The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America, the representative body consisting of all 53 active, canonical Orthodox bishops in the U.S., will convene for their Annual Meeting on September 16-18, 2014, in Dallas, TX. The meeting will be the first time His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph will fill the role of First Vice Chairman of the Assembly, a position always held by the Antiochian Archdiocese's metropolitan.
Features of this meeting will include a pan-Orthodox Doxology, and a Clergy-Laity Gathering on the evening of Monday, September 15. All clergy and laity are invited to join in prayer during the Doxology, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Dallas. Following the Doxology, a panel of bishops will answer questions related to the work of the Assembly, and fellowship will follow. This is the second Assembly-sponsored clergy-laity event; the first was held in Cleveland, Ohio in October 2013. The gatherings give hierarchs the opportunity to present the work of the Assembly, while opening the floor to the faithful to express their ideas and concerns.
Members of the Assembly represent the following archdioceses and dioceses: Albanian, American Carpatho-Russian, Antiochian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Greek, Orthodox Church in America, Romanian, Russian, Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, Serbian, and Ukrainian. The Assembly was established to address the pastoral needs of Orthodox faithful, present a common and unified witness of the Orthodox Faith, and manifest the unity of Orthodoxy.