DIOCESE OF EASTERN AMERICA AND NEW YORK: April 27, 2010
St John the Baptist Cathedral Announces Live Internet Broadcast of Divine Services

With the blessing of His Grace Bishop George of Mayfield, mitred Archpriest John Sorochka, the Cathedral Dean, has begun broadcasting divine services via a live internet link. This initiative is reported to be one of the first such ventures for the Russian Orthodox Church in the United States.  

The Cathedral of St John has already been broadcasting the Sunday Divine Liturgy via the radio for many years in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It was decided in January 2010 to pursue the real time transmission of nearly all of the cathedral services. The complete service schedule can be found at the Cathedral's Web site www.stjohnsroc.com. The link to the streaming video can be found at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/st-john-s.   

Bishop George, the rector of the Cathedral, offered this statement regarding internet transmission of Cathedral services:  

 "I believe it is a good idea to broadcast the services over the internet. This will be very helpful for those who are not able to come to church in person. It will need to be publicized so that more priests can make announcements and tell parishioners about it. May God bless Fr John in his pastoral work in making the divine services available to more people."  

As the Dean of the Cathedral, Father John offered these welcoming comments:  

 "Since the 1930's, our Cathedral has been broadcasting the Divine Liturgy on the radio to those of the Orthodox Faith and to those who are non-Orthodox. Now, with today's advanced technology in the form of the internet, we are able to reach those unable to attend services for reasons beyond their control. We shall now be able to reach people either via the radio transmission or the live streaming video. Everyone with internet access will be able to share all of the services with us. There is one issue regarding this implementation of internet transmitted services that is of absolute importance- the viewing of internet services is not to be an excuse for those who are fully capable of attending the Divine Services in person.

Since the live streaming began on March 27, 2010, we have received emails from individuals in the Midwest, England and Russia who have come across our U-stream internet web page. The comments have all been positive feedback regarding the availability of all the services that our Cathedral broadcasts."  

Sunday transmission of services begins at 8:00 am with the celebration of matins followed by the Divine Liturgy at 9:30 am.  

 "And he saith unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)