danilov Monastery. On behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, the following will participate: His Eminence Archbishop Mark, His Grace Bishop Ambroise, Archimandrite Luke, Protopriest George Larin and Protopriest Alexander Lebedeff. His Grace Bishop Evtikhii and the Advisors, Protopriest Nikolai Artemoff and Priest Nikolai Savchenko will be in Moscow during the joint sessions and will participate in meetings of the Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia.

The members of the Committee begin the official dialog with extreme reverence and are prepared to work in earnest towards the glory of God in the name of His Truth and the honor of the Local Russian Orthodox Church and ask for prayers that the Holy Spirit guide them, and that they worthily represent the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in the tasks set before the Committee.