Well, it looks like I have a job with Echostar / Dish Network. I went through two interviews and was sent for a drug screen.
Thanks be to God.
I've started to read Walking with God by John Eldredge. I see parallel things going on in my life as compared to his in the following way:
At the end of Labor Day weekend in 2008, Eldredge was thrown from his horse and both his wrists were broken. This effectively put him out of commission for a good long while. This demonstrated to him that God is in control of our lives and not us.
This second layoff has impacted my life as an unwelcome interruption as well.
But God seems to be changing my heart and my perspective on a number of things.
I've been pedal to the medal gung ho about getting a mission started in Parker. This layoff kicked that to the side, just like the layoff in 2007.
In addition, I learned this past Sunday that my home parish has an interest in planting a mission in Colorado Springs, but that Parker is "too close."
There seems to be a 60 mile radius limit or something like that.
Now, I can understand setting up a distance limit, but I disagree strongly with one that large.
Nevertheless, any potential mission in Parker might take a great deal longer than I previously thought. For one thing, a friend of mine from Saint Mark's pointed out that he and his wife don't wish to be involved because doing so would uproot their children from their friends at church.
And this is an excellent point. My kids won't be leaving our nest for 12 years in the case of my oldest, to 15 years in the case of my youngest. Taking them away from Saint Marks would disrupt things for them.
So even if I succeed in generating interest for a new mission, I really shouldn't think about leaving my home parish until my kids go off to college.
It seems that God is more interested in my spiritual development and work at Saint Marks.
I was blessed this past Sunday to be "drafted" to perform Reader duties for the Mass. I was also honored to be given the task of Crucifier as well.
Perhaps its more important to God right now that I focus on His call on my life as a Reader, future Sub-Deacon, Deacon and Priest? I know there is no guarantee that I will ever progress past the point I'm currently at, but if this ordained ministry idea is His idea, then it will move forward. I'll need to be prepared properly.
I know my past two years in the Eastern Orthodox Church has changed me for the better. Just ask my most important and honest critic: my wife.
Like John Eldredge, God was speaking to me this Sunday and through the events of the past week. I was suffering from a crisis of confidence and was prepared to withdraw for a while due to the layoff at BMC West. I was specifically going to avoid Reader duties until I was employed again and doing well.
Instead, Brother David send me an e-mail on Saturday to my other e-mail address that I was on for Reading duties. I didn't get that e-mail until after Sunday was over. Instead, David repeated his request during Sunday School at church, and I said "yes" and went and suited up.
God was indeed fatherly through all of this, and having me carry the cross during the Mass was also a good reminder to die to myself and my specific plans in favor of His better plans.
I'm not totally giving up on the idea of Saint Ambrose Orthodox Church, but I'm seeing that it may be postponed, literally for years.
And I'm okay with this.
Now, Orthodox Parker isn't so much about a new mission, it's about me being Orthodox in Parker: Orthodox in my family life, at my new job, and at my home parish, Saint Marks.
I will attempt to get the Bible Study going again, but the focus will be to simply build up the flock at Saint Marks and not to launch out on my own with the new mission idea.
So, I'll continue my blog, but change the focus.
For now, Rest In Peace, Saint Ambrose Orthodox Church. It's time to build Saint Marks with a South Group that can study God's word and fellowship, making Saint Marks better and more healthy.
Pax Christi,
Columba Silouan.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Ouch! Another Layoff. Prayers, please . . .
Due to the economic downturn / plunge, I was placed on Temporary Curtailment Leave from my new company, BMC West on November the 24th.
My benefits stop at the end of February, provided I call in every other Tuesday.
The chances for a recall to work are slim and none.
Fortunately, I have two interviews tomorrow (12/16/2008).
Please pray that the Lord provides me with a new job soon.
Sincerely yours,
Columba Silouan.
My benefits stop at the end of February, provided I call in every other Tuesday.
The chances for a recall to work are slim and none.
Fortunately, I have two interviews tomorrow (12/16/2008).
Please pray that the Lord provides me with a new job soon.
Sincerely yours,
Columba Silouan.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Intro to the new Orthodox BCP
Good evening everyone. The following is taken from the official introduction to the new BCP that members of the Antiochian Archdiocese are putting together. The release date of this new BCP has been pushed back to February of 2009.
The Book of Common Prayer and Liturgical Worship
The Book of Common Prayer was first published in England and ordered to be used on Whitsunday, 1549. The idea was to put the Holy Mass and Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, the Psalms of David, the Lessons for the Year, with the Orders for Baptism, Marriage, and so forth, in one book.
This present Edition is from Lancelot Andrewes Press and is published for our English Orthodox Press division. God helping, it will prove to be a useful compilation of sacred Scripture and set prayers. This book sets forth the worship of God offered in English based on the examples of the Authorized Version of the Bible (1611), the Psalter, and centuries of English usage.
Our small contribution is to make a Prayer Book that is more comprehensive and organized in a rather more linear order. In this Book of Common Prayer the Daily Prayers are found in the beginning with the Psalter, then the Litany, then the Mass with the Proper of the Season and of the Saints, followed by the Pastoral Offices and Sacraments, followed by other helps, such as the Calendar, at the back of the book.
In Liturgical terminology this Prayer Book is organized as 1) a parochial Breviary; 2) a Missal; 3) a Ritual; and 4) a Calendar and Lectionary with Tables, Tutorials and Sentences of Scripture.
For those who are familiar with the Prayer Book there will be few surprises in these pages. The conventions of language and grammar throughout are traditional English usages. The Morning and Evening Prayer are conventional. The Psalms are the familiar texts of the Psalter of Miles Coverdale that has served as a standard for the Book of Common Prayer for nearly five centuries.
The Litany has restored to it the opening petitions as first published in 1544 and has added the petitions for the Faithful Departed proposed in 1928. The Occassional Prayers adopt the bidding, versicle, and response format of the 1929 Scottish Prayer Book. The Church Year follows the course of Sundays from Advent Sunday through Christmas, Septuagesima, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and Trinitytide to the Sunday Next before Advent.
There are parallels to the traditions of the Latin Missale and the Byzantine Euchologion. However, this Prayer Book reflects an English Orthodox usage in many particulars, such as the numbering of the Sundays after Trinity Sunday, the use of the Litany, and the distribution of Gospels and other Lessons through the Year.
This Book of Common Prayer differs from earlier versions by the addition of the weekday Old Testament Canticles to Morning Prayer. These are borrowed from Monastic Lauds. The Anthanasian Creed is included as in the English Prayer Book. Orders for Prime (3rd Hour), and Sext (Midday) and Compline (after Evensong before bedtime) are provided. The Psalms are placed in the first part of the book for convenience as they are read daily with Morning Prayer and Evensong.
The Proper of the Season includes all of Holy Week and the full texts of the Ember Days. The Proper of the Saints has been enlarged to include St. George, St. Benedict, and St. Anne, as well as a number of the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin. Some of these are ancient borrowings from the Eastern Church and others are latter additions, such as the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin, which was introduced upon the 1500th anniversary (1931) of the Council of Ephesus.
The Simple Outline of the Mass includes the following elements:
The Preparation, followed by the Introit Psalm, The Summary of the Law, The "Lord Have Mercy Upon Us," The "Glory be to God on High," (The Gloria is sung on most Sundays and Feast Days but is not said on the Sundays of Advent or on the Proper Ferias or Sundays of Lent or at Requiem Masses or Nuptial Masses. Please follow the lead of the Priest for this usage), The Collect, which is a prayer proper to the Mass of the day and read in the Mass and in the orders of Morning and Evening Prayer, A lesson from Scripture, which may be an Epistle from the New Testament or a Prophecy or other reading from the Old Testament.
Next follow Psalm verses or other texts that compose the Gradual and Alleluia verses before the Gospel Reading. In Lent this is replaced by the Tract.
Next follows a reading from one of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John properly said by the Deacon or Priest at Mass. The Creed is recited by all on Sundays and Feast Days as appointed.
There may be a Sermon on any occasion and certainly on Sundays. The Offertory verses are said and the Altar is prepared with the elements of bread and wine. Incense is offered at a Solemn Mass.
Intercessions, a general confession, the Preface, and the recitation of the angelic hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts" (Sanctus) follow the preparation of the Altar and Holy Gifts.
The Eucharistic Canon is recited by the Priest; and this is concluded with the "Our Father" (Lord's Prayer), the hymn "O Lamb of God" (Agnus Dei) and communions of the clergy, acolytes, and faithful. The Communion verses are recited as provided in the Propers.
The Mass concludes with a Proper Collect, a Thanksgiving prayer, Dismissal and Blessing.
A more complete outline of the Mass will be set forth and a Brief Guide to the Mass will also be included in this book. In parish churches on Sundays and Feast Days there will be additional Hymns and service music for the choir and congregation. It is common for a pipe organ or other instrumental music to be included in the liturgical worship. In some places only monophonic chant (Gregorian Tones) will be heard and in other churches there will be polyphonic chant and four-part singing from the vast literature of sacred music.
Other resources for worship include the Antiphons for the Canticles at Morning Prayer and Evensong from the Monastic Diurnal and set to plainchant melodies in the Monastic Diurnal Noted. Patristic sermons and Saint's lives may be found in the Monastic Breviary Matins. The whole of the Psalms and many settings of the Canticles with the Marian Anthems and the rest of Morning Prayer and Evensong set to simple Gregorian Chant tones is available in the St. Dunstans Plainsong Psalter.
For the Sundays, Feast Days, and Proper Ferias of the Church Year, the Mass Propers may be found set to simple Gregorian tones in the various editions of St. Austin's Plainsong Missal. These simple tones can be sung by a Cantor and congregation even where the resources of a rehearsed text are not available.
For the many para-liturgical devotions that may be used during the Year and at particular seasons, such as the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin and the Stations of the Cross, there are many resources. A Scriptural Rosary is available as a tract. A complete volume of Devotions suitable as a supplement to the Book of Common Prayer is now in print in a portable volume, and is called the St. Ambrose Prayer Book.
All the above titles are in print and available from Lancelot Andrewes Press. These titles are easy to order from www.andrewespress.com. Lancelot Andrewes Press is a non-profit religious publishing house whose purpose is to serve those who pray and offer Divine Worship in English. The Book of Common Prayer is published as a title from our distinct division, The English Orthodox Press.
Our hope is to provide a useful prayer book for congregations of English speaking worshippers. This particular edition reflects the usages of the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese. For example, the Credo is recited without "Filoque," or the double procession of the Holy Ghost.
The Mass Canon restores a direct Invocation of the Holy Spirit, and the Blessed Virgin and Saints are mentioned in the Prayer for Christ's Church. There is a provision for two additional weeks after Epiphany in the Lectionary due to the Byzantine calculation of the Vernal Equinox (old Julian Calendar) and thus in some years a very late date for Easter Day.
Where the reformed Julian Calendar (Gregorian) is consulted for the Easter date (as in the Orthodox Church of Finland) there is no need for the extended Epiphany season.
Our thanks to an anonymous Patron for the commission to produce this Book of Common Prayer. Our thanks to the many readers by whose good work and good sense this book has been prepared for publication.
"ASSIST us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplications and prayers, and dispose the way of thy servants towards the attainment of everlasting salvation; that, among all the changes and chances of this mortal life, they may ever be defended by Thy most gracious and ready help; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN."
This preface with some light edits is by Father John Conelly, Rector of Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Church.
I believe this new BCP will be a great blessing to Orthodox and Anglican Christians alike.
Sincerely,
Columba Siluoan.
The Book of Common Prayer and Liturgical Worship
The Book of Common Prayer was first published in England and ordered to be used on Whitsunday, 1549. The idea was to put the Holy Mass and Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, the Psalms of David, the Lessons for the Year, with the Orders for Baptism, Marriage, and so forth, in one book.
This present Edition is from Lancelot Andrewes Press and is published for our English Orthodox Press division. God helping, it will prove to be a useful compilation of sacred Scripture and set prayers. This book sets forth the worship of God offered in English based on the examples of the Authorized Version of the Bible (1611), the Psalter, and centuries of English usage.
Our small contribution is to make a Prayer Book that is more comprehensive and organized in a rather more linear order. In this Book of Common Prayer the Daily Prayers are found in the beginning with the Psalter, then the Litany, then the Mass with the Proper of the Season and of the Saints, followed by the Pastoral Offices and Sacraments, followed by other helps, such as the Calendar, at the back of the book.
In Liturgical terminology this Prayer Book is organized as 1) a parochial Breviary; 2) a Missal; 3) a Ritual; and 4) a Calendar and Lectionary with Tables, Tutorials and Sentences of Scripture.
For those who are familiar with the Prayer Book there will be few surprises in these pages. The conventions of language and grammar throughout are traditional English usages. The Morning and Evening Prayer are conventional. The Psalms are the familiar texts of the Psalter of Miles Coverdale that has served as a standard for the Book of Common Prayer for nearly five centuries.
The Litany has restored to it the opening petitions as first published in 1544 and has added the petitions for the Faithful Departed proposed in 1928. The Occassional Prayers adopt the bidding, versicle, and response format of the 1929 Scottish Prayer Book. The Church Year follows the course of Sundays from Advent Sunday through Christmas, Septuagesima, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and Trinitytide to the Sunday Next before Advent.
There are parallels to the traditions of the Latin Missale and the Byzantine Euchologion. However, this Prayer Book reflects an English Orthodox usage in many particulars, such as the numbering of the Sundays after Trinity Sunday, the use of the Litany, and the distribution of Gospels and other Lessons through the Year.
This Book of Common Prayer differs from earlier versions by the addition of the weekday Old Testament Canticles to Morning Prayer. These are borrowed from Monastic Lauds. The Anthanasian Creed is included as in the English Prayer Book. Orders for Prime (3rd Hour), and Sext (Midday) and Compline (after Evensong before bedtime) are provided. The Psalms are placed in the first part of the book for convenience as they are read daily with Morning Prayer and Evensong.
The Proper of the Season includes all of Holy Week and the full texts of the Ember Days. The Proper of the Saints has been enlarged to include St. George, St. Benedict, and St. Anne, as well as a number of the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin. Some of these are ancient borrowings from the Eastern Church and others are latter additions, such as the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin, which was introduced upon the 1500th anniversary (1931) of the Council of Ephesus.
The Simple Outline of the Mass includes the following elements:
The Preparation, followed by the Introit Psalm, The Summary of the Law, The "Lord Have Mercy Upon Us," The "Glory be to God on High," (The Gloria is sung on most Sundays and Feast Days but is not said on the Sundays of Advent or on the Proper Ferias or Sundays of Lent or at Requiem Masses or Nuptial Masses. Please follow the lead of the Priest for this usage), The Collect, which is a prayer proper to the Mass of the day and read in the Mass and in the orders of Morning and Evening Prayer, A lesson from Scripture, which may be an Epistle from the New Testament or a Prophecy or other reading from the Old Testament.
Next follow Psalm verses or other texts that compose the Gradual and Alleluia verses before the Gospel Reading. In Lent this is replaced by the Tract.
Next follows a reading from one of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John properly said by the Deacon or Priest at Mass. The Creed is recited by all on Sundays and Feast Days as appointed.
There may be a Sermon on any occasion and certainly on Sundays. The Offertory verses are said and the Altar is prepared with the elements of bread and wine. Incense is offered at a Solemn Mass.
Intercessions, a general confession, the Preface, and the recitation of the angelic hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts" (Sanctus) follow the preparation of the Altar and Holy Gifts.
The Eucharistic Canon is recited by the Priest; and this is concluded with the "Our Father" (Lord's Prayer), the hymn "O Lamb of God" (Agnus Dei) and communions of the clergy, acolytes, and faithful. The Communion verses are recited as provided in the Propers.
The Mass concludes with a Proper Collect, a Thanksgiving prayer, Dismissal and Blessing.
A more complete outline of the Mass will be set forth and a Brief Guide to the Mass will also be included in this book. In parish churches on Sundays and Feast Days there will be additional Hymns and service music for the choir and congregation. It is common for a pipe organ or other instrumental music to be included in the liturgical worship. In some places only monophonic chant (Gregorian Tones) will be heard and in other churches there will be polyphonic chant and four-part singing from the vast literature of sacred music.
Other resources for worship include the Antiphons for the Canticles at Morning Prayer and Evensong from the Monastic Diurnal and set to plainchant melodies in the Monastic Diurnal Noted. Patristic sermons and Saint's lives may be found in the Monastic Breviary Matins. The whole of the Psalms and many settings of the Canticles with the Marian Anthems and the rest of Morning Prayer and Evensong set to simple Gregorian Chant tones is available in the St. Dunstans Plainsong Psalter.
For the Sundays, Feast Days, and Proper Ferias of the Church Year, the Mass Propers may be found set to simple Gregorian tones in the various editions of St. Austin's Plainsong Missal. These simple tones can be sung by a Cantor and congregation even where the resources of a rehearsed text are not available.
For the many para-liturgical devotions that may be used during the Year and at particular seasons, such as the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin and the Stations of the Cross, there are many resources. A Scriptural Rosary is available as a tract. A complete volume of Devotions suitable as a supplement to the Book of Common Prayer is now in print in a portable volume, and is called the St. Ambrose Prayer Book.
All the above titles are in print and available from Lancelot Andrewes Press. These titles are easy to order from www.andrewespress.com. Lancelot Andrewes Press is a non-profit religious publishing house whose purpose is to serve those who pray and offer Divine Worship in English. The Book of Common Prayer is published as a title from our distinct division, The English Orthodox Press.
Our hope is to provide a useful prayer book for congregations of English speaking worshippers. This particular edition reflects the usages of the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese. For example, the Credo is recited without "Filoque," or the double procession of the Holy Ghost.
The Mass Canon restores a direct Invocation of the Holy Spirit, and the Blessed Virgin and Saints are mentioned in the Prayer for Christ's Church. There is a provision for two additional weeks after Epiphany in the Lectionary due to the Byzantine calculation of the Vernal Equinox (old Julian Calendar) and thus in some years a very late date for Easter Day.
Where the reformed Julian Calendar (Gregorian) is consulted for the Easter date (as in the Orthodox Church of Finland) there is no need for the extended Epiphany season.
Our thanks to an anonymous Patron for the commission to produce this Book of Common Prayer. Our thanks to the many readers by whose good work and good sense this book has been prepared for publication.
"ASSIST us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplications and prayers, and dispose the way of thy servants towards the attainment of everlasting salvation; that, among all the changes and chances of this mortal life, they may ever be defended by Thy most gracious and ready help; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN."
This preface with some light edits is by Father John Conelly, Rector of Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Church.
I believe this new BCP will be a great blessing to Orthodox and Anglican Christians alike.
Sincerely,
Columba Siluoan.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Bible Study to Resume, and other topics
As a newly minted Orthodox Reader, I am able to lead a Reader's Service.
This will come in handy if I'm ever able to hold such a service in Parker or Castle Rock.
The Men's Bible Study will resume in January, 2009. At present, my wife and I are taking a Financial Peace University class in our neighborhood with a bunch of Protestant Christians down the street.
These good people meet in what they call a "house church."
They believe they are returning to the primitive new testament church, however . . .
They have no Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and no sacraments.
It would be nice someday to gently educate them on how the early church REALLY was.
There is a new leather bound edition of the Orthodox Study Bible. This Bible is terrific! It looks like a Bible Thumper's Bible. This would be wonderfully subversive if a Bible Study was held in a public place, like a Christian Coffee Shop, for instance.
There is such a coffee shop in Parker. It used to be called "The Steaming Bean."
When the financial class concludes, I will be free to lead the Bible Study.
Brother Andrew Deiderich will soon be re-deployed to the Middle East, so he won't be able to lead the study.
This means I will try and step into that role.
I recently purchased a small button that says "I Love Orthodox Missions."
Finally this: A new Book of Common Prayer is about to be published by The Western Rite.
This new BCP will be a fully authorized Orthodox edition and will be completely ok to use in any Western Rite parish or mission.
Armed with the new leather-bound Orthodox Study Bible, a new BCP coupled with all the excellent Bible Study aids the Church is putting out nowadays, things are really looking promising.
I can't wait to get started!
Now, if we can only get a new Hymnbook for the Western Rite, we really will be set.
Pax Christi,
Columba Silouan
This will come in handy if I'm ever able to hold such a service in Parker or Castle Rock.
The Men's Bible Study will resume in January, 2009. At present, my wife and I are taking a Financial Peace University class in our neighborhood with a bunch of Protestant Christians down the street.
These good people meet in what they call a "house church."
They believe they are returning to the primitive new testament church, however . . .
They have no Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and no sacraments.
It would be nice someday to gently educate them on how the early church REALLY was.
There is a new leather bound edition of the Orthodox Study Bible. This Bible is terrific! It looks like a Bible Thumper's Bible. This would be wonderfully subversive if a Bible Study was held in a public place, like a Christian Coffee Shop, for instance.
There is such a coffee shop in Parker. It used to be called "The Steaming Bean."
When the financial class concludes, I will be free to lead the Bible Study.
Brother Andrew Deiderich will soon be re-deployed to the Middle East, so he won't be able to lead the study.
This means I will try and step into that role.
I recently purchased a small button that says "I Love Orthodox Missions."
Finally this: A new Book of Common Prayer is about to be published by The Western Rite.
This new BCP will be a fully authorized Orthodox edition and will be completely ok to use in any Western Rite parish or mission.
Armed with the new leather-bound Orthodox Study Bible, a new BCP coupled with all the excellent Bible Study aids the Church is putting out nowadays, things are really looking promising.
I can't wait to get started!
Now, if we can only get a new Hymnbook for the Western Rite, we really will be set.
Pax Christi,
Columba Silouan
Reader Silouan Takes Some Steps
It is Monday, November the 17th. This is the first posting to Orthodox Parker since February.
The Adult Sunday School class I mentioned in February went well. I taught the class for a month and people enjoyed it and were very receptive.
Life at Saint Marks continues apace, as always.
My friend, Brother David Felker, a Benedictine Oblate, saw my waffling about the path to possible ordination and said one day: "We're going to make you a Reader this month!"
So, when Bishop Basil visited our humble parish, I was tonsured as a Reader and Acolyte. It was a very peaceful, joyful and fulfilling experience.
And it wasn't without some humor.
From my past experience as an Anglican / Episcopalian and also my experience at Saint Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church, I mistakenly believed that I was supposed to sit with the rest of the congregation and be called forward to be tonsured.
I believed that there was no way they would let me back into the altar area without being tonsured first. But, this is the Western Rite, not the Byzantine Rite. And this isn't the Episcopal Church.
I should have known better.
I was sitting near the back of the parish when a subdeacon came to fish me out of the assembly of the faithful and back to the sacristy.
Where I proceeded to fumble into a cossack and surplice.
Fr. Connelly wryly said: "I thought you said you were an experienced acolyte."
To which I responded "Well, my experience was as an Anglican, and these days Anglicans are loosey goosey."
Nevertheless, it was very moving to be tonsured. I sat next to Mr. Wooley, a former Deacon at Saint Mary's Anglican Catholic Church.
When I used to visit Saint Mary's during those days I was still longing to be Catholic, I would always see Deacon Wooley's smiling face.
Now, I was sitting next to him. A great honor.
Mr. Wooley was tonsured alongside me.
My First Reading was on Sunday, November the 9th. It went well, but with the following bump in the road:
The morning I was supposed to read, I was at church before Sunday School and I went to inspect the pulpit where the Epistle Reading takes place. I had dutifully practiced my reading the week before.
My friend Andrew showed me the large Book of Common Prayer used for Readings. I left with the impression that the book would be open to the proper reading and all I had to do was to step forward and do the deed during the Divine Liturgy.
It was Trinity 20 and the reading was from Ephesians, the fifth chapter beginning with the 15th verse.
But when the time during Divine Liturgy came, I strode forward and started to read . . .
The book was open to a reading in Maccabees!
But I recovered well, grabbed a smaller book of Common Prayer, quickly found the reading and finished the task.
Back in the Sacristy, some of the deacons joked "The hazing has only begun!"
I am enjoying my life at present. My new job is going well, and I have a Christian boss.
I work five minutes up the street from my home.
My relationship with my wife and my kids is also going well.
My in-laws, who are terrific people, have moved from Monte Vista to a location five miles away.
This means more dates with my wife!
It's hockey season again. My Avalanche aren't playing so well at present, but as I've said before, bad hockey is better than good football.
The Broncos are playing well, and so are the Nuggets. So I'm having fun with that.
My Rockies traded away Matt Holiday to the Oakland A's.
In a fallen world, there is always at least one fly in the ointment.
Nevertheless, all things considered, I am truly blessed.
Columba Silouan
The Adult Sunday School class I mentioned in February went well. I taught the class for a month and people enjoyed it and were very receptive.
Life at Saint Marks continues apace, as always.
My friend, Brother David Felker, a Benedictine Oblate, saw my waffling about the path to possible ordination and said one day: "We're going to make you a Reader this month!"
So, when Bishop Basil visited our humble parish, I was tonsured as a Reader and Acolyte. It was a very peaceful, joyful and fulfilling experience.
And it wasn't without some humor.
From my past experience as an Anglican / Episcopalian and also my experience at Saint Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church, I mistakenly believed that I was supposed to sit with the rest of the congregation and be called forward to be tonsured.
I believed that there was no way they would let me back into the altar area without being tonsured first. But, this is the Western Rite, not the Byzantine Rite. And this isn't the Episcopal Church.
I should have known better.
I was sitting near the back of the parish when a subdeacon came to fish me out of the assembly of the faithful and back to the sacristy.
Where I proceeded to fumble into a cossack and surplice.
Fr. Connelly wryly said: "I thought you said you were an experienced acolyte."
To which I responded "Well, my experience was as an Anglican, and these days Anglicans are loosey goosey."
Nevertheless, it was very moving to be tonsured. I sat next to Mr. Wooley, a former Deacon at Saint Mary's Anglican Catholic Church.
When I used to visit Saint Mary's during those days I was still longing to be Catholic, I would always see Deacon Wooley's smiling face.
Now, I was sitting next to him. A great honor.
Mr. Wooley was tonsured alongside me.
My First Reading was on Sunday, November the 9th. It went well, but with the following bump in the road:
The morning I was supposed to read, I was at church before Sunday School and I went to inspect the pulpit where the Epistle Reading takes place. I had dutifully practiced my reading the week before.
My friend Andrew showed me the large Book of Common Prayer used for Readings. I left with the impression that the book would be open to the proper reading and all I had to do was to step forward and do the deed during the Divine Liturgy.
It was Trinity 20 and the reading was from Ephesians, the fifth chapter beginning with the 15th verse.
But when the time during Divine Liturgy came, I strode forward and started to read . . .
The book was open to a reading in Maccabees!
But I recovered well, grabbed a smaller book of Common Prayer, quickly found the reading and finished the task.
Back in the Sacristy, some of the deacons joked "The hazing has only begun!"
I am enjoying my life at present. My new job is going well, and I have a Christian boss.
I work five minutes up the street from my home.
My relationship with my wife and my kids is also going well.
My in-laws, who are terrific people, have moved from Monte Vista to a location five miles away.
This means more dates with my wife!
It's hockey season again. My Avalanche aren't playing so well at present, but as I've said before, bad hockey is better than good football.
The Broncos are playing well, and so are the Nuggets. So I'm having fun with that.
My Rockies traded away Matt Holiday to the Oakland A's.
In a fallen world, there is always at least one fly in the ointment.
Nevertheless, all things considered, I am truly blessed.
Columba Silouan
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Stupendous Opportunity!!
Be careful what you ask for . . .
I've been granted an opportunity to teach the Adult Sunday School Class at Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church starting on February the 17th!
I plan to teach a class covering the Ransomed Hearts ministry of John Eldredge, looking at it from an Eastern Orthodox perspective.
This has long been a dream of mine, and I've believed for a long time that doing so can be powerful and fruitful.
I hope to use this class as a type of "pilot project" or prototype class to explore how to interact with leading evangelical leaders / authors while maintaining Orthodox distinctives /doctrinal purity.
Lord willing, I plan to cover concepts drawn from the following books: The Sacred Romance, The Journey of Desire, Wild at Heart, The Way of the Wild Heart, Waking the Dead, Epic and Captivating.
Some of the methods I plan to use are handouts of quotes and passages, study / discussion questions, and an invitation to ask lengthy questions via e-mail.
I have five weeks to start off with.
Please keep me in your prayers, gentle readers!
Columba Silouan Cate
I've been granted an opportunity to teach the Adult Sunday School Class at Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church starting on February the 17th!
I plan to teach a class covering the Ransomed Hearts ministry of John Eldredge, looking at it from an Eastern Orthodox perspective.
This has long been a dream of mine, and I've believed for a long time that doing so can be powerful and fruitful.
I hope to use this class as a type of "pilot project" or prototype class to explore how to interact with leading evangelical leaders / authors while maintaining Orthodox distinctives /doctrinal purity.
Lord willing, I plan to cover concepts drawn from the following books: The Sacred Romance, The Journey of Desire, Wild at Heart, The Way of the Wild Heart, Waking the Dead, Epic and Captivating.
Some of the methods I plan to use are handouts of quotes and passages, study / discussion questions, and an invitation to ask lengthy questions via e-mail.
I have five weeks to start off with.
Please keep me in your prayers, gentle readers!
Columba Silouan Cate
Monday, January 21, 2008
The Latest Ideas
I'm beginning to formulate a growth strategy based on some new information discovered about Parker and Castle Rock.
Running a constant ad promoting Orthodoxy in the Parker Chronicle is a good place to begin. The content of that ad will depend on the following:
Classes on Orthodoxy can be held for a small fee at the following locations for the not-for-profit rate:
The Parker Recreation Center, The Mainstreet Center, and the Ruth Memorial Chapel all have classroom space that can be rented for a nominal fee. Lemstone Christian Bookstore and the Steaming Bean also have space that can be used.
For vespers services, the Ruth Memorial Chapel in Parker and The Sanctuary at Christs Episcopal Church can be used. More arrangements need to be pursued at Christ's Episcopal Church through their priest Father Rick Meyers.
The Western Rite's Archpriest in our area, Fr. John Charles Connelly, has discouraged the pulling of current members of Saint Mark's Orthodox Church away from the parish in order to start a new mission, but Fr. John seemed to be fine with the attracting of new converts to Orthodoxy.
There is a group of Protestant Christians in our neighborhood that is attempting to go back to "the New Testament Church." These fine people wish to return to the days of the "house church."
If they can be persuaded to "think outside of the box" and meet with my wife and I and perhaps Fr. John Falconi of Saint Columba's, perhaps a strong case for Western Rite Orthodoxy can be presented to them.
By considering them, I, too, am attempting to think "outside of the box."
I must say that although I am greatly pleased by the Divine Liturgy at Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Church, I am less than pleased by the way Christian Community is currently practiced there. The church has experienced a wonderful growth spurt, but the "fellowship of the heart" that I've been longing for has yet to be established in my humble opinion.
We have the right theology at Saint Marks, but I believe we need the right Praxis to go along with it. There are many fine people there and I like all of them, but I would like to see more zeal.
There are many new Western Rite parishes coming into the Antiochian Archdiocese from the Charismatic Episcopal Church. At one time, I was a member of that group. I hope that their zeal will add a whole new dimension to the current Western Rite in Orthodoxy.
Orthodoxy can become a dead shrine if we start focusing on it more than the Blessed Trinity. The point of being Orthodox is to know, serve and love God, not to engage in continual self-congratulations that we have found the true faith.
Yes, I, too, have been going through a bit of a dry spell as of late. The layoff didn't help matters and the daily grind of daily life sometimes becomes a burden that swallows up the initial wonder I experienced as a new convert.
But I still believe in Holy Orthodoxy and I still believe that if you take the best thoughts from people like John Eldredge and balance it with Eastern Orthodoxy, you get a potent spiritual medicine.
I'm certain Father Falconi has held on to the best things from his pre-orthodox days. I also believe the new members from the CEC will do the same.
This is my hope, and I hope I can follow suit. There were good things in my spiritual life before I became Orthodox. Those things don't have to go away just because I'm now Orthodox.
Peace of Christ,
Columba Silouan
Running a constant ad promoting Orthodoxy in the Parker Chronicle is a good place to begin. The content of that ad will depend on the following:
Classes on Orthodoxy can be held for a small fee at the following locations for the not-for-profit rate:
The Parker Recreation Center, The Mainstreet Center, and the Ruth Memorial Chapel all have classroom space that can be rented for a nominal fee. Lemstone Christian Bookstore and the Steaming Bean also have space that can be used.
For vespers services, the Ruth Memorial Chapel in Parker and The Sanctuary at Christs Episcopal Church can be used. More arrangements need to be pursued at Christ's Episcopal Church through their priest Father Rick Meyers.
The Western Rite's Archpriest in our area, Fr. John Charles Connelly, has discouraged the pulling of current members of Saint Mark's Orthodox Church away from the parish in order to start a new mission, but Fr. John seemed to be fine with the attracting of new converts to Orthodoxy.
There is a group of Protestant Christians in our neighborhood that is attempting to go back to "the New Testament Church." These fine people wish to return to the days of the "house church."
If they can be persuaded to "think outside of the box" and meet with my wife and I and perhaps Fr. John Falconi of Saint Columba's, perhaps a strong case for Western Rite Orthodoxy can be presented to them.
By considering them, I, too, am attempting to think "outside of the box."
I must say that although I am greatly pleased by the Divine Liturgy at Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Church, I am less than pleased by the way Christian Community is currently practiced there. The church has experienced a wonderful growth spurt, but the "fellowship of the heart" that I've been longing for has yet to be established in my humble opinion.
We have the right theology at Saint Marks, but I believe we need the right Praxis to go along with it. There are many fine people there and I like all of them, but I would like to see more zeal.
There are many new Western Rite parishes coming into the Antiochian Archdiocese from the Charismatic Episcopal Church. At one time, I was a member of that group. I hope that their zeal will add a whole new dimension to the current Western Rite in Orthodoxy.
Orthodoxy can become a dead shrine if we start focusing on it more than the Blessed Trinity. The point of being Orthodox is to know, serve and love God, not to engage in continual self-congratulations that we have found the true faith.
Yes, I, too, have been going through a bit of a dry spell as of late. The layoff didn't help matters and the daily grind of daily life sometimes becomes a burden that swallows up the initial wonder I experienced as a new convert.
But I still believe in Holy Orthodoxy and I still believe that if you take the best thoughts from people like John Eldredge and balance it with Eastern Orthodoxy, you get a potent spiritual medicine.
I'm certain Father Falconi has held on to the best things from his pre-orthodox days. I also believe the new members from the CEC will do the same.
This is my hope, and I hope I can follow suit. There were good things in my spiritual life before I became Orthodox. Those things don't have to go away just because I'm now Orthodox.
Peace of Christ,
Columba Silouan
Sunday, January 6, 2008
The Substance of the Soul
I was doing some reflection last evening about the stuff our souls are made of.
Here are my thoughts on the matter: I've come to realize that God has created us the way we are on purpose. The life we lead in our body inescapably affects the shape of our soul / spirit.
The Gnostic heresy that the physical world doesn't matter, that it's all about the spirit just doesn't hold up.
God created us as a unity of body and spirit. Our spirits die when we disobey God, our spirits live and develop as we obey God in our bodies.
Before the Fall of Man, this wouldn't have been any big deal. God created Man with a body for a reason. Men will have spiritual bodies in the next life. God created a physical universe for a reason.
Of course, His reason and reasons are way beyond our comprehension, but His reasons were and remain good ones, filled with His wisdom and love.
God didn't create us to stagnate or stand still. When we try to "stop the world" because we want to get off, we hurt the non-physical part of us, too.
God created us to grow for all Eternity. There is no choice but to choose to grow towards God or away from Him.
And we should rejoice that it is so. It is a great gift that He has given to us! Let's do everything in our power to embrace this great gift and use it wisely.
Peace of Christ to all,
Columba Silouan.
Here are my thoughts on the matter: I've come to realize that God has created us the way we are on purpose. The life we lead in our body inescapably affects the shape of our soul / spirit.
The Gnostic heresy that the physical world doesn't matter, that it's all about the spirit just doesn't hold up.
God created us as a unity of body and spirit. Our spirits die when we disobey God, our spirits live and develop as we obey God in our bodies.
Before the Fall of Man, this wouldn't have been any big deal. God created Man with a body for a reason. Men will have spiritual bodies in the next life. God created a physical universe for a reason.
Of course, His reason and reasons are way beyond our comprehension, but His reasons were and remain good ones, filled with His wisdom and love.
God didn't create us to stagnate or stand still. When we try to "stop the world" because we want to get off, we hurt the non-physical part of us, too.
God created us to grow for all Eternity. There is no choice but to choose to grow towards God or away from Him.
And we should rejoice that it is so. It is a great gift that He has given to us! Let's do everything in our power to embrace this great gift and use it wisely.
Peace of Christ to all,
Columba Silouan.
Major Interruption / Time to Reflect
When the summer of 2007 ended, my intention was to begin regular blogging again. On October the 26th, while I was enjoying a weekend with a couple of vacation days tacked on, my entire billing department was laid off from my company.
When I returned the next Wednesday, a co-worker said: "Are you okay? they just moved the entire accounting function to Atlanta."
I looked at him and said: "Well, I'm certainly not going with them!"
I found out very quickly that all of our jobs had been eliminated. Blogging would have to wait while I used my home computer for a more urgent need: Finding a new job.
Well, my new job at Western Union starts on Thursday, January the 10th. I'm home sick today, so it's time to break the ice and throw this update out there.
There are two Bible Studies going on near Parker at the current time: A women's Bible Study attended by my wife has four regular attendees. The men's Bible Study is being hosted on Thursday evenings at my house and is being led by a fine fellow from my parish. We had three men in attendance the last time.
There is a verse which states "Do not despise the day of small beginnings." That's one I'm hanging on to at the current time.
My dreams for a thriving and vital Western Rite Orthodox parish in Parker are still alive. I really want to break the mold and have a Ransomed Hearts flavor to this parish while maintaining Orthodox forms and piety.
I just saw a special on the Black Entertainment Network about one Bishop Ken Ulmer, a black pastor of a Los Angeles mega-church. His denomination is a Full Gospel denomination where he was recently ordained as a "bishop."
There are many aspects of Full Gospel Theology that parallel Orthodox Theology. One aspect of this is Lordship / Conditional salvation. Another aspect is Synergy. The gospel of the Full Gospel crowd and leaders like Jack Hayford, for instance is closer to Eastern Orthodoxy than other branches of Protestantism. In my pre-Orthodox days, I ran into bedrock truths through the Full Gospel movement that paved the way for my eventual recognition of and conversion to Orthodoxy.
The Reverend Ken Ulmer not a bishop in the Eastern Orthodox sense, but he struck me as a humble and God fearing man who is very genuine.
How can we as Orthodox Christians capture the zeal of such men and, from our perspective, heterodox ministries, while retaining our orthodoxy?
I think that it's important that we find a way to bridge these two worlds and get it done. Looking in on a Black Church made me aware of how much work remains to be done. Orthodoxy needs to be more than a "white person's church."
Orthodox Navel-Gazing is not an option that Christ and the Trinity will appreciate come judgment day.
I've mentioned John Eldredge on this blog before, too. These "pre-orthodox" Christian believers are frequently more faith-filled and more expectant than we are.
God fills all things and He will use humble and faith-filled heterodox Christians if we as Orthodox Christians fail to step up and step out. They will get invited to the wedding feast with proper wedding garments while those of us who ostensibly should have our proper Orthodox wedding garments on get shown the door.
I've come to the following conclusion: Heterodox Christians who have a deficient christianity will nevertheless do more with their deficient christianity if they have more faith then we do and more humility than we do. God will work in this world with or without our Orthodox cooperation.
We have to trust and expect God to work in our lives and in the world through us. Faith IN God is just as important as faith about the facts of God.
May God bless Bishop Ulmer and bring him slowly and surely to a place where Orthodox Catholic Christianity enters his frame of reference and converts his heart more deeply to Him. And may God convert our Orthodox hearts to as deep a level as the heart of Bishop Ulmer's.
If you add his real zeal to even better knowledge, look out!
We need to pray for this to happen in the lives of the best heterodox christian leaders. They can be even more effective for Christ than they are, and help the rest of us, too. Some of these men and women can become the future Saints of the Orthodox church. They just need to be introduced to it.
Christ is in our midst!
Columba Silouan
When I returned the next Wednesday, a co-worker said: "Are you okay? they just moved the entire accounting function to Atlanta."
I looked at him and said: "Well, I'm certainly not going with them!"
I found out very quickly that all of our jobs had been eliminated. Blogging would have to wait while I used my home computer for a more urgent need: Finding a new job.
Well, my new job at Western Union starts on Thursday, January the 10th. I'm home sick today, so it's time to break the ice and throw this update out there.
There are two Bible Studies going on near Parker at the current time: A women's Bible Study attended by my wife has four regular attendees. The men's Bible Study is being hosted on Thursday evenings at my house and is being led by a fine fellow from my parish. We had three men in attendance the last time.
There is a verse which states "Do not despise the day of small beginnings." That's one I'm hanging on to at the current time.
My dreams for a thriving and vital Western Rite Orthodox parish in Parker are still alive. I really want to break the mold and have a Ransomed Hearts flavor to this parish while maintaining Orthodox forms and piety.
I just saw a special on the Black Entertainment Network about one Bishop Ken Ulmer, a black pastor of a Los Angeles mega-church. His denomination is a Full Gospel denomination where he was recently ordained as a "bishop."
There are many aspects of Full Gospel Theology that parallel Orthodox Theology. One aspect of this is Lordship / Conditional salvation. Another aspect is Synergy. The gospel of the Full Gospel crowd and leaders like Jack Hayford, for instance is closer to Eastern Orthodoxy than other branches of Protestantism. In my pre-Orthodox days, I ran into bedrock truths through the Full Gospel movement that paved the way for my eventual recognition of and conversion to Orthodoxy.
The Reverend Ken Ulmer not a bishop in the Eastern Orthodox sense, but he struck me as a humble and God fearing man who is very genuine.
How can we as Orthodox Christians capture the zeal of such men and, from our perspective, heterodox ministries, while retaining our orthodoxy?
I think that it's important that we find a way to bridge these two worlds and get it done. Looking in on a Black Church made me aware of how much work remains to be done. Orthodoxy needs to be more than a "white person's church."
Orthodox Navel-Gazing is not an option that Christ and the Trinity will appreciate come judgment day.
I've mentioned John Eldredge on this blog before, too. These "pre-orthodox" Christian believers are frequently more faith-filled and more expectant than we are.
God fills all things and He will use humble and faith-filled heterodox Christians if we as Orthodox Christians fail to step up and step out. They will get invited to the wedding feast with proper wedding garments while those of us who ostensibly should have our proper Orthodox wedding garments on get shown the door.
I've come to the following conclusion: Heterodox Christians who have a deficient christianity will nevertheless do more with their deficient christianity if they have more faith then we do and more humility than we do. God will work in this world with or without our Orthodox cooperation.
We have to trust and expect God to work in our lives and in the world through us. Faith IN God is just as important as faith about the facts of God.
May God bless Bishop Ulmer and bring him slowly and surely to a place where Orthodox Catholic Christianity enters his frame of reference and converts his heart more deeply to Him. And may God convert our Orthodox hearts to as deep a level as the heart of Bishop Ulmer's.
If you add his real zeal to even better knowledge, look out!
We need to pray for this to happen in the lives of the best heterodox christian leaders. They can be even more effective for Christ than they are, and help the rest of us, too. Some of these men and women can become the future Saints of the Orthodox church. They just need to be introduced to it.
Christ is in our midst!
Columba Silouan
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