We support the greater participation of women in the life of the Church. The WORD was established by our Lord and Savior and evangelized by the Four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but the very FIRST Evangelists were the Myrrh-bearing Women. The Myrrh-bearing Women were the very first to witness the empty tomb and were instructed by the risen Lord to bring the joyful news to the Apostles. That voice of the very first Evangelists, transmitted through the millennia, needs to be heard today from the countless Orthodox women who are the backbone of every parish in America. Consonant with the encouragement of the Exarch, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, and the official policy of the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, this Engagement Committee Women in Orthodoxy is designed to foster that greater participation and is open to Archons and non-Archons, women and men.