The Australian Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, LTD
ACN 649 025 141 ABN 76 649 025 141
PO Box 472 Newport Beach NSW 2106 Australia
Email info@aiocs.net
December 2023
Annual Report of Activity
2023
In harmony with its objectives, namely, contributing to the mutual understanding and the wellbeing of the various Orthodox families in Australia, and fostering their cooperation within the contemporary Australian society, AIOCS LTD has undertaken the following activities:
It continued the publication of blog posts on its website and video recordings on its dedicated YouTube channel. Posts can be found on the “Blog,” the “Father Matta,” and the “Faith & Science” sections of the website. The video recordings, accessible on the YouTube channel, can be found either in the “Relating Science & Religion” or in the “AIOCS Conversations” playlists. All these materials can be accessed gratis.
Along with the above, AIOCS LTD reaches out by maintaining a stream of news items on the website, as well as by way of social media outlets, as follows:
YouTube, Facebook (AIOCS), and Facebook (Relating Science & Religion)
The most notable achievements in 2023 related to completing two small projects, funded by external grants. One, with funds from ARTFinc, was Wagdy Samir’s project “Orthodox Theologies of Divine Participation: Matta al-Miskīn and Dumitru Staniloae.” The other, with funds from INSBS, was Efthymios Nicolaidis and Doru Costache’s project, “Contemporary Orthodox Christian Views of Artificial Intelligence in ‘Cradle’ and ‘Diaspora’ Communities” (INSBS Collaboration Fund Collab/01/106). The latter project resulted in a coauthored journal article, currently under review. The former project already produced three video conversations between Wagdy Samir and Doru Costache, a coauthored journal article being still in preparation.
Throughout the year we have advertised AIOCS LTD’s three annual Beginnings prizes for the best and most relevant (post)graduate research. While the response was underwhelming, with only one essay being submitted (currently being revised by the author in the light of preliminary feedback), we will continue to offer the prizes for work to be submitted in 2024.
These small but promising beginnings mark an important direction of AIOCS LTD, that is, to contribute to the mutual understanding and rapprochement of Orthodox Christianity beyond the known divides, and to facilitate Australian Orthodoxy’s constructive integration into the world of today by way of research and sound information.
To maintain and develop our work, the organisation also needs support from private donors. We are grateful to the donors who already contributed to our activities, but we hope that the community at large will begin to appreciate more our work. Currently, apart from the said donors and the small grants mentioned above, our outreach activities receive further support from AIOCS Press, a for-profit precursor of AIOCS LTD.
Donations can be made directly via the following bank accounts:
AIOCS LTD (not-for-profit)
Bank: Westpac
BSB: 032-196
Account number: 595961
OR
AIOCS (for-profit)
Bank: Westpac
BSB: 032-196
Account number: 525576
Indirectly, donations can be made via PayPal at:
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/aiocsnet
or by ordering AIOCS Press publications:
We are grateful for the support of our donors.