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Source: Last News from Russia Deputies of the state Duma supported the idea to return the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul Turkish Orthodox Church. As reported by RIA «Novosti», said the head of the Duma Committee on property issues,coordinator of the Interfactional parliamentary group for the protection of Christian valuables Sergey Gavrilov. International campaign for the return of the Cathedral of the Patriarchate of Constantinople has been held for several years. The temple currently has the status of a Museum. The Deputy reminded that on 23 September 2015 in Moscow, was inaugurated the Moscow Cathedral mosque. «The significance of the event…

Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary SVOTS Communications / Yonkers, NY   On November 20, 2015, the Henry Luce Foundation announced a grant award of $250,000 to St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, to fund a three-year study of the Sacred Arts, with an emphasis on “material spirituality.” Through a series of conferences, workshops, and seminars to be held fall 2016 through spring 2018, the grant award will allow seminary faculty to survey the current landscape of the field of Sacred Arts, and to explore the distinctive contribution Orthodox Christian theology can make within it. “More often than not, the Sacred Arts…

Source: The National Herald BY THEODORE KALMOUKOS PARIS, FRANCE – Metropolitan Emmanuel of France in a telephone interview with The National Herald spoke extensively about the November 14 terrorist attacks in Paris and said that to the best of his knowledge there were no Greek-Orthodox among the victims. He is constant communication with the French authorities, especially with the Ministry of Interior. Metropolitan Emmanuel is among the most prominent Orthodox hierarchs and presides over many interreligious dialogues and conferences aiming to the better understanding among the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He said the “terrorist attacks took place…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA] At the invitation of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, will deliver an address during the bicentenary valedictory celebrations of the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, Kerala, India on Thursday, November 26, 2015.  [Read related story]. Traveling with Metropolitan Tikhon are Archpriest Dr. Steven Voytovich, Dean of Saint Tikhon’s Seminary, South Canaan, PA, and Archpriest Dr. John Behr, Dean of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY. Accompanying them is His Grace, Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Nicholovos of the Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Metropolitan Tikhon also will…

Source: Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Valerie Blomberg writes: “As Orthodox young people gather, personal isolation ceases to influence the development of their Orthodox identity.” These are the words Archimandrite Gerasim, dean of St. Seraphim’s Cathedral in Dallas and our keynote speaker, gave us before the start of the Orthodox Young Professionals Retreat held in Santa Fe, New Mexico from October 16-18, 2015. We felt his words to be true as a community of Orthodox young adults formed over the course of the three day retreat. Most of us were strangers to one another at the start, but soon…

Source: Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the USA Assembly of Orthodox Bishops Offers Prayers for the People of France Saturday, November 14, 2015 With heavy hearts, the members of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops offer their prayers for the people of France who mourn the tragic loss of life that resulted from last night’s terrorist attacks in Paris. We convey our deep condolences to those who have lost loved ones, and we beseech the Lord Jesus Christ to grant a speedy recovery to those injured and eternal repose to those who have fallen asleep. Our thoughts and prayers…

Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America NEW YORK – The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is pleased to announce the launch of two new websites, www.GreekOrthodox.bible and www.Septuagint.bible, as part of the new .BIBLE top-level domain (TLD) initiative. The .BIBLE TLD joined.com and .org this past year as a new option for web site addresses on the Internet.  The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s Department of Internet Ministries is one of only a select number of key ministry partners of American Bible Society participating in this initiative in 2015.  American Bible Society is administering the new.Bible TLD), with the aim to…

Source: Pew Research Center BY ALEKSANDRA SANDSTROM AND BECKA A. ALPER While most Americans still identify as Christian, there are big differences when it comes to how involved they are with a congregation – or whether they’re involved at all. Indeed, some of the largest Christian denominations in the U.S. have relatively low levels of involvement among their members. Among all Christian religious traditions in the U.S., Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses have the largest shares of members who are highly involved in their congregations, according to a new analysis of data from Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study. Our analysis…

Source: Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Youth, Young Adult and Campus Ministry will host the annual Pan-Orthodox Youth and Camp Workers’ Conference at Saint Seraphim Cathedral, Dallas, TX January 21-23, 2016. According to Andrew Boyd, OCA Youth Director, the conference theme—“Feed My Sheep: Crisis, Trauma and Everyday Life”—will be addressed in the keynote address by Archpriest Steven Voytovich, Dean of Saint Tikhon’s Seminary.  Several workshops also will be available on camp ministry, campus ministry, parish-based youth work, and working with young adults in military service. “This is an annual collaboration of all the youth/camping ministries…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [CSHA]  Many family life experiences are common for people in all places.  Births, graduations, marriages and other milestones are expected and anticipated.  Inevitably, sorrow comes at a loved one’s passing from this earthly life.  We have expectations for long life and wholeheartedly sing “Many Years!” to one another.  But the day comes when our elderly family members experience the progression of those years.  The aging process and disease may take away their independence and they become incapacitated.  Other circumstances may arise when an unforeseeable accident or illness occurs and someone “too young to…

Source: Orthodox Church in America SYOSSET, NY [OCA]  The Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministry will host a youth/young adult service pilgrimage to Alaska June 11-20, 2016. The trip is open to those ages 18-30, but limited to 10 participants, who will arrive in Anchorage and travel to Eklutna to help renovate the village’s historic cemetery and church under the guidance of Archpriest Mikel Bock. They also will explore native Alaskan culture, history, and the cycle of parish life at Saint Nicholas Church. Accompanying the participants will be a priest from the “lower-48” who will…

Source: Russia Today The soul of Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, best known for the part of evil sorcerer Shang Tsung in the Mortal Kombat movies, has been captured by Russia – he has apparently decided to be baptized into the Orthodox Church. Tagawa, an American actor of Japanese descent, who took part in a new Russian film called The Priest-San, decided to abandon his faith and become a true follower of Jesus Christ’s orthodox teachings, Interfax reports. The news was spread via Facebook by one of his colleagues, Ivan Okhlobystin, an actor and prominent Russian religious figure. He shared a photo of…