After Bishop Maxim's session at the conference, we broke for lunch. At top, you see Bishop Maxim eating with Metropolitan Ignatios, Archbishop Ieronymos, and Pantelis Kalaitzidis, the director of the Academy for Theological Studies.
There was no break after lunch -- the conference plowed on until about 8:00 PM, at which time Metropolitan Ignatios took everyone for dinner in the little village town of Makrinitsa, at the top of nearby, historic Mt. Pelion.
During dinner and the van rides there and back, I had some very interesting and helpful conversations with two speakers from the conference, Rev. George Hunsinger and Fr. Alexander Rentel.
On Sunday morning, we went to the largest church in the city, dedicated to the Ascension, where I was privileged to concelebrate with 4 bishops, 11 priests, and 4 deacons.
Besides Bishop Maxim and Metropolitan Ignatios, the other bishops were Metropolitan Athanasios of Chalcedon (who served as protos) and Metropolitan Alexander of Nigeria, another speaker at the conference, who had a very interesting set of vestments that were inspired by an African theme.
In the photo immediately above, you can see the bishops around the altar.
After the liturgy, the clergy were treated to a nice breakfast there at the parish, and then we returned to the conference. The conference went on until about 2:30 or 3:00, at which time it concluded.
Bishop Maxim and I skipped out on lunch and headed down to Athens (about 3.5 hours south of Volos). The weather here has been beautiful, so we made one stop in Kamena Vourla, a popular seaside stopping point (as you can no doubt see for yourselves by the picturesque photo below.)
A man came by selling paintings, and you can see Bishop Maxim in the photo at the very bottom looking through the man's selections.
1 comment:
Do you have a photo of Metropolitan Alexander in the vestments you spoke of?
Thanks for posting about this conference. It would have been wonderful to have such an opportunity.
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