New York February 09
2006: The first ever gathering of the newest spiritual
organization of the American Diocese named FOCUS (Fellowship of
Orthodox Christians in the United States) was held on Saturday,
January 21, 2006 at St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Queens
(Cherry Lane) under the leadership of FOCUS Director, Dn. Aju
Philip Mathews.
After opening prayer and an ice-breaker to get everyone
acquainted, Dn. Aju spoke of the responsibilities of a Christian
young adult living in the modern American society. He stressed
the call of Christ to all people to live and spread the Good
News to all. The floor was opened to a interesting discussion of
the goals of FOCUS and how those goals could be actualized in
various areas. The group decided to meet as a larger NY-NJ area
in February onwards until the need to make it smaller was
necessary.
FOCUS also is
unique to the American Diocese because it works specifically to
involve American-born Indian Orthodox young adults with the
other members of the Church community, especially students as
well as colleagues of the same age, but born and brought up
abroad. It also looks to help the church's mission to go after
young adults who feel left out of the Church, or who have
legitimate issues with the Church.
FOCUS - Philadelphia will convene for the first time on
Sunday afternoon, February 12th, 2006 at St. Thomas Orthodox
Church (Unruh Ave.) at 3 pm. FOCUS - Houston and FOCUS -
Maryland are also looking to organize themselves soon. For more
information on FOCUS, please contact the Director at deaconaju@yahoo.com
or go to their temporary site: www.groups.yahoo.com/FOCUS_NYNJ
for more information.
( Indian Orthodox Herald News Release,
February 09, 2006 )
