The Washington Orthodox Clergy Association is particularly pleased that the 16th All American Council will convene in our area. We pray that delegates will have an opportunity to visit our churches, and will experience the hospitality that our area has to offer.

SYOSSET, NY [OCA] -- A special web site devoted to the 16th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America went "live" on Thursday, February 3,2011.

The site may be accessed at http://aac16.org or by clicking the Council log on the OCA home page at www.oca.org.

In addition to general information about the council, coupled with an introduction by His Grace, Bishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West, in whose Diocese the Council will take place for the first time, the site will provide readers with resources, registration and hotel information, schedules, and related details. An excellent article by Archpriest Michael Oleksa, titled "Seattle, Gateway to Alaska," provides preliminary information on the pilgrimage to Alaska that will be available immediately after the conclusion of the Council.

The site also features an area on which local faithful can volunteer to assist in the Council.

The Council will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Bellevue, WA, a Seattle suburb, October 29 -- November 4, 2011. Due to Seattle’s relatively close proximity to Alaska, broad participation on the part of the Alaskan Diocese’s faithful will make it possible to fully highlight the OCA’s growing cultural diversity.

"We are particularly pleased the Holy Synod has blessed us to gather together for the first time in the beautiful Pacific Northwest," said Bishop Benjamin. "As all the previous All-American Councils have taken place in the eastern United States or Canada, the Seattle area will afford delegates from Alaska and the parishes of the West an opportunity to participate as never before."

from OCA Diocese of the West