DC Banquet Special Guests
Special Address By
HIS EMINENCE ARCHBISHOP
ELPIDOPHOROS (LAMBRINIADIS) OF AMERICA
His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros (Lambriniadis) of America, Most Honorable Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, was elected Archbishop of America by the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on May 11, 2019, he and was enthroned on June 22 of the same year.
Archbishop Elpidophoros was born in 1967 in Bakirköy, Istanbul. He studied at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki — School of Pastoral and Social Theology, from which he graduated in 1991. In 1993, he finished his postgraduate studies at the Philosophical School of the University of Bonn, Germany. He was ordained a Deacon in 1994 at the Patriarchal Cathedral and was thereafter appointed as the Codecographer of the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
In 1995, he was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Holy and Sacred Synod. From 1996-1997 he studied at the Theological School of St. John the Damascene in Balamand, Lebanon. In 2001, he presented his doctoral dissertation at the Theological School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, earning a Doctorate of Theology with highest distinction. In 2004, he was invited to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA, where he taught as a visiting professor for one semester.
In March 2005, at the proposal of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, he was promoted by the Holy and Sacred Synod to the position of Chief Secretary and was ordained to the priesthood by the Ecumenical Patriarch in the Patriarchal Cathedral. In 2009, he submitted two dissertations to the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki — School of Pastoral and Social Theology and was unanimously elected Assistant Professor of Symbolics, Inter-Orthodox Relations and the Ecumenical Movement. In 2018, he was elected full professor at the same university, a position he held until his election as Archbishop of America.
In March 2011, he was elected Metropolitan of Bursa, and in August of the same year was appointed Abbot of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegial Monastery of the Holy Trinity on the island of Halki. He has served as the Orthodox Secretary of the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox Church and the Lutheran World Federation and as a member of the Patriarchal delegations to the General Assemblies of the Conference of European Churches and the World Council of Churches. He was the Secretary of the Pan-Orthodox Synods in Sofia (1998), Istanbul (2005), Geneva (2006), and Istanbul (2008). He has been an active member of the World Council of Churches serving on its Central Committee and also serving on its Faith and Order Commission since 1996."
Banquet Emcee
ARCHON MIKE MANATOS
Emmanuel "Mike" A. Manatos of the St. George Church in Bethesda, M.D., was invested as Archon on Oct. 22, 2006 and conferred with the offikion name Dikaiophylax. He was the Order's first third generation Archon, preceded by his grandfather, Mike Manatos, and father, Andrew Manatos. He is President of Manatos & Manatos, a Washington-based lobbying firm.
Archon Manatos serves on the Executive Board of Leadership 100, has served on the Archdiocesan Council of the Greek Orthodox Church of America since 2008, and has served on his parish council several times. He served as Conference Chairman of the 3rd Archons International Conference on Religious Freedom: “The Persecution of Christians in the Holy Lands and Middle East, Consequences and Solutions,” in Washington, DC. In 2014, he served on the team that coordinated the historic Apostolic Pilgrimage of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Frances to Jerusalem and the Holy Land. He serves on the board of several other national Hellenic organizations including the National Hellenic Society and the National Hellenic Student Association.
During his 28-year career as a federal lobbyist, he has devoted much of his time, on a pro-bono basis, to protect and promote the religious freedom of the Ecumenical Patriarchate with the most influential US policymakers in the US Congress, White House, State Department and other agencies. He also arranges meetings for the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America and other church leaders with various high-level US government officials.
Born in Washington, D.C., he has lived in the metropolitan area all of his life. He is married to Laura Evans Manatos and they have three children: Sienna, Andrea and Lucas.
Featured Presenters
FR. THOMAS AND PRESBYTERA ELIZABETH MANUEL
(PAST OCMC MISSIONARIES TO GUATEMALA)
Fr. Thomas Manuel, the son of Fr. John and Pres. Karen Manuel, grew up at the center of church life as while his father served first as a Youth Director and later as a priest. During his first year in college in 2007 he took a OCF REAL BREAK trip to Guatemala City, Guatemala which sparked a lifelong desire to serve in the mission field. After graduating from James Madison University with a dual degree in International Politics, Spanish language, and a minor in Latin American Politics he went to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. He graduated with his Master of Divinity in 2014.
Pres. Elizabeth Manuel, daughter of Stavroula Marshall, is a native of Norfolk, VA and grew up going to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral. She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2013 with a degree in Psychology. Shortly after graduating college, she felt called to the mission field and this was affirmed during a short-term trip to Guatemala in 2015.
Fr. Thomas and Pres. Elizabeth joined the OCMC missionary team in Guatemala in 2018 living in the village of Aguacate in the highlands of Guatemala. Fr. Thomas taught classes to the seminarians at the St. Andrew the Apostle seminary, as well as assisted with the priests and seminarians in parish visits and catechetical retreats. Pres. Elizabeth taught music to the seminarians and women’s choir. She also administered a children’s ministry program for children of all ages in the village.
The Manuels have two children and returned home to Virginia in January 2023 to begin serving Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Loudon County.