METROPOLIS OF CHICAGO ARCHONS HOLD 2ND ANNUAL BUSINESS RETREAT
GUEST SPEAKER PROFESSOR JAMES SKEDROS DISCUSSED HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF AND FUTURE OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE
KANSASVILLE, WI: The Metropolis of Chicago’s Archons held their 2nd Annual Archon Business Retreat on Saturday, April 22, at the at St. Iakovos Retreat Center in Kansasville, Wisconsin. During the retreat, Metropolis of Chicago Archon news was reported and National Archon-related events discussed.
The guest speaker for this year’s retreat was James Skedros, the current dean of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, and the Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Professor of Byzantine Studies. Dr. Skedros centered his lecture on the importance of the city of Constantinople for the past, present and future of the Patriarchate.
James C. Skedros is dean of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (Brookline, MA) and the Michael G. and Anastasia Cantonis Professor of Byzantine Studies. A graduate of Holy Cross, Professor Skedros received his Th.D. from Harvard Divinity School in the History of Christianity in 1996. From 1996 to 1998 he was Assistant Professor of Orthodox Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has been on the faculty of Holy Cross since 1998. His teaching and research areas include popular religious practices in Late Antiquity, Byzantine Christianity, the lives of early Christian and Byzantine saints, pilgrimage, and Christian-Muslim relations. He is also Lecturer on New Testament Greek at Harvard Divinity School where he has been teaching Greek since 2000.
In addition to his book on the historical development of the veneration of the early Christian martyr Demetrios (St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki: Civic Patron and Divine Protector, 4th-7th c. CE ), he has published several journal articles as well as entries in important references works (The Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity; The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity; The Orthodox Christian World) and in several books dealing with the veneration and commemoration of saints. He is a double recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, both for the study of Byzantine saints in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Eastern Orthodox Christians are the second largest Christian faith tradition worldwide. The Metropolis of Chicago oversees all Greek Orthodox Parishes within Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, as well as large portions of Missouri and Indiana. You can find more information on the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago on our website: www.chicago.goarch.org. More information on the Archons is available at www.Archons.org and more information on Holy Cross Hellenic College can be found at www.hchc.edu.
