Hello, fair readers! It's time for a "Hopes and Dreams" update.
Here's where I'm at at the moment. I see a new approach to Orthodox Evangelism in my mind's eye, and it goes something like this:
Personally speaking: Continue to take steps towards increased Reading and Acolyting experience, perhaps culminating in "the next step." Enjoy this process and don't rush things.
Discipleship: Start the small group Orthodox Bible Study soon, and grow it to the point where a mid-week praise and worship session / hymn-sing can be included. Eventually institute praying with each other. Throw in the best elements from protestant "cell groups."
When enough growth occurs, start up "men's groups" along the lines of John Eldredge or Marked Men for Christ.
Evangelism: Start helping one of my fellow parishoners with lay readers services down here in Parker.
Make the new goal absolutely packing out Saint Marks Orthodox Church to the point where a new mission in our area becomes necessary.
Methodology: The way we gain new members is to be a regional AND loyal sub-group of the larger group with our own unique emphasis and philosophy. We "hang out" together, just like those members of the so-called "house church" down the street from my wife and I, but we always convene at Saint Mark's on Sundays and we continue to give our time, talent and treasure faithfully to our mother parish.
In my opinion, some of the people we draw this way will stay with Saint Marks. They won't want the hassle of a new mission. But some of the most energetic will want a new mission when Saint Marks just can't hold all the people anymore.
The end result will be TWO vibrant Orthodox parishes.
Models to look at: I think the major way Saint Mark's can grow numerically is to take the approach that Emmanuel Orthodox Church and Saint Stephen's Orthodox Church has taken. We maintain our liturgical and musical standards but also allow for additional expressions and activities in our common life.
We do our uniquely Orthodox alternative to the Vatican II model: Always preserving the Divine Liturgy and its Holy integrity, while practicing the best things that we did when we were protestant christians "on the side", so to speak.
If we had a vital and dynamic small groups / cell groups ministry, I think many more people would strongly consider Holy Orthodoxy as a spiritual home.
And I plan to state UP FRONT that one of the goals is church growth and new missions, provided we fill up and improve life at Saint Mark's first.
This small groups ministry can bridge the gap for new converts, giving them the encouragement they are used to from their past traditions, allowing them to "catch their breath" figuratively speaking in doing the (for many of them) hard work of Orthodox worship and living. We practice a rigorous form of Christianity that many just aren't used to. One thing we aren't is "laid-back." Converting to Orthodoxy is an adjustment for a great many converts. We can help make that adjustment a much smoother one.
Our religion is "the Maximalist form of Christianity." Let's live like it and go after new families.
I believe Saint Marks is a special place, and that makes it something I want to see duplicated.
So "The Dream" is back, but with this new focus I've written about here.
Let's overcome the obstacles in our way and convert both lost people and heterodox christians, bringing them into the blessings of Holy Orthodoxy.
Saint Mark's first, then in God's good time, Saint Ambrose!
Forgive me,
Columba Siluoan.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Restarting the Bible Study: Why the delay?
As I've stated previously, I really wish and intend to get what was formerly the Orthodox Men's Small Group Bible Study re-ignited.
I know I keep saying I will get this done, but it hasn't happened yet and here's why:
I said earlier that I supposedly have a new job with Dish Network. Since the post that mentioned this possibility was published, I've been through a third interview, a series of assessments, and I'm still waiting to see if I have the job or not.
I've also applied for positions with Citi Financial, Homestead Technologies, and a company called Pro-Source.
This second bout with unemployment has been a real roller coaster ride. Add on top of this a bit of the wind being taken out of my sails by the Lord interrupting my plans to get an Orthodox Mission planted in Parker, and you get my lack of progress in re-starting the Bible Study.
I've just been too sapped and drained lately to get the ball rolling.
But the good news is I continue to gain experience with acolyting and reading at Saint Marks, and the more I do this, the more peace I'm feeling. Doing these things at church has been a peaceful and fulfilling island in this storm of career change.
So yes, I really want to see the Orthodox Bible Study resume soon. But until I get something nailed down on the job front, I'm finding that I'm just too distracted.
I think this job situation will be resolved soon. When it is, I will revisit the Bible Study at that time.
Forgive me,
Columba Siluoan
I know I keep saying I will get this done, but it hasn't happened yet and here's why:
I said earlier that I supposedly have a new job with Dish Network. Since the post that mentioned this possibility was published, I've been through a third interview, a series of assessments, and I'm still waiting to see if I have the job or not.
I've also applied for positions with Citi Financial, Homestead Technologies, and a company called Pro-Source.
This second bout with unemployment has been a real roller coaster ride. Add on top of this a bit of the wind being taken out of my sails by the Lord interrupting my plans to get an Orthodox Mission planted in Parker, and you get my lack of progress in re-starting the Bible Study.
I've just been too sapped and drained lately to get the ball rolling.
But the good news is I continue to gain experience with acolyting and reading at Saint Marks, and the more I do this, the more peace I'm feeling. Doing these things at church has been a peaceful and fulfilling island in this storm of career change.
So yes, I really want to see the Orthodox Bible Study resume soon. But until I get something nailed down on the job front, I'm finding that I'm just too distracted.
I think this job situation will be resolved soon. When it is, I will revisit the Bible Study at that time.
Forgive me,
Columba Siluoan
House Churches: Modern vs. Ancient
One of my readers posted a comment on one of my past posts about restarting the small group bible study. In her comment, she provided a link to an article about "House Churches."
Here is the link: http://www.kencollins.com/glossary/architecture.htm
This is an important article by Ken Collins. Evidently Pastor Collins is a member of the Disciples of Christ, which is a protestant denomination more favorable to traditional church set-ups, which makes him kind of an ally to traditionally minded Orthodox church planters.
My wife and I have had a positive experience with one of these modern, so-called "house churches" down the street from us in our very own neighborhood. We attended a Thursday evening class called "Financial Peace University" by protestant author Dave Ramsey. Mr. Ramsey also has a show on Fox Business Network, and the class was excellent. Ramsey is a deeply committed protestant christian who emphasizes getting in control of your finances so you can give money away to others and to your local church.
I believe these well-meaning folks think that one of the best ways to "do church" is to meet relevant and urgent needs that people have in our modern culture. Providing the Financial Peace University class at their homes was no doubt seen by them as one of the deepest ways they could reach out to non-believers. And this approach is a good idea, if you pair it with involvement in an actual Church with a capital "C."
I've been wishing that the three families of this "house church" who live in three paired homes adjacent to each other (and with shared backyards) really knew what an ancient "house church" was like. If only these couples knew the true facts, perhaps they could help us pack Saint Marks while continuing their activities at the same time, thus making new missions necessary.
I believe their approach can bring many people into the christian faith. But we need to bring people to the Christian Faith, too.
These three families are salt-of-the-earth types of people who really love Jesus Christ. They all come from a Southern Baptist background. I pray and wish they will become Orthodox Christians and join this really great institution Christ founded called the Holy Orthodox Church.
We could sure use more people like these earnest and well-meaning, but misguided folks. Bible studies and fellowship in a house church without the sacraments fall short of what Christ intends for us as Christians. I know God is working through their efforts but He intends so much more!
They are settling for something good, but not God's best. And sometimes the merely good is enemy of the best.
As Orthodox Christians, I wonder what these great and sincere folks could accomplish within one of our parishes. Y'all please pray for these three couples, that someday the blessed Trinity will woo them into our Holy Church. The fruit that would result would be very significant. Joining their holy zeal with our holy structure would be a dynamic mix.
I guess it's time for some "friendship evangelism" on our part.
(This will probably take a while).
Pax,
Columba Silouan
Here is the link: http://www.kencollins.com/glossary/architecture.htm
This is an important article by Ken Collins. Evidently Pastor Collins is a member of the Disciples of Christ, which is a protestant denomination more favorable to traditional church set-ups, which makes him kind of an ally to traditionally minded Orthodox church planters.
My wife and I have had a positive experience with one of these modern, so-called "house churches" down the street from us in our very own neighborhood. We attended a Thursday evening class called "Financial Peace University" by protestant author Dave Ramsey. Mr. Ramsey also has a show on Fox Business Network, and the class was excellent. Ramsey is a deeply committed protestant christian who emphasizes getting in control of your finances so you can give money away to others and to your local church.
I believe these well-meaning folks think that one of the best ways to "do church" is to meet relevant and urgent needs that people have in our modern culture. Providing the Financial Peace University class at their homes was no doubt seen by them as one of the deepest ways they could reach out to non-believers. And this approach is a good idea, if you pair it with involvement in an actual Church with a capital "C."
I've been wishing that the three families of this "house church" who live in three paired homes adjacent to each other (and with shared backyards) really knew what an ancient "house church" was like. If only these couples knew the true facts, perhaps they could help us pack Saint Marks while continuing their activities at the same time, thus making new missions necessary.
I believe their approach can bring many people into the christian faith. But we need to bring people to the Christian Faith, too.
These three families are salt-of-the-earth types of people who really love Jesus Christ. They all come from a Southern Baptist background. I pray and wish they will become Orthodox Christians and join this really great institution Christ founded called the Holy Orthodox Church.
We could sure use more people like these earnest and well-meaning, but misguided folks. Bible studies and fellowship in a house church without the sacraments fall short of what Christ intends for us as Christians. I know God is working through their efforts but He intends so much more!
They are settling for something good, but not God's best. And sometimes the merely good is enemy of the best.
As Orthodox Christians, I wonder what these great and sincere folks could accomplish within one of our parishes. Y'all please pray for these three couples, that someday the blessed Trinity will woo them into our Holy Church. The fruit that would result would be very significant. Joining their holy zeal with our holy structure would be a dynamic mix.
I guess it's time for some "friendship evangelism" on our part.
(This will probably take a while).
Pax,
Columba Silouan
Monday, January 12, 2009
Transgressive Liturgy. An Analysis of the Article
In our Adult Sunday School class, we're studying an article by James Hitchcock. In this article, the "therapuetic mentality" and its affect on American culture and Roman Catholic worship is addressed.
The controversy over Christianity and Psychology isn't a new one. I had a painful round of this myself when I was a young man at Biola University.
I remember well the book by Bob and Diedra Bobgan called "Psychoheresy." I remember well the "Nothing Buttery" approach to Christian counseling which was "use only the Bible." I remember books by Paul Vietz like "Psychology as Religion, the Cult of Self-Worship."
I also remember the other camp: Rosemead School of Psychology. The Integration of Faith and Learning. "Spoiling the Egyptians," and so on.
One of the primary psychological schools of thought used at Rosemead was the Rogerian model. So the counselling used was referred to as "neo-Rogerian." They also used "free-association" therapy. They didn't use the "Behaviorist" approach like others at the time (Dr. D. James Dobson comes to mind here). Instructors at Rosemead referred to all the founders of modern psychology, including Sigmund Frued.
Rosemead and those sympathetic to the school were strongly opposed by other protestant factions like devotees of Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church and The Master's College. Additional student factions who opposed or who frowned on this mixture of "christianity" and psychotherapy were members of The Navigators on campus and students who were members of a local Pentecostal church called "Believer's Fellowship."
The controversy grew so intense that those who opposed any mixture of christianity and psychology refused to eat with members of the other faction, considering them to be on the road to "final apostasy."
In this atmosphere, anyone with real personal problems was going to get creamed by the one side and confused by the other side.
It may well be a good idea for Orthodox Christians to be strongly opposed to the field of pychology, the so-called "therapuetic culture." But filtering psychological analysis and ideas through the lense of Orthodoxy might also be useful if we can keep the influence of psychology from changing any aspect of our Orthodox faith in the process. Many say that psychology is good at labelling problems and issues but impotent when it comes to real and lasting solutions.
And then there is the matter of psychology v.s. psychiatry, or so called physical diseases and chemical imbalances that affect the brain. My personal opinion about PHYSICAL disorders such as "Bi-Polar" disorder, for instance is that they should be treated with the best medicines available under the care of the best physicians available. Bi-Polar disorder is a PSYCHIATRIC issue, not a "therapuetic" issue.
It's a common error to confuse Phychology with Psychiatry, and this error should be beyond Orthodox Christians.
Nevertheless any "Bi-Polar" person who is an Orthodox Christian is still responsible to resist the evil passions of his or her mood swings and thereby lessen the extent and effect of this disorder. No person is a helpless pawn. God has given us the gift of Free Will, even if that will is weakened by illness. Orthodox Christians believe that no one has been created with an immutable nature. Everyone can change for the better. Total Depravity and Double Presdestination are protestant ideas we Orthodox don't suscribe to at all. Nothing is inevitable when you are an Orthodox Christian.
Resisting Bi-Polar mood swings through medicine and the disciplines of our Holy Faith is the responsible and fully human thing to do, and becoming truly human is what Orthodox Christianity is all about.
In future posts as time permits, I may delve into greater detail about this thought provoking Transgressive Liturgy article we're studying. There are many wonderful thoughts expressed within this article. But it is also very hard-hitting.
Again, in my humble opinion, you draw more bees with honey than with vinegar.
We need to do our duty, as the article suggests but as John Eldredge has said there are ways to do our duty without killing our hearts in the process.
Our adult Sunday School teacher recently stated that true happiness is a by-product of doing our Christian duty, as the Transgressive Liturgy article suggests. I found this to be a most agreeable addition on his part, softening the hard edges of the article a bit.
So I believe a sound approach is to resist the abuses of the therapuetic culture without losing our hearts in the process. This is the essence of being "watchful" as our teacher admonished us to do in the best tradition of "hesychast" Orthodox spirituality.
Forgive me,
Columba Silouan
The controversy over Christianity and Psychology isn't a new one. I had a painful round of this myself when I was a young man at Biola University.
I remember well the book by Bob and Diedra Bobgan called "Psychoheresy." I remember well the "Nothing Buttery" approach to Christian counseling which was "use only the Bible." I remember books by Paul Vietz like "Psychology as Religion, the Cult of Self-Worship."
I also remember the other camp: Rosemead School of Psychology. The Integration of Faith and Learning. "Spoiling the Egyptians," and so on.
One of the primary psychological schools of thought used at Rosemead was the Rogerian model. So the counselling used was referred to as "neo-Rogerian." They also used "free-association" therapy. They didn't use the "Behaviorist" approach like others at the time (Dr. D. James Dobson comes to mind here). Instructors at Rosemead referred to all the founders of modern psychology, including Sigmund Frued.
Rosemead and those sympathetic to the school were strongly opposed by other protestant factions like devotees of Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church and The Master's College. Additional student factions who opposed or who frowned on this mixture of "christianity" and psychotherapy were members of The Navigators on campus and students who were members of a local Pentecostal church called "Believer's Fellowship."
The controversy grew so intense that those who opposed any mixture of christianity and psychology refused to eat with members of the other faction, considering them to be on the road to "final apostasy."
In this atmosphere, anyone with real personal problems was going to get creamed by the one side and confused by the other side.
It may well be a good idea for Orthodox Christians to be strongly opposed to the field of pychology, the so-called "therapuetic culture." But filtering psychological analysis and ideas through the lense of Orthodoxy might also be useful if we can keep the influence of psychology from changing any aspect of our Orthodox faith in the process. Many say that psychology is good at labelling problems and issues but impotent when it comes to real and lasting solutions.
And then there is the matter of psychology v.s. psychiatry, or so called physical diseases and chemical imbalances that affect the brain. My personal opinion about PHYSICAL disorders such as "Bi-Polar" disorder, for instance is that they should be treated with the best medicines available under the care of the best physicians available. Bi-Polar disorder is a PSYCHIATRIC issue, not a "therapuetic" issue.
It's a common error to confuse Phychology with Psychiatry, and this error should be beyond Orthodox Christians.
Nevertheless any "Bi-Polar" person who is an Orthodox Christian is still responsible to resist the evil passions of his or her mood swings and thereby lessen the extent and effect of this disorder. No person is a helpless pawn. God has given us the gift of Free Will, even if that will is weakened by illness. Orthodox Christians believe that no one has been created with an immutable nature. Everyone can change for the better. Total Depravity and Double Presdestination are protestant ideas we Orthodox don't suscribe to at all. Nothing is inevitable when you are an Orthodox Christian.
Resisting Bi-Polar mood swings through medicine and the disciplines of our Holy Faith is the responsible and fully human thing to do, and becoming truly human is what Orthodox Christianity is all about.
In future posts as time permits, I may delve into greater detail about this thought provoking Transgressive Liturgy article we're studying. There are many wonderful thoughts expressed within this article. But it is also very hard-hitting.
Again, in my humble opinion, you draw more bees with honey than with vinegar.
We need to do our duty, as the article suggests but as John Eldredge has said there are ways to do our duty without killing our hearts in the process.
Our adult Sunday School teacher recently stated that true happiness is a by-product of doing our Christian duty, as the Transgressive Liturgy article suggests. I found this to be a most agreeable addition on his part, softening the hard edges of the article a bit.
So I believe a sound approach is to resist the abuses of the therapuetic culture without losing our hearts in the process. This is the essence of being "watchful" as our teacher admonished us to do in the best tradition of "hesychast" Orthodox spirituality.
Forgive me,
Columba Silouan
It's Not Rocket Science, Folks!
In this past Sunday's adult Sunday School class, the subject of Orthodox Church Planting was raised by our teacher. In the class, he commented on how difficult it is to plant Orthodox Churches. He mentioned that there is a new family of our parish where the husband is being assigned by his employer to Basalt, Colorado, and that there are precious few Orthodox parishes in that region of the state.
There is one small OCA mission in a mountain town less than an hour away, and one Greek Orthodox mission in Grand Junction somewhere.
Besides that, there are scores of churches of other types and kinds in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, you name it, they're there.
Our teacher went on to mention how an Orthodox Western Rite mission near Oklahoma City became "too successful." The local Greek Orthodox parish became threatened when families were drawn to the Western Rite parish, in effect making the new parish "the enemy." The opposition from this parish eventually led to the demise of the Western Rite mission.
Please!
It's not Rocket Science, Folks!
Granted, it may be a bit more difficult to plant an Orthodox Mission than your standard protestant parish, but we make it way too hard on ourselves.
First of all, the rivalry between Western Rite and Byzantine Rite Orthodox needs to be laid to rest. We have way too much work to do in bringing America to Eastern Orthodoxy! As I've said before, we need to focus on being so vitally Orthodox that it doesn't matter which rite we practice. Our best defense needs to be deep spirituality and griping and back-biting back and forth on how "Orthodox" we are based on what rite we belong too is NOT SPIRITUAL BUT CARNAL.
Also, IT DEMONSTRATES HOW FAR WE STILL HAVE TO GO WHEN ANY ONE OF OUR ORTHODOX PARISHES IS THREATENED BY THE SUCCESS OF ANY OTHER PARISH OR MISSION.
It demonstrates a lack of vision and a smallness of mind when we jealously guard the turf of our parish or our worship tradition within Orthodoxy. There are enough potential converts to go around FOR BOTH RITES, believe me! America needs to be re-evangelized and we have just the church to do this IF we don't shoot ourselves in both feet!
The fact that we have multiple rites makes us truly CATHOLIC, as opposed to merely sectarian, localized, tribal schismatics.
Our focus needs to be outward! We need to quit our Orthodox navel-gazing and reach our world with all that is good and life-giving about our Holy Orthodox faith.
For starters, each one of our parishes, whether Western Rite or Eastern Rite needs to have thriving Sunday School programs, small group Bible Studies and Orthodox Book Studies, and times outside of the Divine Liturgy where the life of the community can be deepened. Every positive thing our protestant brothers and sisters practice that isn't contrary to Holy Orthodox faith needs to be available in our parishes! Orthodoxy is not less than Protestantism, it is more!
And this also goes for every positive thing our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters practice.
AS THE BEE GATHERS NECTAR FROM THE FLOWERS TO MAKE HONEY, SO WE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS GATHER EVERY GOOD THING FROM OUR FATHER'S CREATION TO WIN SOULS.
I don't know which Orthodox Saint said this, but I remember Father Evan Armatas of Saint Spyridon (formerly of Saint Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church) using this quote on many occasions when I was a catechumen and when I was under his spiritual direction.
If we have vital parishes that are full of the life of the Holy Trinity, growth will happen. We won't have to compete for the scraps!
One challenge we have is to grow our home parishes to the point where they are packed to the rafters, thus FORCING us to plant new Orthodox missions.
There needs to be less cursing of the darkness and more lighting of the candili! A prime example of this is the constant criticism I hear of the Roman Catholic Vatican II Council. We've spent far too much time as Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christians criticizing Vatican II and far too little time promoting a distinctive MISSIONAL alternative!
As I've mentioned in previous posts, there are two new Western Rite Orthodox parishes that recently entered Holy Orthodoxy from the Charismatic Episcopal Church.
These two parishes are finding ways of reaching our western culture with things that go beyond which rite is practiced.
Emmanuel Orthodox Catholic Church and Saint Stephens Orthodox Catholic Church in Massachusetts have found an alternative to the Vatican II model that the rest of us would do good to study. Please remember: THESE NEW PARISHES ARE MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING OF THE ANTIOCHIAN ARCHDIOCESE.
WITHOUT VIOLATING THE DIVINE LITURGY, they have nevertheless found a way to allow praise and worship music into the life of their parish communities. Doing this is a prime example of reaching the American culture THAT ACTUALLY EXISTS in the United States instead of just talking about it.
In addition to finding an acceptable way to use praise music, each parish has incorporated all the best practices from their previous affiliation into their newly formed Orthodox parishes. This is a bold move that closes the gap between our communion and communions that currently outdo us in the evangelistic department.
We have the correct theology. But sometimes heterodox parishes "do the church" better than we do, and it doesn't have to be this way.
Sometimes we become unbalanced as Eastern and Western Rite Orthodox Christians, focusing on our prayer books and our liturgies to the neglect of living our Christian lives, which the practicing of the liturgy is supposed to facilitate.
Promoting the finest liturgy and music for use in our Masses has its wonderful place, and I'm all in favor of it, but we need to keep a firm hold on the one thing without letting go of all the other things.
Let me repeat something I've said before: If we don't compete for souls and "market share," other traditions will fill in the vacuum we create with inferior forms of Christian spirituality to the detriment and loss of us all.
Many potential Orthodox conversions will never happen if heterodox Christians "settle" for "less than 100% christianities" that nevertheless are more zealous than we are.
If there are obstacles to the growth of our parishes, let's address these head-on, all the while not compromising our standards. Let's not moan and groan about "how difficult it is." It's all too easy for us to give ourselves excuses.
We can be more innovative without being spiritual innovators in the negative sense, and here I'm thinking about innovators of the liberal Episcopalian variety.
Saint Paul said that he became all things to all men that he might win them all to Christ.
Are we allowed to do less than this canonized saint and apostle?
DARE we do less than he did?
Holy Paul,pray for us sinners, that we might be saved!
Forgive me,
Columba Silouan
There is one small OCA mission in a mountain town less than an hour away, and one Greek Orthodox mission in Grand Junction somewhere.
Besides that, there are scores of churches of other types and kinds in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, you name it, they're there.
Our teacher went on to mention how an Orthodox Western Rite mission near Oklahoma City became "too successful." The local Greek Orthodox parish became threatened when families were drawn to the Western Rite parish, in effect making the new parish "the enemy." The opposition from this parish eventually led to the demise of the Western Rite mission.
Please!
It's not Rocket Science, Folks!
Granted, it may be a bit more difficult to plant an Orthodox Mission than your standard protestant parish, but we make it way too hard on ourselves.
First of all, the rivalry between Western Rite and Byzantine Rite Orthodox needs to be laid to rest. We have way too much work to do in bringing America to Eastern Orthodoxy! As I've said before, we need to focus on being so vitally Orthodox that it doesn't matter which rite we practice. Our best defense needs to be deep spirituality and griping and back-biting back and forth on how "Orthodox" we are based on what rite we belong too is NOT SPIRITUAL BUT CARNAL.
Also, IT DEMONSTRATES HOW FAR WE STILL HAVE TO GO WHEN ANY ONE OF OUR ORTHODOX PARISHES IS THREATENED BY THE SUCCESS OF ANY OTHER PARISH OR MISSION.
It demonstrates a lack of vision and a smallness of mind when we jealously guard the turf of our parish or our worship tradition within Orthodoxy. There are enough potential converts to go around FOR BOTH RITES, believe me! America needs to be re-evangelized and we have just the church to do this IF we don't shoot ourselves in both feet!
The fact that we have multiple rites makes us truly CATHOLIC, as opposed to merely sectarian, localized, tribal schismatics.
Our focus needs to be outward! We need to quit our Orthodox navel-gazing and reach our world with all that is good and life-giving about our Holy Orthodox faith.
For starters, each one of our parishes, whether Western Rite or Eastern Rite needs to have thriving Sunday School programs, small group Bible Studies and Orthodox Book Studies, and times outside of the Divine Liturgy where the life of the community can be deepened. Every positive thing our protestant brothers and sisters practice that isn't contrary to Holy Orthodox faith needs to be available in our parishes! Orthodoxy is not less than Protestantism, it is more!
And this also goes for every positive thing our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters practice.
AS THE BEE GATHERS NECTAR FROM THE FLOWERS TO MAKE HONEY, SO WE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS GATHER EVERY GOOD THING FROM OUR FATHER'S CREATION TO WIN SOULS.
I don't know which Orthodox Saint said this, but I remember Father Evan Armatas of Saint Spyridon (formerly of Saint Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church) using this quote on many occasions when I was a catechumen and when I was under his spiritual direction.
If we have vital parishes that are full of the life of the Holy Trinity, growth will happen. We won't have to compete for the scraps!
One challenge we have is to grow our home parishes to the point where they are packed to the rafters, thus FORCING us to plant new Orthodox missions.
There needs to be less cursing of the darkness and more lighting of the candili! A prime example of this is the constant criticism I hear of the Roman Catholic Vatican II Council. We've spent far too much time as Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christians criticizing Vatican II and far too little time promoting a distinctive MISSIONAL alternative!
As I've mentioned in previous posts, there are two new Western Rite Orthodox parishes that recently entered Holy Orthodoxy from the Charismatic Episcopal Church.
These two parishes are finding ways of reaching our western culture with things that go beyond which rite is practiced.
Emmanuel Orthodox Catholic Church and Saint Stephens Orthodox Catholic Church in Massachusetts have found an alternative to the Vatican II model that the rest of us would do good to study. Please remember: THESE NEW PARISHES ARE MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING OF THE ANTIOCHIAN ARCHDIOCESE.
WITHOUT VIOLATING THE DIVINE LITURGY, they have nevertheless found a way to allow praise and worship music into the life of their parish communities. Doing this is a prime example of reaching the American culture THAT ACTUALLY EXISTS in the United States instead of just talking about it.
In addition to finding an acceptable way to use praise music, each parish has incorporated all the best practices from their previous affiliation into their newly formed Orthodox parishes. This is a bold move that closes the gap between our communion and communions that currently outdo us in the evangelistic department.
We have the correct theology. But sometimes heterodox parishes "do the church" better than we do, and it doesn't have to be this way.
Sometimes we become unbalanced as Eastern and Western Rite Orthodox Christians, focusing on our prayer books and our liturgies to the neglect of living our Christian lives, which the practicing of the liturgy is supposed to facilitate.
Promoting the finest liturgy and music for use in our Masses has its wonderful place, and I'm all in favor of it, but we need to keep a firm hold on the one thing without letting go of all the other things.
Let me repeat something I've said before: If we don't compete for souls and "market share," other traditions will fill in the vacuum we create with inferior forms of Christian spirituality to the detriment and loss of us all.
Many potential Orthodox conversions will never happen if heterodox Christians "settle" for "less than 100% christianities" that nevertheless are more zealous than we are.
If there are obstacles to the growth of our parishes, let's address these head-on, all the while not compromising our standards. Let's not moan and groan about "how difficult it is." It's all too easy for us to give ourselves excuses.
We can be more innovative without being spiritual innovators in the negative sense, and here I'm thinking about innovators of the liberal Episcopalian variety.
Saint Paul said that he became all things to all men that he might win them all to Christ.
Are we allowed to do less than this canonized saint and apostle?
DARE we do less than he did?
Holy Paul,pray for us sinners, that we might be saved!
Forgive me,
Columba Silouan
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