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Inauguration of MGOCSM Diaspora Office at Nagpur
Posted on Monday, July 24 @ 00:58:38 CDT by admin |
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Day 1
Panel #3: “What the Youth Missed in the last 2 or 3 decades”
Moderator: John Jesudasan (Mumbai diocese)
Speaker: Mohan Daniel (Chennai)
Main Highlights:
· Inspirational Student/Senior/Parish leaders
· Mission to turn teens into good Orthodox Christians
· Explanation of Holy Qurbana in simple terms at all forums
· Bonding between Church and Youth by constant communication, periodicals, etc. It is a fact that the MGOCSM carries a rich legacy yet there was never an effort to educate about it to the then generations. Another facet of the same problem lies in lack of any co-ordination between the Central MGOCSM office in Kerala with the MGOCSM office in each diocese.
· To learn what is Orthodoxy.
Making this point the speaker stressed that the Church failed to provide good reason to substantiate that the Orthodox faith is the best.
· We miss the peace in Church.
The Church failed to provide a peaceful environment with disputes and fights between parishes, members of parish Committee and between the organizations of the Church. Thus there was seldom any good thing to emulate from our parents, elders, priests.
· There was never a change from the moribund activities organized for the youth.
It was felt that the activities in our Church have to be in tune with the present-day teens. Since the youth had little time owing to their career needs and other concerns, the Church failed to fine-tune its activities to the present-day needs of youth. It was increasingly felt that the Church continued to remain in the steam engine age when there was a need to be in the jet age.
· Lack of an English-oriented Seminary catering to outside Kerala youth.
· The deacons and nuns of the Church did not form part of the student movement.
· The MGOCSM failed to be represented in the diocesan or parish committees.
· A national integration of MGOCSM members across the dioceses was found lacking. Except for Kerala Conference held every year, there was no news about the regional conferences conducted by each diocese.
· Absence of information about the organizational structure of MGOCSM. There was no channel of communication linking the Central office with the dioceses.
· There was no intimation about registering parish units with the Central MGOCSM office. No newsletter or communication was addressed in this regard.
· The Church missed to address youth moving into other denominations. Also the Church missed to educate the new members from other denominations who came into our parish.
· The local parish even failed to monetarily support MGOCSM programmes or events.
The conclusions drawn from the above presentation focused on the lack of any co-ordination between the various MGOCSM units spread across the country. Another area of thrust emphasized by the speaker was lack of an effective support base and an effective leadership to indicate how the youth can be utilized effectively within the set up of MGOCSM or the home parish.
Speaker: Susan Jacob (Bangalore)
The remarkable point made in the presentation focused upon the limited role women played in the Church. Had the Diaspora Secretariat then existed, it could have encouraged women to pro-actively engage in the activities of the Church which is now been realized. The presentation focused again on the lack of direction for MGOCSM, which made its units appear as patches of clouds drifting in the sky. The absence of leadership and means of communication was attributed as one of the reasons for this disconnection.
Main Highlights:
· MGOCSM lacked a sense of direction with all MGOCSM units limited within their parishes with no outside contact.
· No encouragement received from the Central MGOCSM office.
· There was no need felt to understand the psyche of the youth and to fine tune the activities accordingly.
· There was no loyal leadership available for the MGOCSM either from the senior members or from the priests.
· The youth was seldom educated about the richness of the Church.
· Women would have been pro-active had there existed something like the Diaspora Secretariat.
Speaker: Sanjay R Varghese (Delhi)
The speaker touched upon a very vital element of concern for the diaspora youth to drift apart from the Church’s mainstream. Since the diaspora consists of persons who are holding good job profiles and positions, they got seldom attracted to hold positions in the Church management committee. With the lack of any defined role in the Church after the MGOCSM (since they failed to identify with the Youth League largely dominated by Kerala born youth and elders) there was a vacuum felt. The speaker even went on to add that the linguistic barrier often resulted in a loss of belongingness that gradually crept in the youth who began to drift to other denominations.
Main Highlights:
· Distinct loss of belongingness
· No role to play after being out of MGOCSM. Our role was reduced to being just a spectator since joining the Youth League was unattractive.
· Being away from Church, the possibility of attending worship in other denominations increased.
· The dichotomy between what was preached by the priest and what is reality was felt. The parish priest always sounded idealistic while a practical approach was needed.
· Never could invite our own friends from other parishes. This opportunity was available in other churches where we used to take them for Christmas or Easter.
· The clergy (mainly from Kerala) never bothered about the specific demands of the diaspora youth.
· The diaspora youth never aspired to be part of the church management.
Speaker: Lata Susan Thomas (Ahmedabad)
The presentation highlighted the difficulties faced by any individual who enters the Church fold by virtue of being married into the Orthodox community. Relating her personal experience, the speaker suggested that belonging to an E******enical background, how difficult it became to adjust within the Orthopdox Church. No doubt the Qurbana was an enjoyable experience, but there was no effort by Church to instruct/educate about the richness of the Orthodox tradition to the new members. The Church even failed to accommodate such persons within its fold. It offered limited opportunities by way of participating in spiritial organizations that ultimately resulted in frustration.
Main Highlights:
· It is the responsibility of Church leaders to educate and accommodate those who come into the Church from other denominations.
· Limited opportunities for women in the Church. Those who do not wish to be part of Martha Mariam Vanitha Samajam, have no alternative to function among the youth, even though they have a strong urge to contribute.
Speaker: Bibi Kuruvilla (Kuwait)
The presentation touched upon the important aspect of spiritual growth, which the Church utterly failed to provide to its youth. The speaker being part of the Orthodox community in Kuwait highlighted the several reasons that distanced the youth from the Church. The youth never felt comfortable with the language, traditions of the Church. This created a void in their spiritual growth despite their association with the Church.
Main Highlights:
· Language barrier never enabled youth to completely utilize the Qurbana
· There was a total disconcertment between what occurred in the altar and the participants down below.
· Priests never gave spiritual talks or discourses in a language that could be understood by the diaspora youth.
· Activities within the MGOCSM never focused on building spiritual life.
· While the Church produced several theologians they had no connection whatsoever with our lives.
· Fellowship of young men and women to nurture dynamism in Church was absent.
Speaker: Jijo Attupuram (Bangalore)
The speaker emphasized the need of having a Diaspora Secretariat so as to preserve the talents from getting lost as it occurred in the past. The speaker recalled that much to the loss of the Church as also the youth, several talented youth of the Church, who were endowed with rich talents failed to get tapped by the Church owing to the little avenues they were offered within the Church.
Main Highlights:
· The Church has forsaken some of the best talents
· Our generation missed to understand the deeper meaning of our prayers.
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