Address to the All-American Council and FOCA Grand Banquet

Address to the 21st All American Council and 98th FOCA National Convention July 17, 2025

Your Beatitude, Your Eminences, Your Graces, Reverend Fathers, Matushki, members of our monastic communities, laity, members of the FOCA and guests, Glory to Jesus Christ!  My name is Basil Kochan.  I am the current president of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America.  The Holy Synod of Bishops has officially recognized us as an arm of the Orthodox Church in America and yet, many members of the OCA have no idea of who we are and why we even still exist.

In a time in which many people feel no need to belong to an organization beyond their own local church, we are here in Phoenix to celebrate our 98th year and invite you to reactivate dormant chapters, start new chapters, or simply become a member.  

For those able to attend Tuesday evening, thank you to Silas Carbo for leading a discussion and taking questions after the viewing of Sacred Alaska, both sponsored by the FOCA.

At this point, I could offer you information regarding the storied history of the FOCA.  The entire history may be encapsulated in the present in one simple reflection.  For nearly 100 years, we have been fulfilling the challenge brought forth for this 21st All American Council.  We have been and continue to be “Gathered Together By Christ.” For nearly 100 years, this organization has served the Orthodox Church in America based on four principles that are the cornerstone and motto of the FOCA: pray, study, toil, and be temperate. All of the works of the Fellowship strive to meet those criteria in every project undertaken.

Every time we Gather Together By Christ as a local chapter, district or even national convention, we begin and end with the foundation of our Faith, we gather to pray. 

We encourage and promote study in the Faith.  A few years ago, the FOCA supported the Diocese of Alaska with the purchase of prayer books in Native Tlingit during the leadership of Archbishop David of blessed memory.

We toil in the church through raising funds annually to support projects of need in the church at all levels.  The FOCA has an annual appeal named for our patron saint, Andrew, that raises funds for important initiatives at all levels.  Over just the past few years, we have supported the Dioceses of Alaska and Mexico as suggested at the 20th AAC, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Camp and the restoration of St. Theodosius Cathedral following their tragic fire.  More details of this project will conclude my presentation.  Just today, I am pleased to announce that our Gifts of Love Campaign for this next year will raise funds for the Matushka Olga Church Fund.  You can access PayPal and donate this evening in the foyer via our FOCA QR code on the signage.

In all that we do, we are temperate.  All of our endeavors are approached with calm and demeanor that is conducive for good decisions.  Whether raising funds to support youth activities at an All American Council as you have just seen or support seminarian families with gifts for the season of the Nativity of Christ, we do so humbly and quietly.

“Why should you want to be a part of the FOCA?”    

We serve as an official arm of the Orthodox Church in America to promote fellowship among the faithful across the US.  Can you do this without being a part of yet another organization?  The short answer is yes.  However, the network that we have developed over nearly a century connects you to others immediately who can help you foster a greater sense of community with your fellow Orthodox and build on the good works that you already do.  In our connected organization, friends become family.  That family spans this great country as witnessed here this week with attendees from across the United States.  You simply multiply the good.

The FOCA works to address many stages of life.  Some of our most recent endeavors include development of grants and scholarships for OCA campers and camps and emergency assistance funding for seminarians to name just a few.  

The FOCA is, and always has been, fulfilling some of the needs of the OCA.  Defining that to the whole church is where we have fallen short.  We have nearly a century of legacy in the United States of good works that may not have developed if not for the assistance or leadership of the FOCA.

For instance, most recently, St. Tikhon’s Seminary, at the direction of Archbishop Michael and the Board of Trustees, renamed the former orphanage converted into married student seminarian housing to Fellowship House in honor of the over $300,000.00 that was raised for this project by the FOCA.  This type of good works can continue to multiply the good with more choosing to become a part of the Fellowship.

Our good works are extensive, even in closures.  When the Central Pennsylvania District of the FOCA recently dissolved, they voted to send their remaining $8,000 to the Diocese of Alaska to support the initiatives of their diocese.  This is our Fellowship in action.

Some may ask what the organization can do for you.  The FOCA poses the question, what can you do for the organization?  I implore you to follow what the Holy Synod has blessed and join us.  This is a crossroads for all of us.  The more that we realize the opportunities to be gathered together by Christ, the more avenues we open to do good works for the Glory of God.  Please join us in this worthwhile endeavor.

With that, I call Archbishop Daniel, Archbishop of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest in which St. Theodosius Cathedral of Cleveland, Ohio resides and Fr. Nicholas Wyslutsky, Spiritual Advisor of the FOCA for a special presentation.  

In thanksgiving for the continued diligence in restoring your beloved cathedral dedicated to St. Theodosius, the FOCA humbly presents this check to bring our total donation to the Restoration Fund to $10,000.00 for assisting in your good works for the Glory of God.