Orthodox Church

I haven’t listened to it yet but usually Steve the Builder has very good material.

In this podcast Steve references an article he wrote for AGAIN Magazine on the Orthodox Church and same sex attraction. In it he shares the results of several interviews with Orthodox men and women who shared their backgrounds and experiences as homosexuals before and after becoming Orthodox Christians.

The gene pool is shrinking. HT: Mystagogy

His Emminence Abp. Demetrios blessing a congregation

According to the National Herald, the future leadership of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America rests on 32 qualified celibate priests out of the approximately 600 reported priests of the GOA. These numbers were issued out of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on 16 September 2009.

Out of the 32 celibate priests, 5 of them were previously married and have now risen to the rank of Archimandrite. However, 1 of these 5 is over 80 years old, and 2 are over 70.

The Archdiocese currently has 12 hierarchs not counting Archbishop Demetrios. 9 serve their respected Metropolis while 3 serve as titular Bishops. Of these there are 2 who are over 80 (Archbishop Demetrios and Iakovos of Chicago), 2 are over 70 (Maximus of Pittsburgh and Isaiah of Denver), and 3 are over 60 (Alexios of Atlanta, Methodios of Boston, and Gerasimos of San Francisco). Nicholas of Detroit is over 55 and Evangelos of New Jersey is near 50.

Full text in Greek below (use translator):
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Fr. George Nicozisin was one of the most respected clergy in the Greek Orthodox Church of the last generation. Reading through this essay he wrote a while back (I could not find the date), you can see why. There were (and presumably still are) men who understood the evangelical mission of the Orthodox Church. Fr. George was such a man. Read through the essay and see how some leaders used to think, and ponder too how far the preoccupation with ethnicity has directed the Church away from its commission to preach and baptize to all nations. Where are men like him today?

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Greek Orthodox Diocese of America

Prologue

Thanks to Alex Haley we have come to appreciate the importance of “roots.” We, too, must take a look at our roots in order to comprehend, grasp and accept the mission of the parish here in America. However, before we address the current mission of the parish, we first need to turn to the lessons of the past and look at how church history in America affected the mission of the parish. This historical backdrop notwithstanding, we will see that the aims and purposes  in short  the mission of the parish remain the same. The parish was and continues to be the rallying point and force around which Orthodox Christians find both solace and strength. The Church began with humble beginnings and grew by leaps and bounds. During the Great Depression the Church was there to counsel and nurture. And even though many changes have occurred from the early years of this century through World War II and since, the mission of the Church and parish remain constant: to evangelize, to safeguard family values and to share the beauty and fullness of Orthodox Christianity with the rest of America. Join me in a historical jet trip through the past, to help us better understand today and the future.

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