Source: The Wall Street Journal Ancient faith is drawing converts with no ties to its historic lands By Francis X. Rocca | Photographs by Alyssa Pointer for The Wall Street Journal Michelle Jimenez was captaining an oil tanker in the Gulf of Mexico in early 2020 when she heard about a Bible-study group organized by a crew member. Though she had been baptized a Catholic in infancy, she was never raised in that or any other faith. She had experimented with New Age beliefs and Zen Buddhist meditation, but hadn’t found a spiritual home. Her new encounter with Christianity eventually led her…
Browsing: Eastern Orthodoxy
Source: First Things by Cyril Hovorun Originally published on July 7, 2016 I had begun writing about the results of the Pan-Orthodox Council, which recently finished its work in Crete, before it was actually convened. The working title I chose then was “Pentecost 2016: A Doomsday for the Orthodox.” At the time, I was desperate about the Council and its outcome, along with many other Orthodox, who were shocked that four of the fourteen Orthodox churches had decided at the last minute not to go to Crete. There seemed no reason to hope that a “Vatican-II effect” would occur at…
Source: Christianity Today by Weston Gentry [originally posted 8/27/2012] Metropolitan Jonah, by most accounts the highest-ranking, evangelical-friendly archpriest in North America’s Eastern Orthodox Church, resigned under duress in July. His removal has observers less concerned about his leadership shortcomings, which allegedly led to his removal, than about the widening gap between conservatives and the Orthodox Church. “His efforts were the most explicit attempt by any Orthodox hierarch to join with evangelicals and other conservatives in a common social agenda,” North Park University professor Brad Nassif said of Jonah’s nearly four-year tenure as primate. Jonah, a former Episcopalian, was especially popular…