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4th Sunday after Pentecost
July 13, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral raises $3,000 for OFASC

On Sunday, June 29, 2008, with the blessing of the rector Archpriest Victor Potapov, St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral held a benefit trapeza after each of the two Divine Liturgies celebrated that morning to benefit the Orthodox Fellowship of All Saints of China (OFASC). St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral is a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia located in Washington, DC (http://www.stjohndc.org). A fasting Chinese meal was served in commemoration of the Holy New Martyrs of China, whose feast day (June 11/24) fell on the preceding Wednesday.

OFASC President Nelson Mitrophan Chin spoke to parishioners following the morning's first Divine Liturgy about the history and mission of OFASC and answered questions about the past and present of the Orthodox Church and Orthodox faithful in China. Mitrophan highlighted recent developments including a front page article on Hong Kong's English language newspaper South China Morning Post. Depicted in full color were two vested elderly Chinese Orthodox clergy concelebrating the Divine Liturgy on Pentecost Sunday with a resident Russian priest at the Russian Consulate in Shanghai for the first time since the closing of the Shanghai Diocese in the 1960s. He also directed the parishioners' attention to the display table of a wide range of Orthodox publications translated into simplified Chinese by the Orthodox Brotherhood of Saints Apostles Peter and Paul in Hong Kong (Moscow Patriarchate) and into traditional Chinese by the Holy Trinity parish in Taiwan (Ecumenical Patriarchate).

A group of parishioners paid for the costs of the event, allowing all proceeds earned to be directed to OFASC. The funding and prayers will help to enable Orthodox scholarly participation in mainland Chinese academic and scientific conferences that deal with Orthodoxy as a means of Chinese Orthodox missions within the legal framework of responsible Chinese authorities.

The Orthodox Fellowship of All Saints of China is a pan-Orthodox 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, with an international Board of Trustees and Advisory board. For more information about OFASC, visit http://orthodox.cn/ofasc/index_en.html or contact OFASC President, Nelson Mitrophan Chin at mitrophan@orthodox.cn