Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

By Fr. Andrew Damick
Source: Orthodox History

A View of Manhattan from Central Park

It was a pretty hot day in Manhattan yesterday. Despite the discomfort, though, the Orthodox Christian hierarchy of North America seemed to be in pretty decent spirits.

I’m here in Manhattan at the 2010 Orthodox Episcopal Assembly of North America in an auxiliary role. I don’t get to attend the actual meetings, though I’ve been at some of the meals and have spent time with the hierarchs and others present in the halls of the hotel. Since this is such a genuinely historic occasion, we thought it might be of interest to readers to provide an informal witness to how things have been proceeding, to what it’s like to be here. (You may also be interested to read the officially published opening addresses of Abp. Demetrios (Constantinople), Metr. Philip (Antioch), Abp. Justinian (Moscow), and Abp. Nicolae (Romania).)

Continue reading →

By Fr. Andrew Damick
Source: Orthodox History

Some more impressions, not terribly well sorted:

One thing that struck me about the event was its lack of staff. Normally, these kind of big church events are swarming with photographers, porters, subdeacons swirling about, etc., but this one was rather decidedly subdued. I was there to help one of the bishops, along with one other cleric, but most of the bishops had absolutely no staff with them at all. There was also very little support staff for the event in general. Most things were taken care of by the hotel staff in their usual capacities (wait staff, food service, maintenance, etc.). I didn’t see anyone else with a camera besides myself and the few taking shots with cellphones here and there. This event did not really present the appearance of much of an “event.” It was all so routine, orderly and low-key that I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who had to remind himself that history was really being made.

Continue reading →

Does the Church merely provide religious lubrication for secular pursuits? All too often it does, answers Fr. Andrew Damick in his latest “Road to Emmaeus” podcast. The belief that “evangelism is not something the Orthodox Church does, or should be doing” is the overwhelming opinion of many Orthodox believers who have been “asleep for centuries.” This is compelling stuff, bracing in its frankness, and hopeful in that way that speaking the truth provides hope.

Part 2 of a lecture on evangelism given on March 7, 2010, at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Bethlehem, PA, at a gathering of the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians of the Lehigh Valley.

Listen to Part 1.

Fr. Andrew references an evangelistic pamphlet in his talk. Download it here and print.

Theology is an unwelcome guest at international symposiums on environmental concerns which are largely occupied by data crunching in the service of politicians, international corporate interests, and environmental celebrities, says Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, in Part 1 of his podcast This Holy Earth – Ecological Vision In The Cosmic Cathedral. But without a vision, the people perish, and data crunching cannot create vision. A technical “objectivized” approach to the environment where we understand creation as something detached from inner meaning and human participation — as something extrinsic to the human person — is impoverished Fr. Andrew argues. Sometimes the prescriptions are framed in a moral framework which gives the work an illusion of meaning, but fear is the engine that drives that machine.

There is a lot to listen to in this podcast and Fr. Andrew has obviously has given this question a lot of thought. The ideas he weaves together (solid and coherent, btw) need to be expanded, amplified, and put into a book.

Listen here: