Unto the Most Reverend and Right Reverend Hierarchs, Pious Priests and Deacons, Monks and Nuns, Presidents and Members of the Parish Councils, Honorable Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Members of Leadership 100, Day and Afternoon Schools, Philoptochos Societies, Youth, Greek Orthodox Organizations, and entirety of the Christloving Plenitude of the Sacred Archdiocese of America:
For God loves a cheerful giver. (II Corinthians 9:7)
My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
On this Sunday closest to the Feastday of Saint Iakovos, the Brother of God and First Bishop of Jerusalem, we are celebrating the remarkable Archbishop Iakovos Leadership 100 Fund. Its creative and prescient works, as a permanent endowment for Orthodoxy and Hellenism in our Archdiocese, have had enormous impact on our Church, especially Hellenic College and Holy Cross. In this observance of Leadership 100’s amazing role in our Church, we also remember and recognize its eponymous inspiration, the ever-memorable Archbishop Iakovos of blessed memory.
Throughout the decades, Leadership 100 has cheerfully and responsibly given to meet the needs of the Church and to enhance the National Ministries of our Sacred Archdiocese of America. Since its very first grants in 1989, Leadership 100 has bestowed over seventy million dollars on these ministries, the majority going to the education of our clergy. The kindness and generosity of Leadership 100’s members is a sign of their faith in God, commitment to the Gospel, and dedication to the success of our apostolic mission.
Let this Sunday, October 22, the eve of the Feast of Saint Iakovos, be a day when all of us reflect and remember the great benefactors of Leadership 100 who have passed on to eternal rest. And should your parish have a member of this wonderful movement, I encourage you to organize a time and place to hear from them and learn more about its life-changing activities. Leadership 100 has blessed the Church in so many ways. May its members always receive from the Lord all things bright and beautiful, which bring joy, gladness, and the cheerfulness that come from generous hearts.
With paternal love in Christ,
† ELPIDOPHOROS
Archbishop of America