16,951
edits
Changes
updated for ACOBNCA
The Archdiocese also includes one [[monasticism|monastic]] community, [[St. Paul Skete (Grand Junction, Tennessee)]], a community for women. It does not run any of its own seminaries, but sends its seminarians to theological schools run by other [[jurisdiction]]s or overseas. The Archdiocese does run various non-seminary educational programs, however, including the [[St. Stephen's Course in Orthodox Theology]].
The Antiochian Archdiocese is also a member of the [[Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America]] which superseded [[SCOBA]] and was formerly a member of the [[National Council of Churches]] (NCC), but on [[July 28]], 2005, its Archdiocesan Convention voted unanimously to withdraw fully from that organization, thus making it the first of the major Orthodox jurisdictions in the US to do so.
Additionally, the 2005 convention voted another first for a major American Orthodox jurisdiction: to alter the assessment-based model of archdiocesan revenue to a [[tithing|tithe]] (10%) of each parish's income (excepting building funds), to be phased in at 8% in 2007 and then followed by 1% increases in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Of the Archdiocese's 236 communities, 31 are already tithing.
