A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 25 - Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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San Francisco Metropolitan Retires
BOSTON. - Metropolitan Anthony of San Francisco announced his retirement from the active ministry as Bishop of San Francisco effective by the end of 2005. The 69- year old Metropolitan completed, on June 7th, twenty-five years of Archpastoral Ministry in the Holy Metropolis of San Francisco. In a letter dated June 7, 2004 to the clergy, laity and all ecclesiastical organizations of the Metropolis of San Francisco—which is comprised of 67 parishes in California, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington—Metropolitan Anthony informed them that “after long and thoughtful consideration, I have arrived at the conclusion that the time has come for me to give my place to others, who will build upon the foundation that we have laid. I am therefore writing to formally announce that I will retire as Metropolitan of San Francisco and your Bishop by the end of the year 2005.” Metropolitan Anthony based his announcement of the Scriptural writing of St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians “By the grace of God given me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation…” Anthony’s move did not come as a surprise to many because, from time to time, he had mentioned to his close friends and associates that he intended to retire at some point soon, but he never made an official announcement until June 7. He writes in his letter to the Metroplis: “Twenty-five years ago today, on June 7, 1979, I was enthroned as the first Bishop of the newly created Diocese of San Francisco. Since that time, as St. Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians, I have endeavored to ‘lay the foundation,’ laboring together with many co-workers to develop a Diocesan structure with ministries and institutions corresponding to the needs of the faithful in this region. And by the grace of God, we have accomplished much in this regard.” Metropolitan Anthony elaborated on the idea of foundation and beginning: “In Psalm 77, we read, ‘Now I have made a beginning; this transformation is from the right hand of the Most High.’ Indeed, this is all that anyone can hope to do: to make a new beginning. Until the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, nothing is ever truly completed, nothing ever comes to an end. All we can do is to make a beginning, to lay the foundation, knowing that it is the Lord’s hand that takes our temporal efforts and transforms them in the eternal light of His Kingdom.” Metropolitan Anthony assures his faithful that they will not become spiritually orphans “As we conclude the Pentecostal season, it is perhaps also appropriate to echo the words of Christ regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit, ‘I will not leave you orphans, (John 14:18).’ The Holy Spirit, who ever directs the course of the Church’s life, will most certainly be present to guide the process of choosing a successor with the vision and gifts necessary to carry on the work that we have begun.” A number of festivities are planned throughout the Metropolis of San Francisco to mark Metropolitan Anthony’s twenty-five years of ministry as a Bishop of San Francisco: “These regional celebrations will give us an opportunity to be together, so that I can see all of you and bid farewell in person,” the Metropolitan stated in his letter.
Metropolitan Anthony (Gegrianakis) was born in
Avgeniki, Erakleion (Crete) in 1935. He studied
Theology at the Patriarchal Theological School of
Halki in Constantinople. He was ordained into
Deaconate and Presbytery in 1958. He completed
graduate studies at Yale, as well as at the
universities of Chicago and Wisconsin. In 1978 he
was elected auxiliary Bishop to the former
Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America, he
was given the title of Amissos and was assigned as
an Archpastoral overseer at the Diocese of Denver.
In 1979, he was elected the first Bishop of San
Francisco and two years ago was promoted to the
rank of Metropolitan of San Francisco.
Metropolitan Anthony was the general chairman of
the last Clergy-Laity Congress in Los Angeles in
2002. |
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