Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania
Orthodox Church in America
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Parish Development Webinars


Parish Development Forum 2022 Encore Webinar Series

Beginning Thursday evening September 15 and continuing for at least two additional weeks (Septemeber 22 and 29) a series of "Encore Webinars" reprising popular sessions from the 2022 Parish Development Forum will be presented.  Each webinar willbegin at 7:30 PM EDT.

For more information click here.

Ministry of The Parish Council Series

Collaborative leadership from clergy and laity is critical to creating a bright future for the Orthodox parishes in America. Yet most observers would agree the typical Orthodox parish council has room for improvement.

This multi session webinar series examined how to transition parish councils from the parish fire department to a shared leadership body that cooperates with the priest to discover possibilities, discern priorities, drive change and prepare the parish for vital ministry.

Session One  COMPLETE

Session one was held November 3 2015. It covered:

-- an introduction to good parish governance principles based upon Orthodox ecclesiology.

-- a brief history of common parish governance ideas wrongly inherited from the past

-- a review of the reveiw of the purpose and role of the parish and the parish council

The archive recording is unavailble.

Slides for session one can be found here

Session Two COMPLETE

Session one was held Decemeber 2015. It covered expectations of parish council members, tasks of parish councils, parish administrative structure and good practices of parish councils.

The archiive recording for session two can be found here.

The slides for session two can be found here.

Session Three COMPLETE

Session three was held Jan 12 2016. It covered good meeting practices

The slides for session three can be found here

Archive recording for session three can be found here

Session Four COMPLETE

Session four was held on Feb 9 2016. It dealt with special leadership topics and questions previously raised by attendees. This included:

  • Dealing with Parish Tension
  • Recruiting Council members
  • Fiduciary Duties of council
  • Small Parish Issues -- including leading change
  • New member engagement
  • Moving beyond  bills, budgets and buildings
  • Connecting Council with Ministry

The archive recording of session four is not available.

The slides for session four can be found here.

Fostering Generosity & Practical Financial Stewardship

Complete

This webinar explored various topics associated with building good stewardship in parishes including:
The Meaning of Stewardship;People Don't Invest in a Sinking Ship -Don't Beg -- Believe! ;Moving above the $10 per Week Expectation; Characteristics of an Effective Stewardship Ministry and Stewardship NOT Fund Raising

Archive Here

Slides Here

Waking Up Your Parish With College Ministry

Complete

Few actions can heat up a lukewarm parish better than reaching out to college students to help them find a worship home away from home. This webinar covered three topics:

WHO are thesecollege student; what arethey like?

WHY should we minister to college students?

HOW What actions should we take to get started?

Slides Here

Archive Recording Here  You need to login/register to view the recording.


Communicating Your Parish -- Yellow Pages is No Longer Enough

Complete

Perhaps more than any other North American religious body Orthodox Christian parishes need to be effective in communicating their mission and their ministries to the world, to their local community and to their members.

In an age of rapidly proliferating communication methods and technologies, it is urgent for parishes to continually reevaluate their various audiences and how and what they communicate to them. It is time we get over being "one of America's best kept secrets". It is a fact that 80+% of potential guests and inquirers will use your parish’s online presence - or lack of it to - decide whether they want to visit your parish. And, they will drive past one Orthodox parish to visit another based on web based information.

Archive and Slides

If you missed the session you can view an archive recording by clicking here.  You need to register to view the recording. (First five minutes is without visual -- after that you see and hear the presentation.

To download a pdf of the slides click here.


Profiles in Parish Revitalization

COMPLETE

On Thursday June 12 2014 we presented the webinar "Profiles in Parish Revitalization" to a large audience. Our speakers were:

  • Father Tom Soroka, Pastor St Nicholas Orthodox Church McKees Rocks, PA
  • Father Jonathan Proctor Pastor, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, St Paul MN
  • Father Marc Vranes Pastor, Holy Trinity Orthodox Church Willimantic CT

Archive and Slides

If you missed the session you can view an archive recording by clicking here.  You need to register to view the recording. (First five minutes is without visual -- after that you see and hear the presentation.

To download a pdf of the slides click here.

Windows Movie version of archive  -- here

 

Building Vibrant Parishes Webinar Series

Session One - Wed. July 10 2013 -- 8 PM EDT  COMPLETE

“Experiences of Decline and Renewal”

Session one focused on building a sense of urgency and hope. It explored patterns of decline and denial, provided insights into helping parishes get out of “ruts” and offered stories of parishes that have suffered decline and are now seeing an increasingly hopeful future.

Slides -- Click here for slides

Archive - Click here to access archive recording of the session. (You must reigster to view)


Session Two Wed. July 24, 2013 -- 8 PM EDT COMPLETE

“Characteristics of Vibrant, 21st Century  Orthodox Parishes in America”

Session Two offered a clear target vision of the behaviors, practices and values of good Orthodox parishes. The session will examine the basics of healthy Christian communities using examples from scripture and the early church, introduce attendees to ‘21 observable traits of growing, vibrant parishes’ and explore the Orthodox Parish Inventory Model as a tool to evaluate your parish.

Slides -- Click here for slides.

Archive - Click here to access archive recording of the session. (You must reigster to view)


Session Three - Wed. Aug 7, 2013 -- 8 PM EDT COMPLETE

“Driving New Life into Your Parish -

Having defined challenges and examined qualities of healthy parishes, our final session provided a framework for action. Topics included identifying obstacles, mechanisms of change, selecting a first action project and getting help.

Slides -- Click here for slides.

Archive - Sorry! The archive recording of the session is no longer available.

Reaching the Unchurched Webinar Series

Complete

Fr Jonathan Ivanoff and Joseph Kormos collaboratedto deliver a five part webinar series titled "Reaching the Unchurched".

Slides from each session are available. Recordings are no longer available.

Webinar Archive

Please follow this link to Midwest Diocese webinars page for archives of past webinars. (right hand column)

 

Webinar Info

A webinar is attending a remote conference. The presenter pushes info to attendee's screens. Participants can ask questions, see slides and hear speaker.
A webinar is attending a remote conference. The presenter pushes info to attendee's screens. Participants can ask questions, see slides and hear speaker.
A webinar is attending a remote conference. The presenter pushes info to attendee's screens. Participants can ask questions, see slides and hear speaker.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Webinars Project

Q What is a "webinar"?
A: A webinar is a an online session where one or more speakers presents training or informational material to an audience that is listening and watching over the internet. It's not television --you don't see the speaker -- but the speaker is able to share his or her computer desktop, often showing a document or a set of slides, with attendees. You listen to the talk and the slides and visual aids are "pushed" to your screen. The basic benefit is making subject matter experts available without the need to have the speaker and the audience in the same place -- thus reducing travel time and cost.

Q: What does it cost to attend? Is there a fee?
A No, its free.

Q: How many people can attend?
A: Up to 100 attendees

Q: Can clergy or laity from other Dioceses or Orthodox jurisdictions also attend?
A: Sure -- the more the better. If we have space problems we'll try to allocate spaces to this Diocese. We'll cross that bridge if necessary.

Q: What do I need to attend?
A: Computer with a web connection. Here is more info.

System Requirements

PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista

Macintosh®-based attendees

Required: Mac OS® X 10.4 (Tiger®) or newer