Another Summer's Approach

Spring begins on Monday, March the 15th. It won't be too long before another Summer is here, with new opportunities to write about Orthodoxy and promote a potential church plant in Parker.

Going into this new Spring and Summer I have some advantages that I lacked one year ago at this time.

The first new advantage is that my new job is much more secure than it was even a few months ago. May the Lord continue to have mercy.

With my transfer to the Facilities department at my company with duties I have performed well in previously, I can turn my attention back to projects such as Growing Up Christian in America and Saint Ambrose Orthodox Church.

To get a new church going won't be easy at all. But I still believe the goal is worthwhile.

One need I see is to find a younger point man to help with this effort.

I'm not old by any means at the age of 44, but a younger person might be more inspirational than a middle aged and balding forty something.

This will be a matter for prolonged prayer.

If this Spring and Summer season is to be any more productive than last Spring and Summer, time will need to be spent once a week in Parker promoting the idea for a new parish.

Again, the model for a new Orthodox parish in Parker is as follows: The Parish will be a "Western Rite" parish and can either be an Antiochian, an OCA, or a ROCOR parish. The most likely home for such a parish would be in the Antiochian Archdiocese, but if the opportunity presents itself, membership in the OCA or ROCOR might also work very well.

Rumors have persisted for months that the OCA is looking at opening up a Western Rite of its own, and ROCOR already has a Western Rite presence.

The local diocese of Antioch has an excellent bishop as its head, Bishop Basil Essey. Any church under Bishop Basil would be blessed to have him as Bishop.

However, at the present time there continues to be controversy within the larger Archdiocese, and perhaps a new start under a different Orthodox jurisdiction would be a fruitful move for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this area.

Whatever God allows to happen will happen.

My hopes for the "DNA" of a new Parker mission parish are as follows:

1. A thriving church school program with excellent classes at all levels of the parish.

2. A strong and sustained small group Bible Study program where the scriptures are studied from an Eastern Orthodox perspective using The Orthodox Study Bible and various Orthodox Bible Study guides by authors such as Fr. Patrick Henry O'Reardon and others.

3. A strong and sustained small group fellowship setup where people can meet on a regular basis and share their lives with each other.

4. A monthly or twice-monthly praise and worship session that stands apart from the Divine Liturgy as a means of ongoing encouragement and inspiration for the faithful.

5. Maintaining an excellent liturgical and musical life for the parish during the central service of the Mass, along the lines of the venerable tradition at Saint Mark's Orthodox Church.

6. Practice of the Divine Liturgy using the 2009 Book of Common Prayer and the Saint Dunstan's and Saint Ambrose Psalter and Hymnbook. All services will be in English. Those who desire Latin Masses are free to repair to Saint Mark's Orthodox Church.

7. Continued use of the discipline of Morning and Evening Prayer / Matins, again using Anglican Plainchant as found in the Saint Dunstan's Psalter.

8. Faithful Observance of all Orthodox Holy Days and Feasts as possible at the new parish, but if not possible, encouragement of mission members to attend the same events at Saint Mark's.

9. Outreach to the surrounding community including establishing a regular presence at the Steaming Bean Christian Coffee Shop at the intersection of Parker Road and Mainstreet.

10. The eventual construction of an Orthodox Temple friendly to Western forms while maintaining the iconographic and liturgical standards that Eastern Orthodoxy requires.

11. A parish that reaches out to unchurched people as well as to disaffected christians of all stripes.

12. A parish that practices hospitality.

13. A parish that has regular prayer services during the month where healing is sought for the sick and all night prayer is available.

These are some starting points to ponder and this is not meant to be an exhaustive list.

The Peace of Christ be with you!

Columba Silouan