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Mor Clemis Eugene pays pastoral visit to St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, Portland

Under the auspices of His Eminence Mor Clemis Eugene Archbishop of the Western States St. Ignatius of Antioch Church in Portland, OR celebrated many spiritual occasions during the weekend of August 24th – 27th which had a significant impact in the hearts of the faithful.

Upon arrival of His Eminence on Friday August 24th, he visited a number of the church families and was accompanied with church priest Rev. Fr. George Youssef Al-Banna and Vice-President of the Parish Council, Dr. Matti Totonchy.

On Saturday evening His Eminence offered a prayer of thanksgiving and then hymns were chanted by the church choir with the guidance of Rev. Fr. George Youssef Al-Banna. Fr. George made a comprehensive statement about the church and then was followed by Dr. Matti Totonchy’s who explainined how the new church hall was remodeled, the difficulties that the church went through and praised the generosity of the believers. His Eminence concluded the evening with a speech, in which he expressed joy to the children of the church who displayed their faith and generosity. He encouraged them to continue imitating true Christian believers. After the Liturgy everyone went to the opening of the new church hall which was blessed by His Eminence during the ribbon cutting along with the joy and applause of the faithful.

On Sunday morning His Eminence celebrated the Divine Liturgy, assisted by Rev. Fr. George Youssef Al-Banna priest of the church, and Rev. Fr. Abdullah Tafas, priest of St. Matthew the Elder’s congregation of Seattle. During the Divine Liturgy in an atmosphere of spiritual joy, His Eminence ordained a number of the chanteress and then promoted the reader Zaid Thomas Totonchy to the rank of Subdeacon (Afudyaqno).

At the end of the Divine liturgy all the faithful joined the luncheon that had been prepared by the Ladies Auxiliary in joy of this spiritual event.

During the blessed weekend of August 24-28 the Church celebrated three occasions:

1. The 24th anniversary of its founding, August 28,1988, which was also the day

    of the ordination of the late Fr. Yacob Shukri, the first priest of the Church.

2. The opening of the new church social hall.

3. The Ordination of chanteresses and sub-deacon in the church.

A large number of faithful was in attendance during these events. May God protect and guide His church forever.

The Western Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch, providing spiritual guidance and leadership to the Syriac Orthodox community, is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization comprised of 18 churches and parishes in 17 western states. It was established in 1952 as the Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church encompassing the entire United States and Canada. In November 1995 by the Holy Synod of Antioch, the Western Archdiocese was formed to exclusively serve the 17 states of the western half United States.

417 E. Fairmount Rd., Burbank, CA 91501
Tel: (818) 845-5089 Fax: (818) 953-7203
E-mail: bishopric@soc-wus.org