Browsing: America

Source: Orthodox Reality The report, “US Religion Census 2020: Dramatic Changes in American Orthodox Churches,” is now available. The report presents detailed information on parishes, membership, and rates of worship attendance for fourteen Eastern Orthodox and nine Oriental Orthodox Church bodies. It also describes significant changes in American Orthodox Christianity since the previous Census in 2010: membership decline in most Eastern Orthodox Churches, impressive growth of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, new parishes founded after 2010, and much more. The report can be downloaded here: https://orthodoxreality.org/latest/second-census-2020-of-american-orthodox/ The data were obtained directly from over 3,000 US Orthodox Christian parishes. Overall, 97% of…

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Source: Orthodox Church in America To the Venerable Hierarchs, Esteemed Clergy, Reverend Monastics, and Beloved Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, My Beloved Brethren and Blessed Children in the Lord, on this the glorious and light-filled Feast of the Nativity in the Flesh of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, I greet you with the words that resound throughout our Churches and homes during this season: Christ is Born! Glorify Him! By the grace of God, we have come through an extraordinary year fraught with challenges and trials that none of us could have expected. We have found…

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Source: Orthodox Observer See Video at the end of the article. Dear Fr. Joseph M. McShane of the Society of Jesus, President of Fordham University Dear Fathers, Distinguished Participants, Dear Christ and Anastasia Economos, in whose honor this lecture series has been renamed, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dear Friends present here at the University Church and elsewhere online, When I think of Orthodox-Catholic relations, I see the word: “Solidarity.” Let me tell you why. Two months ago, in the middle of this sweltering summer, I picked up my phone and called His Eminence, Cardinal Dolan. I told him: “Your Eminence, I…

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Source: Orthodox Reality Today, we are releasing the report, “Holy Communion during the Pandemic in American Orthodox Parishes.” You can download the full report or executive summary here: https://orthodoxreality.org/coronavirus-and-american-orthodox-parishes/ We express deep gratitude to the 609 priests representing all Orthodox jurisdictions and regions of the country, who participated in this unique study. They shared not only factual information about administering Holy Communion in their parishes, but – most importantly – their personal, very frank reflections and thoughts on possible adaptations in offering this Sacrament in this current time of crisis. The spread of COVID-19 has made a number of church…

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Source: Oinos Educational Consulting By Frank Marangos, D.Min., Ed.D., FCEP “A man can’t be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it.”  C.S. Lewis We are what we eat. If the analogy is true, then Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest provides a stark backdrop to the national chlorosis of reading and its deleterious effects on Biblical literacy. On July 4, 2020, defending champion and competitive eater Joey Chestnut won the men’s division of Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest by consuming 75 hot dogs. Defending women’s champion Miki Sudo captured the woman’s division by eating 48 1/2…

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In a recent video, Father Josiah Trenham offered his remarks about what he believes is the greatest challenge for Orthodoxy in America. Father Josiah said, “Bishops are meant to be symbols of unity of the Orthodox faith. And today, our bishops have becomes symbols of disunity.” Father Joshiah also stated, “These divisions are harming our missionary witness in keeping people from becoming Orthodox Christians. It is a great grief and in my opinion there is nothing as important as solving this.” … Take a few minutes and listen to the Father Josiah’s video….

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Source: Ancient Faith Ministries Reconciling the Racial Divide (Part 1) June 9, 2020 Length: 1:04:31 Fr. Martin Johnson joins Fr. Nick and Dr. Roxanne for a conversation about America’s national struggle with race. Play in popup and browse while listening Dowload audio file Direct link (play in browser)   Reconciling the Racial Divide (Part 2) June 24, 2020 Length: 1:02:26 Fr. Martin Johnson joins Fr. Nick and Dr. Roxanne again for the second part of a deeply honest and insightful conversation about America’s national struggle with race. Play in popup and browse while listening Download audio file Direct link (play in browser)…

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Source: Public Orthodoxy by George Demacopoulos and Aristotle Papanikolaou When Archbishop Iakovos stood alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma in 1965, he was maligned by many Greek Americans who took offense that their Archbishop would “fraternize with Civil Rights agitators.” Fifty-five years later, opinion has shifted dramatically. Iakovos’ march alongside MLK is widely regarded as one of the iconic moments of Orthodox Christianity in the United States, if not globally. Today, we either ignore or apologize for that generation of Orthodox who did not understand the moral necessity of the Civil Rights movement. We now find ourselves at a similar moment. Will our…

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Source: OrthodoxReality.org Today we release the report, “The Pandemic and American Orthodox Parishes.” You can download it HERE. If you are one of the 250 priests who participated in this study, we express our deep gratitude to you for sharing your thoughts and your parish’s experience in dealing with the pandemic. Information provided by the study participants was amazingly frank, heartfelt, and insightful. Thanks to the input from parishes representing seven jurisdictions and all parts of the country, we were able to learn about the great variety of local circumstances and parishes’ responses to the pandemic. Some findings presented in the…

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Source: Ancient Faith Ministries If you are interested in how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected American Orthodox Churches, please take part in the live call-in show, “Coronavirus and Orthodox Parish Life,” on Ancient Faith Radio, Tuesday, April 28, 9 pm EST / 6 pm PST. To access the show, go to www.ancientfaith.com/live. Hosted by Fr. Thomas Soroka (St. Nicholas OCA Church, McKees Rocks, PA), Fr. Steven Tsichlis (St. Paul GOA Church, Irvine, CA) and I will discuss the recently released report “On the Eve of Easter 2020: Coronavirus and US Orthodox Christian Parishes.” How have parishes adjusted their liturgical services and small…

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