Source: Kevin Allen From Kevin Allen’s FB Page: I Support an “Autocephalous” American Church I have changed my position and perspective on canonical “administrative unity” for the Orthodox Church in the U.S. (This does not reflect the opinion of AFR or anyone else). The only “unity” model/solution I would support to the non-canonical fragmentation of multiple bishops and “jurisdictions” – acknowledged as a canonical “anomaly” by many (not all) our hierarchs – is an “autocephalous” American Church; represented on its Synod with all the respective bishops that are currently on the Canonical Assembly of Bishops. The US Synod would have…
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Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Why Vestments? An Introduction to Liturgical Textiles of the Post-Byzantine World by Warren T. Woodfin, Kallinikeion Assistant Professor of Art History, Queens College, City University of New York The exhibition Liturgical Textiles of the Post-Byzantine World, now on view through November 1, 2015, presents a selection of notable liturgical vestments that communicate the continuing prestige of the Orthodox Church and its clergy in the centuries following the fifteenth-century fall of Byzantine Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. From a strictly theological viewpoint, vestments are hardly a necessity for Christian worship. Liturgical scholars are largely in agreement…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity Remembering Father Gordon Walker of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America Orthodox Christian Laity is truly blessed to have had the gentle, humble and Christ-centered guidance of the Very Reverend Father Gordon Thomas Walker. He served on our advisory board for many years and spoke at many Annual Meetings and Open Forums. We were blessed to have been his guests in Franklin, TN, his home community, two years ago. He and Khouria Mary Sue were the founding members of this most dynamic Orthodox Christian Community of St Ignatius, and he served as the pastor…
Source: The Deily Planet Ancestors of the Orthodox Faith: The Reception of Peter What happened to St. Peter? The short answer is that we don’t know. The longer answer is more interesting. It is precisely the lack of authoritative information about Peter that enabled laterChristians to develop competing legends about the final years of his life. In some cases, these differences are quite surprising, especially for modern readers used to associating St. Peter with the Vatican. But not all of the stories about Peter place him in Rome. Why is there such an important discrepancy? And what do all these…
Source: Archbishop Lazar Puhalo Truly, the Orthodox Church is anchored in the Apostles and Holy Fathers, with the Scripture as our touchstone. However, to simply be anchored in the past, and attempt to live in the past is a betrayal of the Gospel, of the Apostles and of the Holy Fathers. It is a betrayal of the Commission that Christ has placed upon us. There is no time and place in which we can now live and witness except in the 21st century. If we are not willing to encounter the realities of the 21st century with grace and without…
Source: Chicago Tribune By Manya Brachear Pashman Chicago Tribune contact the reporter The Rev. Patrick Henry Reardon is getting out of the civil marriage business. The Orthodox Christian priest on Chicago’s North Side says the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalizes same-sex matrimony reinforces his recent decision to no longer sign licenses that make marriages valid in the eyes of the state and now the nation. That doesn’t mean Reardon won’t do weddings. On the contrary, he gladly will bless the union of a Christian man and woman and perform the sacrament of marriage. But those couples must go to…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity Where is ANTIOCHIAN participation in the Assembly of Bishops in the USA and in Europe? Where is the participation of the Laity of the Antiochian Archdiocese on the matter of Unity? Why have the many years of leadership – promoting Unity, the legacy Metropolitan Philip, been reversed by Metropolitan Joseph? Why do the problems of the Patriarchates in Europe and other regions have ripple effects on the work of the Assembly of Bishops in charge of the spiritual lives of the faithful in the United States? Controversy between Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem caused a directive to…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity George Karcazes, Vice President and George Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) had the privilege of attending the recently-held conference co-sponsored by the Orthodox Theological Society in America (OTSA ) and the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University held at Fordham University School of Law, Lincoln Center Campus, on Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27, 2015. On Friday evening, the Florovsky Lecture on “The Decisive Importance of Councils in the Life of the Church” was delivered by His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos Ware at the Leon Lowenstein Center of the Lincoln Center Campus,…
by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo We need to start looking to our own housekeeping now. What is the average lifespan of a marriage in Canada? For the past 25 or so years, we have been told that it is 5 years. I do not have concrete statistics on that figure, but it has been mentioned by government agencies. Divorce is far too easy to obtain, without any form of counselling or attempts to save marriages. I have no idea what the stats are in America, or in the Commonwealth outside of Canada. However, it seems that we need to work very hard…
Source: Women in Theology by Maria Gwyn McDowell The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) has issued a statement regarding the recent Supreme Court decision regarding same-sex marriage. I appreciate the following from His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon: The ruling does not change the teaching of the Church, but it does remind us of the need to be Christ-like in our dealings with everyone. The state has the responsibility to enact laws that protect the rights of each individual. The Church, while it does not bless “same-sex marriages” or view them as sacramental, does see the image of Christ in every individual,…
Source: Orthodox Church in America At 8:19 p.m. on the evening of Wednesday, June 10, 2015, Archpriest Innocent Dresdow was startled to receive a call from Kodiak Police Dispatch. Asked to meet police officers at Holy Resurrection Cathedral, he was told not to go into or near the church, as it was “an active crime scene.” “I arrived on scene at 8:25 p.m. and met up with responding officers across the street from the cathedral,” Father Innocent said in the initial report he sent to His Grace, Bishop David of Sitka. “The lead officer related to me that the cathedral…
Source: Seeds of Hope – Orthodox Christian Healing and Counseling Clergy and Laity healing the soul and renewing the Spirit of the Church Mark 4:8 And other fell on ground and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased, and brought forth, some thirty, sixty, and some a hundred. Seeds of Hope, OCHC, www.orthodoxchristianhealing.com is celebrating their 1st year anniversary as a 501c3 national foundation. Our ministry serves those who have left the Church and their Faith. This includes being subjected to spiritual misconduct, financial misappropriations, or exploitation of authority. Seeds of Hope offers Orthodox licensed counseling, healing, and reconciliation…