Volunteers Needed to Participate in Orthodox Family Study

June 11, 2009

The Center for Family Care of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is looking for volunteers to participate in the first national study "Orthodox Family in America at Home and in Church."

Family is the most essential unit of our society. St John Chrysostom wrote, "The human family constitutes the primary and essential element of human society... peace in society will be a direct result of peace in the family." But for many of us there is no peace from the stresses and demands of our modern life. We have often heard that our Church should be an important part of our family-our spiritual family. But how does this part of our family help us with our lives and challenges we face? How do we live out our Orthodox Christian Faith daily?

"The Orthodox Family in America at Home and in Church" study is a first step towards a better understanding of how our Church ministers to the particular needs of families and how Orthodox families in America organize their everyday lives with regard to living their faith. In brief, this study addresses several broad questions:

• How is the family life of parishioners related to their Church life? To what degree is our Church present and helpful in the everyday routines of the families of her faithful?
• What are major sources of stress in the family lives of our faithful? What are the greatest challenges for the maintaining of Orthodox Christian traditions in their family homes?
• What types of family oriented programs and activities are presently offered in the individual Greek Orthodox Archdiocese parishes? What do parishioners think about these programs?

We need volunteers interested in being a part of this project. There are only two requirements to be eligible for participation:

• you must be a parishioner of a Greek Orthodox community, and
• you must have children 18 and under living at home (single parents are equally welcomed to participate as well as intermarried families-where the parents are Orthodox/non-Orthodox)

If you are willing to help us by participating in the "Orthodox Family in America" study or if you have any further questions, please send us e-mail at familycare@goarch.org or call 845-424-8175. You can also download the form at www.family.goarch.org. Thank you. We look forward to hearing from you!