Edmonton Eparchial Sobor

Edmonton Eparchial Sobor
May 23-24, 2014
Vision 2020 “The Vibrant Parish: The Place to Encounter the Living Christ”

From time to time, the Church gathers together the clergy, religious, monastics and laity to study and reflect upon pastoral concerns which affect the life and well-being of the Church.

In the context of an eparchy, such gatherings are called an Eparchial Sobor or Assembly.

Since the Jubilee Year 2000, the Eparchy of Edmonton has now convoked 5 such Sobors:

2001 – “Jesus Christ: Fountain of Rebirth”
2003 – “The Ukrainian Catholic Church in Alberta: 100 Years Later”
2008 – “Evangelization and the Ukrainian Catholic Church – Following in the Footsteps of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Apostles to the Slavs”
2010 – “Consecrated Life”
2012 – “Evangelization: A New Springtime”

In order to carry out more effectively the mission of the Church, I have convoked a Sobor on the theme of “Vision 2020 – The Vibrant Parish, the Place to Encounter the Living Christ.” The Sobor will place on May 23-24, 2014 at Saint Josaphat Cathedral Hall (Verkhovyna).

The theme of the Sobor focuses on the parish as the place where the faithful meet the person of Christ, for some each and every Sunday, for others perhaps only at Easter and Christmas, and for still others only rarely on the occasion of a family or friend’s wedding or funeral.

The Sobor aims at finding ways to transform our parishes into even more places of welcome, where a ministry of welcome to guest and stranger alike is alive and well. In such an environment, the seeds of the Gospel can be sown, take root, and nourished, giving glory to God in all things.

The results of the Sobor will then find their way into how we as Church throughout the province of Alberta exercise our ministry of welcome.

The results of the Sobor will also form part of a scheduled world-wide Patriarchal Sobor convoked by His Beatitude Sviatoslav for August 2015 in Ukraine.