Collin Michael Nunis said...
"Judging from the texts I've read and studied, I find both the "Tikhonian" and "Gregorian" liturgies to be beautiful, even though I have yet to attend one.
However, as time passes by, I think it would be good to develop a new liturgy based on both the Tikhonian and Gregorian in both traditional and contemporary English (ala 1979 BCP, minus theological/doctrinal compromises), ensuring that the "best of both the Western-Rite worlds (Roman and Anglican) will be found in this liturgy.
I do not know what others would think, but I believe that a fairly good place to start would be expanding the Roman Catholic Book of Divine Worship's (RC equivalent of BCP) Rite I and Rite II. I do not know how kindly this will be looked upon but if it is possible, that would be great.
By doing this, I think that we will not be selling out to anyone or be "pleasing" to anyone, but rather, make room for the younger generation to understand the depths and beauty of Orthodoxy.
With the Western Rite, not only has it recaptured something it "lost", but has made Orthodoxy more accessible. I'm just hoping to take the accessibility one step further.
Theological correctness for the Eucharistic part of the liturgy is the most important. We should never compromise that. While I am aware that Met. Philip promised no Byzantinisation of the Western Rite, I do not think that using the Byzantine Eucharistic prayer will make the Western Rite less Western."
From these comments, dear readers, we can see that the desire to make Orthodoxy more "accessible" is still alive and well.
I don't know about his idea of a "new" WR liturgy derived from both the Liturgy of Saint Tikhon and the Liturgy of Saint Gregory, but a modern language equivalent for each along the lines of the English Standard version of the Bible might provide at least a shadow of an idea in this direction.
We should consider the Greek Orthodox Church in this regard. Many of their parishes are not allergic to using "you" as opposed to "Thee" in their English translations of the Eastern Rite.
It's kind of silly if we become absolutists on this point if the Greeks aren't that concerned about it. Being addicted to Thees, Thous, Thys and Thines at the expense of potential conversions to Holy Orthodoxy seems to be like straining at gnats while swallowing camels.
Just some thoughts.
Columba Silouan
Thursday, June 7, 2007
So What's the Latest on THE PROJECT?
The latest news I have on THE PROJECT of getting that ball rolling to begin an Eastern Orthodox Mission in Parker is, quite frankly, not much.
The Bible Study has been slow to resume. A new family is visiting Saint Marks and lives close to us and might be open to some involvement. I'm kicking around a number of ideas to try and regain some momentum.
The positive thing is: Saint Marks is feeling more and more like an old friend to us.
Some of the ideas I have are the following: Draw up and distribute flyers and handbills and paste them up all over Parker with the web address of the blogspot and with my e-mail address. Start a newsletter with the tentative name of the Parker Orthodox Times. Start a book study using the books of John Eldredge with an Eastern Orthodox analysis of each one. Attend a Random Hearts event.
As you can see, I have many ideas. But there is one basic thing I'm lacking at the moment: Guinea pigs to practice all these ideas on. :)
I can't be Orthodox as an individual. To ever see this dream become a reality, I'm going to have to find a "Fellowship of the Heart" to journey with.
Part of this Fellowship will have to be found at my home parish.
But part of this Fellowship will have to be searched for.
My dreams for this new church are many and detailed. I wish to see Western Rite Orthodoxy really take off. I wish to see Western Rite parishes every bit as dynamic and thriving as any AMIA parish or CANA parish out there. Of course, we will have to do our parishes differently, because as Orthodox we operate under different contraints then our Anglican counterparts. But make no mistake: Orthodox with a small "o" Anglicans will be our biggest competitors. Behind them will be the LCMS Lutherans.
Why is it a competition, even though we would prefer it not be? Because we believe that Orthodoxy is Christianity without distortions, at least on a doctrinal level. Now WE can distort things ourselves by the way we live, but at least the beliefs are not distortions. It's hard enough to live lives that aren't distorted. When we add distorted and heretical teachings on top of our already distorted lives, things get really sticky.
I have started to pray that someday all the "orthodox" Anglicans will see the light and come home to Holy Orthodoxy. I also pray that as Orthodox Christians, we and our leaders will prepare for and get ready for such an event. We need to pray for our Bishops and other leaders to have deep wisdom about how such an event might become possible.
We need to work on our approach without compromising who and what we are.
What we can do: We can have weekly small groups, book and Bible studies, "singspirations," and otherwise emulate aspects of the Evangelical Culture around us without accomodating to that culture. We remain Orthodox but point to the commonalities between us and the Evangelicals around us. When the differences become apparent, we explain how those differences coming from our side of things can bring life.
We may not be able to do "Praise and Worship" during the Mass, but we can do it in the middle of the week and make some of our "dry" Orthodox parishes less dry when it comes to the life of the community. Orthodoxy isn't dry, but we sometimes make it that way by what we do to Orthodoxy. This doesn't have to be our situation.
Columba Silouan
The Bible Study has been slow to resume. A new family is visiting Saint Marks and lives close to us and might be open to some involvement. I'm kicking around a number of ideas to try and regain some momentum.
The positive thing is: Saint Marks is feeling more and more like an old friend to us.
Some of the ideas I have are the following: Draw up and distribute flyers and handbills and paste them up all over Parker with the web address of the blogspot and with my e-mail address. Start a newsletter with the tentative name of the Parker Orthodox Times. Start a book study using the books of John Eldredge with an Eastern Orthodox analysis of each one. Attend a Random Hearts event.
As you can see, I have many ideas. But there is one basic thing I'm lacking at the moment: Guinea pigs to practice all these ideas on. :)
I can't be Orthodox as an individual. To ever see this dream become a reality, I'm going to have to find a "Fellowship of the Heart" to journey with.
Part of this Fellowship will have to be found at my home parish.
But part of this Fellowship will have to be searched for.
My dreams for this new church are many and detailed. I wish to see Western Rite Orthodoxy really take off. I wish to see Western Rite parishes every bit as dynamic and thriving as any AMIA parish or CANA parish out there. Of course, we will have to do our parishes differently, because as Orthodox we operate under different contraints then our Anglican counterparts. But make no mistake: Orthodox with a small "o" Anglicans will be our biggest competitors. Behind them will be the LCMS Lutherans.
Why is it a competition, even though we would prefer it not be? Because we believe that Orthodoxy is Christianity without distortions, at least on a doctrinal level. Now WE can distort things ourselves by the way we live, but at least the beliefs are not distortions. It's hard enough to live lives that aren't distorted. When we add distorted and heretical teachings on top of our already distorted lives, things get really sticky.
I have started to pray that someday all the "orthodox" Anglicans will see the light and come home to Holy Orthodoxy. I also pray that as Orthodox Christians, we and our leaders will prepare for and get ready for such an event. We need to pray for our Bishops and other leaders to have deep wisdom about how such an event might become possible.
We need to work on our approach without compromising who and what we are.
What we can do: We can have weekly small groups, book and Bible studies, "singspirations," and otherwise emulate aspects of the Evangelical Culture around us without accomodating to that culture. We remain Orthodox but point to the commonalities between us and the Evangelicals around us. When the differences become apparent, we explain how those differences coming from our side of things can bring life.
We may not be able to do "Praise and Worship" during the Mass, but we can do it in the middle of the week and make some of our "dry" Orthodox parishes less dry when it comes to the life of the community. Orthodoxy isn't dry, but we sometimes make it that way by what we do to Orthodoxy. This doesn't have to be our situation.
Columba Silouan
Still too much Head, not Enough Heart
Good Evening, Gentle Readers.
After everything that has been said and done on this blog in the past few weeks, I've found that I'm still living too much in my head and not enough in my heart.
I believe this problem comes across in my writing.
I need to remember that I am just at the very beginning of this Orthodox Journey. I'm not even one full year old in the Orthodox Faith, since our Chrismation was August the 20th, 2006.
I thought I read somewhere in Orthodox blogdom that it takes around 10 - 11 years to fully shed all the pre-Orthodox baggage one accumulates before becoming Orthodox.
Yes, I still have some of that baggage. Orthodoxy is true, but the honeymoon is over. My life is still my life and I am still faced with many of the same challenges and disappointments that plagued me before my conversion.
But unlike the past, I keep "waking up" and I keep realizing that, wow! I'm now a member of The Church. I have resources to assist me that I lacked before. And I'm worshipping a God who is very patient and very kind.
There is a new, underlying optimism buried between my habitual pessimism that I developed before becoming Orthodox. The POSSIBILITY of a better life in Christ is more available than before. The barriers facing me are less, although some are still formidable. At least these barriers are not coming from The Church, but instead from this fallen world and from the Adversary.
There is this new possibility: If I want it badly enough, and if I persevere, I have the chance of becoming a REAL Saint. In the past, I already considered myself a saint simply by virtue of "being a Christian." Now I realize that there are SAINTS with a capital S and that I have such a long way to go to become one.
And God's Grace is there in a synergistic way always available to help.
I've made a lot of mistakes, even recently. But now I can practice the Orthodox adage of "you fell, now get up again."
Columba Silouan
After everything that has been said and done on this blog in the past few weeks, I've found that I'm still living too much in my head and not enough in my heart.
I believe this problem comes across in my writing.
I need to remember that I am just at the very beginning of this Orthodox Journey. I'm not even one full year old in the Orthodox Faith, since our Chrismation was August the 20th, 2006.
I thought I read somewhere in Orthodox blogdom that it takes around 10 - 11 years to fully shed all the pre-Orthodox baggage one accumulates before becoming Orthodox.
Yes, I still have some of that baggage. Orthodoxy is true, but the honeymoon is over. My life is still my life and I am still faced with many of the same challenges and disappointments that plagued me before my conversion.
But unlike the past, I keep "waking up" and I keep realizing that, wow! I'm now a member of The Church. I have resources to assist me that I lacked before. And I'm worshipping a God who is very patient and very kind.
There is a new, underlying optimism buried between my habitual pessimism that I developed before becoming Orthodox. The POSSIBILITY of a better life in Christ is more available than before. The barriers facing me are less, although some are still formidable. At least these barriers are not coming from The Church, but instead from this fallen world and from the Adversary.
There is this new possibility: If I want it badly enough, and if I persevere, I have the chance of becoming a REAL Saint. In the past, I already considered myself a saint simply by virtue of "being a Christian." Now I realize that there are SAINTS with a capital S and that I have such a long way to go to become one.
And God's Grace is there in a synergistic way always available to help.
I've made a lot of mistakes, even recently. But now I can practice the Orthodox adage of "you fell, now get up again."
Columba Silouan
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