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[[Image:Ligonier Meeting.jpg|right|thumb|400px|[[SCOBA]] hierarchs at the Ligonier Meeting]]

{{orthodoxyinamerica}}

It was not strictly a council or [[synod]] ''per se'', but it had many of the characteristics of a synod, particularly the conciliarity or ''[[sobornost]]'' which results in the meeting of the Church's bishops together in collegiality, referring to itself as an "episcopal assembly." The conference was presided over by His Eminence Archbishop [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America]], then primate of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]] and [[SCOBA]] chairman.

==History==

===Preparation===

:The proposal was decided that the Orthodox Church in America, the Autocephalous Church, should issue an invitation to all hierarchs in North America to gather together in fellowship in order to come to know one another, face to face. Included would be even those who were not represented on SCOBA, meaning, at that time, the large Ukrainian Church.

In November of 1994, the invited hierarchs assembled at the [[Antiochian Village]] in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, hosted by Metropolitan [[Philip (Saliba) of New York|Philip]] of the [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian Archdiocese]] and presided over by Archbishop [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America]], primate at that time of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|Greek Archdiocese]] and SCOBA chairman (by custom, the chairman of SCOBA is elected by its members, but the one elected is always the primate of the representative of the [[Church of Constantinople]] in America).

Though Iakovos officially presided over the event, he "graciously receded into the background as Ligonier was under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Philip, who was thus the host and official prime mover behind the conference." Philip gave the address to the gathered bishops, and Archbishop [[Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas]] gave the official response. "By all accounts, unity and amity of purpose abounded. The assembled bishops came to an agreement and issued a statement declaring their intention of forming a united American Orthodox Church" (ibid., 181).

*[[Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia]]:

*[[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]]:

**Archbishop [[Herman (Swaiko) of Washington and New York|Herman (Swaiko) of Philadelphia]]

**Bishop [[Nathaniel (Popp) of Detroit]]

**Bishop [[Seraphim (Storheim) of Ottawa]]

**Bishop [[Mark (Forsberg) of Boston]]

:What we—the canonical Orthodox bishops—had done 10 years ago was good. But there are no results so far. It is only a good desire. That means—such is God’s will. Without Him we can do nothing.

:And now it is clear for me, that this prophecy should be fulfilled, but not during my life. I think that all of us, Orthodox bishops, who were born and came to America from the old countries, like me, and now control the jurisdictional eparchies, must die. The Holy Orthodox Church needs new generations of Americans to come after us, who shall fulfill the Lord's instructions and prophecy. Because now, as Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky writes: "Spiritually we are still drinking mother's milk, not yet ready for loftier and deeper experiences of the life reaching out to us from Christ and present through the Holy Spirit within our hearts."

:The Ligonier meeting of the Orthodox bishops in North America was a milestone in the history of Orthodoxy in America. The vision of Orthodoxy that was seen at that meeting is still relevant today, but has yet to be realized. Orthodox jurisdictional unity in North America must be our continued vision; any deviation from this is a contradiction to the order and canons of the Orthodox Church. Let us fervently pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in making this vision a reality.

:The Conference at Ligonier was an exciting moment for many of us who were priests serving the faithful at that time. All who read of the meeting and of its call to unity were inspired with high hopes.

===Other comments===

:It says in the [[Akathist]] that St. [[Herman of Alaska|Herman]] envisioned ''"an Episcopal throne in this land." (Ikos 11)'' <nowiki>[</nowiki>[http://dioceseofalaska.org/pdf/liturgical/StHermanAkathist-FullPage.pdf PDF of the Akathist]<nowiki>]</nowiki> It doesn't say anything about multiple thrones, but one&mdash;an autocephalous Church in this land&mdash;one that came to be in 1970 [i.e., the [[OCA]]]. I look back on those seminary years and years later when there was much hope for a united church in America. There were pan-Orthodox celebrations; Sunday of Orthodoxy gatherings were major events and the spirit of the faithful and clergy was elevated in this gathering of the Church. Now we look back just ten years later and find the gathering of bishops at Ligonier is hailed as the greatest event of American Orthodoxy! I wonder how the canonization of America's first saint is relegated to some lesser place in the life of Orthodoxy in America. Even Ligonier was hopeful to those of us who were serving the churches in multiple jurisdictions. Soon we were disappointed when hierarchs removed their names from the documents that were prepared; one on evangelism and the other on administrative unity.

*[http://www.ocl.org/The%20Vision.htm The Vision of Ligonier: Inter-Orthodox Cooperation or Ligonier: The Vision and the Reality], by Archbishop [[Nathaniel (Popp) of Detroit]]

*''The American Orthodox Church: A History of Its Beginnings'', a book by George C. Michalopulos and Herb Ham (ISBN 1-928653-14-6); Chapter 11 is entitled "Ligonier and the Challenge to the Old World"

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