One Million People in 2011

For my second post I wish to briefly mention an article in the Parker Chronicle that appeared in the March 30th edition.

In that article it was predicted that by 2011 there will be ONE MILLION people living within 15 miles of downtown Parker. ONE MILLION!!

If you live near Parker and ever read The Chronicle, you can easily find all the types of churches listed. You have Roman Catholic Churches, Episcopal Churches, Presbyterian Churches, Baptist Churches, Lutheran Churches, a United Methodist Church, A Morman Church and a Kingdom Hall (Jehovah's Witnesses) church.

In the entire town of Parker, there is not one Eastern Orthodox Church of ANY jurisdiction.

If Parker is going to have a population of ONE MILLION people by 2011, the absence of an Orthodox Church is simply a scandal.

I, for one, would love to attend an Orthodox parish within ten minutes of my home on the border of Parker.

Orthodox Churches have many, many services. Being married with young children limits my ability to attend some of the major services that take place during the week.

My parish, Saint Mark's, is a great place. But it is located in Denver. The parish cannot be considered to be local to where I live.

A goal of the Orthodox should be to have a parish in every major suburb of every major city. I believe this should be a Western Rite goal as well.

With the crackup of the Episcopal Church going on, the Western Rite of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese and ROCOR has an opportunity like never before to collect all the disaffected Episcopalians out there before they go to the Convocation of Anglicans in North America and the Anglican Mission in America.

Let's not kid ourselves, folks! If we don't make a strong move, we will miss out on many potential converts to Holy Orthodoxy.

As a former Anglican, I can say that I've found a true home in Western Rite Orthodoxy. There is peace and life here. It is refreshing to be worshipping as the old time Anglicans worshipped without worrying where my church is going to be in the next ten years.

The Orthodox Christian Church will be where it's always been. Preserving the Faith once delivered to the saints.

Stay tuned for further posts. The next post will cover the topic of how to reach the current Christian sub-culture with Orthodoxy. There is a way to do this without compromising the essentials of the faith.

Columcille Silouan