• Ancient Faith Ministries
  • Radio & Podcasts
  • Publishing
  • Store
  • Blogs:
  • Films
Skip to content
Ancient Faith Blogs
  • Nearly Orthodox

    Air dancers

    June 11, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

    It has a name and it’s an awesome name. I was wondering about it for weeks, having driven by the same wind-whipped inflatable character near the car wash on Western Avenue. Its arms were outstretched, its wide smile and bright eyes popping out with each cycling of air through its slender body; collapsing and filling over and over. It got my attention. That is its only job. So I went online to…

  • Nearly Orthodox

    The answer to gun violence...

    June 6, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Facing Antioch: Hopes for the Antiochian Archdiocese Nominating Convention and Beyond

    June 2, 2014June 2, 2015 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    We in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America come now to a historic moment, one that has not been seen for nearly half a century. That may sound a bit melodramatic, especially considering that we are really only a small community, both when compared with the rest of our country and especially when compared with the Orthodox world in general. But it…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Coming this Fall: Ancient Faith Blogs

    May 28, 2014August 1, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Ancient Faith Ministries, the people who bring you Ancient Faith Radio and Ancient Faith Publishing (formerly Conciliar Press) have officially announced a new project for this Fall: Ancient Faith Blogs. The beans being spilled: If you’re like me, you follow several Orthodox blogs, but you don’t have the time or inclination to look into other such blogs that may or may not share the…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Spiritual Renewal and the Healing of the Blind

    May 26, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Sunday of the Blind Man, May 25, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is risen! On this sixth and final Sunday during the forty days we celebrate Christ’s resurrection, we begin to contemplate the completion of this celebration with the account from John’s Gospel of…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Becoming a Bridge: Christ and the Woman at the Well

    May 20, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Note: An audio recording of this sermon is also available via Ancient Faith Radio. Sunday of the Samaritan Woman, May 18, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is risen! Today on this fifth Sunday of the great feast of all feasts, Holy Pascha, we meditate…

  • Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy

    The Future of Protestantism and Catholicism: A Few Orthodox Comments

    May 19, 2014May 19, 2016 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Over at First Things, R. R. Reno reflects as a Roman Catholic on his recent attendance at Peter Leithart’s Future of Protestantism conference, in which Leithart et al advocated for a post-Protestant future, especially in terms of what Leithart calls “Reformed Catholicism.” Reno notes that, while Protestants like Leithart may be looking at engaging with Catholicism to imagine their own future, Catholics…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    "We speak one language: Antiochian": More Thoughts on the Future of the Antiochian Archdiocese and Orthodoxy in America

    May 12, 2014July 20, 2017 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    If you’ve done any reading from modern Orthodox saints, you know that there is a certain tone among the holy elders of Greece, another from Russia and so forth. Each culture enculturates the Gospel in its own authentic way and speaks of the truth of Jesus Christ with its own voice. One of the things which makes the particular Antiochian voice distinct—although it is…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Light from Antioch: The Future of the Antiochian Archdiocese and Orthodoxy in America

    May 5, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Notes: The following is a personal reflection and represents only my own views. This piece is also available as an audio recording via Ancient Faith Radio. This past Friday, I had the blessing along with other clergy of the Diocese of Charleston and Oakland and also the Diocese of Washington and New York to meet with His Eminence, Metropolitan Silouan (Moussi) of Argentina in…

  • Nearly Orthodox

    the fasting, the feast, the fire

    April 20, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

    There is so much to Pascha in the Orthodox tradition. It’s a rich bounty of Liturgies, opportunities to connect, to pray, to wait, to watch, to breathe deep. Each service has its own particular draw, its own voice with which to speak. None speaks to me at this point in my journey as well as the midnight office. This is to be expected I suppose. It’s the most visible and tangible offering…

  • Nearly Orthodox

    Good Friday: this floating space

    April 18, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

    I’m suspended here, in this floating space just before Pascha, in the air, in the water, it’s hard to explain. Before I have coffee in the morning there’s that groggy brain poking through, telling me I have to get up, get going, get things done but I’m not really listening. It’s automatic now, this waking up at 6am whether I need to be up or not. And so I get up, stretch…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Raising Authentically Christian Children: Good News and Bad News

    April 8, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    My friend Seraphim Danckaert published an article today on the O&H site that I think every Christian (Orthodox or not) should read: Losing our Religion: On “Retaining” Young People in the Orthodox Church. Why? Almost every kind of church throughout America is losing kids. So read it first before reading the rest of this. Okay, done? First, some bad news: If you’re counting on…

  • Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy

    Losing our Religion: On “Retaining” Young People in the Orthodox Church

    April 8, 2014 · Seraphim Danckaert

    A recent article on the challenge of interfaith marriage in Greek Orthodoxy has been circulating widely on Facebook.[1] One reason for the article’s popularity is its startling claim that 90% of Americans with Greek roots are no longer in communion with the Orthodox Church. Similarly dismal statistics are likely true for most Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States, but the article in…

  • Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy

    The Ecumenism of Fr. Georges Florovsky

    April 2, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    A short piece on the ecumenism of Fr. Georges Florovsky has been written by Florovsky scholars Fr. Matthew Baker and Seraphim Danckaert and published in Orthodox Handbook on Ecumenism: Resources for Theological Education. It’s brief but fascinating it its detail. Here are a few highlights: Georges Florovsky (1893-1979) was the leading architect of Orthodox ecumenism in the 20th century. He combined magnanimity…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Ten (Possibly) Surprising Facts about Fred Phelps

    March 23, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Besides being a heretical hate-monger who pushed the envelope of the definition of constitutionally protected speech, Fred Phelps, the late leader of the Westboro Baptist Church, had a number of perhaps surprising facets to his life. Here are ten of them, all culled from the Wikipedia article dedicated to him. 1. In the ’60s and ’70s, Phelps was a notable civil rights lawyer in…

  • Nearly Orthodox

    The problem with poetry...

    March 21, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

  • Nearly Orthodox

    Godparenting...

    March 15, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

    I have four god-daughters- one Orthodox and three non-Orthodox. The non-Orthodox god-daughters are my niece, the daughter of my bestie, Paula and the daughter of my bestie, Dina. Jennifer, Agatha and Meg are lovely, intelligent and creative as they enter into their preteen and teenage years respectively. I’m incredibly proud of them and I’m thankful I’ve had the chance to walk alongside with their parents and watch them grow. When our kids…

  • Nearly Orthodox

    A Lenten Classic

    March 13, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

    I like those Orthogals…

  • Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy

    Is Orthodoxy the Same Everywhere?: Understanding Theological Controversy Within the Church

    March 5, 2014October 17, 2024 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    What do we mean when we say that Orthodoxy is the same everywhere? One of the “features” of Orthodoxy that is commonly put forward especially by converts as proof of the truth of the Orthodox Christian faith is that Orthodoxy is the same everywhere. They may point to the unanimity of liturgical practice, that all Orthodox look to the same councils and…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Returning to the Paradise I've Never Seen

    March 2, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Sunday of Forgiveness, March 2, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Today is called the Sunday of Forgiveness, most especially because of the service that we will celebrate here this evening, Forgiveness Vespers, when all of us will ask each other to forgive what we have…

  • Nearly Orthodox

    forgiveness...

    March 2, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

    For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. -Matthew 6:14-15 In the Orthodox tradition Lent begins like wading into water. We spend time transitioning from where we’ve been to where we want to go. We spend a week preparing to remove meat from our diet, offering prayer and awareness and…

  • Nearly Orthodox

    Bigger than...

    February 20, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

    Miles is a whirlwind, a hurricane human. In our small dining room I coach him constantly to lower his voice. I assure him he can still make his point, still get the floor with all of us sitting there. In the dining room he sits in the back corner of the long table, the table that takes up most of the space. It fills the room. He tilts his chair back, throwing…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    The Gift of the Cross

    February 19, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    He could not have known. In the joy only a 21-month-old is capable of at successfully worming his way into papa’s inner sanctum, he began to explore its secrets and soon made his way to that low table that had so many wonderful things lying on it. Amid the prayerbooks, candles and even a brass hand censer was a ceramic Celtic standing cross papa…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    12 Reasons Why I Became and/or Remain an Orthodox Christian

    February 10, 2014February 1, 2021 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Lists like this are usually so much clickbait, I know, but I thought it was nevertheless worthwhile to compile a list of most of the reasons why I became and/or remain an Orthodox Christian. Some of these things were not really on my radar when I became Orthodox in 1998, but they are part of the reason why I genuinely do love belonging to…

  • Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy

    "I Don't Worship God by Singing": So Why Bother Going to Church?

    February 5, 2014February 5, 2016 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    A reader alerted me to best-selling author Donald Miller‘s Feb. 3 post “I Don’t Worship God by Singing. I Connect With Him Elsewhere,” and I was immediately struck by both the rightness and the tone of his critique: I’ve a confession. I don’t connect with God by singing to Him. Not at all. I know I’m nearly alone in this but it’s…

  • Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Meeting the Lord

    February 2, 2014February 2, 2016 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

    Meeting of the Lord in the Temple, February 2, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. We arrive now at the fortieth day from our Lord’s birth, when His mother and foster father Joseph bring Him to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill what was written in…

  • Nearly Orthodox

    In love...

    January 28, 2014 · Angela Doll Carlson

    What I know about the state of things happening in the world is lacking. It’s easy to be consumed with the daily antics of politics and culture in the United States. We can be a little self-centered. That’s to be expected, I guess. We are, in effect, the teenager of the world powers. We’re teenagers with nuclear weapons. It is only after I set foot on the path of Orthodoxy that I…

Page 27 of 44« First‹ Previous232425262728293031Next ›Last »

© 2009-2025 Ancient Faith Ministries, Inc.
All Rights Reserved · Disclaimers