A great man is one who collects knowledge the way a bee collects honey and uses it to help people overcome the difficulties they endure - hunger, ignorance and disease!
- Nikola Tesla

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.
- Franklin Roosevelt

While their territory has been devastated and their homes despoiled, the spirit of the Serbian people has not been broken.
- Woodrow Wilson

Jubilee Celebration of the Western American Diocese: Freedom to Pursue the Faith

Alhambra, CA – On August 30 through September 1, 2013, the Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America will hold its annual Diocesan Days gathering. This year Diocesan Days will mark several momentous anniversaries: 50 years of the founding of the Diocese, 150 years of the birth of Archimandrite Sebastian Dabovich, Holy Apostle to the Americas, and 1700 years of the Edict of Milan.

Events will include a Saturday morning symposium, which will focus on the freedom to pursue our faith since the time of Constantine 1700 years ago and how to better live a spiritual life. Symposium speakers will be Hieromonk Iakovos of Simonopetra, Mt. Athos, the V. Rev. Dr. John Erickson of St. Vladimir Seminary, and Dr. James Skedros of Holy Cross Seminary. An open question and answer session will follow their presentations.

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"We look forward to welcoming our Diocesan community and all interested persons to our celebration," said Bishop Maxim. "This promises to be a time filled with fellowship and spiritual reflection. Diocesan Days event provides space for celebration, dialogue and reflection through common prayer and symposia, theological conversations, workshops, the American landscape exhibit, the wine and beer symposiums…"

"The programme is made up of a rich offering of events intended to maximize sharing among participants – to deepen their experience of faith and fellowship, to increase their knowledge of ecclesial truths and to provide space for entertainment."

Other highlights of Diocesan Days will be an exhibition of recently completed American landscapes in an abstract Byzantine style by Fr. Stamatis Skliris as well as music, folk dance, and artisanal beer and wine tastings. Also, Dr. Michael Pravica, University of Nevada, Los Vegas, will give a special presentation on the work of Nikola Tesla, son of a Serbian Orthodox priest and scientist extraordinaire.

All events will take place on the grounds of St. Steven's Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, 1621 W. Garvey, Alhambra, CA 91803.

For more information please visit http://www.westsrbdio.org/en/events/diocesan-days

About the Western American Diocese

Founded in 1963, the Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America serves 32 parishes and 5 monasteries and sketes in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Utah and Mexico. Since 2006 the Diocese has been shepherded by His Grace the Right Reverend Bishop Maxim.

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People Directory

George Vukasin

Former Oakland City Councilman, Vice Mayor, Port Commissioner, and President of the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Board of Directors George J. Vukasin passed away peacefully in his home in Alamo on Monday, Feb. 15, just a few weeks short of his 83rd birthday.

Mr. Vukasin was CEO of Peerless Coffee and Tea, the pioneering Oakland coffee roaster that made craft roasting popular long before Peet's and Starbucks were born. He was an early force of the Specialty Coffee Association and served several effective terms as the President of the National Coffee Association. During that time, he was awarded the country of Colombia's highest honor, the Manuel Meija Award, named after the father of the Colombian coffee industry, for the work he did to elevate Colombian farmers out of poverty.

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Theological Disambiguations

An Unconventional Handbook of Orthodox Theology

by Rev. Vladan Perisic

Foreword
by Fr John Behr

It is a great pleasure to see this work published, making available some of the most important writings of Fr Vladan Perisic over the last couple of decades available, together in one volume, to an English speaking audience. Fr Vladan’s work is well known in Serbia, and in broader academic and ecumenical circles. But it can now receive the much wider readership that it deserves, and, as a collected volume, its scope, coherence, and significance is sure to receive the recognition it deserves.

The eighteen essays collected here treat diverse topics, from academic theology (and its place in the Church) to questions of life and death, from historically oriented studies, on Sts Ignatius and Gregory Palamas, to contemporary issues, such as human rights and ecology. Each of them is characterized by meticulous scholarship and great insight, clarity of thought and expression.

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