TASK FORCE

at all levels of parish life, and especially in parish leadership. Father Frank stresses a holistic approach to religious education, which emphasizes Liturgical participation as the foundation to Christian education and spiritual growth. Despite the often high-tech approach, (with online classes and instructional CD ROMs) it is in many ways a return to the ancient understanding of Christian formation: Orthodox Christians of all ages - beginning with the adults - must be trained and encouraged to participate fully in the life of the Church.

In addition to the many resources available through the Department of Religious Education, including instructional videos for adult training, Father Frank has been busy spanning the country with his two-day combined leadership/religious education seminars. Fr. Frank's next workshop series in our Diocese will take place on January 26-28, 2001 hosted by the parish of St. Nicholas in San Jose, California. Discussions are also underway for Father Frank to visit Southern California in May of 2001. 

Another item being produced annually by the D.R.E. is the "Annual Resource Companion" or ARC. This is an especially wonderful resource for Church School teachers. As always, this year's ARC presents the 2000-2001 Archdiocesan theme of "The Holy Fathers." It also contains the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival topics for this year, as well as a wealth of bibliographic resource information for students and teachers to aid in speech preparation. The Diocesan Level St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival will take place at St. Nicholas Ranch on Saturday, May 26, 2001, and the National Oratorical Festival will take place on June 8, 2001.

The Christian Formation Taskforce of the San Francisco Diocese is planning their next meeting for January, 2001, of which a report will follow in the winter 2001 edition of the Diocesan Voice. 

INTERNET SCHOOL

The classes will be broadcast in Real-Time through the Archdiocese Web Server. The syllabus, bibliography and class notes can be downloaded from the ISOS site at www.isos.goarch.org. The presentation will also be archived so that students can listen to the classes when their schedule permits.

Numerous previously broadcast theological classes have been archived on the ISOS web page of the Department of Religious Education. Examples include: An Examination of the Triodion; An Examination of the Christmas Fast; A Theological examination of the hymns of the Eight Tones (Parakleteke), and A study of the Theotokos taughts by the Rev. Dr. Thomas Hopko, Dean of Saint Vladimir's Seminary. Interested adults may access the page and listen to these presentations at their leisure and are offered free of charge

The Faculty of the Holy Cross School of Theology has voted to give a certificate of educational recognition to students who participate in the classes and meet the Certification Requirements of the Department of Religious Education.