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In November of 1994, the invited hierarchs assembled at the [[Antiochian Village]] in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, hosted by Metropolitan [[Philip (Saliba) of New York|Philip]] of the [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|Antiochian Archdiocese]] and presided over by Archbishop [[Iakovos (Coucouzis) of America]], primate at that time of the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America|Greek Archdiocese]] and SCOBA chairman (by custom, the chairman of SCOBA is elected by its members, but the one elected is always the primate of the representative of the [[Church of Constantinople]] in America).
Five months before, Metropolitan [[Spyridon (Papageorgiou) of Chaldea|Spyridon (PapageorgePapageorgiou) of Italy]] gave a speech at the 32nd Biennial Clergy-Laity Conference of the Greek Archdiocese, in which he plainly stated that both he and the Constantinopolitan Patriarch, [[Bartholomew I (Archontonis) of Constantinople|Bartholomew]], wanted an end to "ethnic ghettoes" which divided Orthodoxy in America. He denounced ethnic insularity at the expense of "our spiritual identity," and that it was time to cut the "Gordian knot of nationalism." Spyridon was generally regarded at the time to be the natural successor to the aged Iakovos, and his bold words for unity seemed the perfect cue for what transpired at Ligonier (Michalopoulos and Ham, 180-181).
Though Iakovos officially presided over the event, he "graciously receded into the background as Ligonier was under the jurisdiction of Metropolitan Philip, who was thus the host and official prime mover behind the conference." Philip gave the address to the gathered bishops, and Archbishop [[Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas]] gave the official response. "By all accounts, unity and amity of purpose abounded. The assembled bishops came to an agreement and issued a statement declaring thir intention of forming a united American Orthodox Church" (ibid., 181).