Author: Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

The Very Rev. Archpriest Andrew Stephen Damick is Chief Content Officer of Ancient Faith Ministries, former pastor (2009-2020) of St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, and author of The Lord of Spirits, Arise, O God, Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, Bearing God and An Introduction to God. He is co-host of the following podcasts: The Lord of Spirits (with Fr. Stephen De Young), The Areopagus (with Michael Landsman), and Amon Sûl (with Richard Rohlin). He is also host of The Orthodox Pilgrim, Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, Orthodox Engagement, and Roads from Emmaus. With Richard Rohlin he is collaborating on the major documentary series The Wolf and the Cross. You can follow him on YouTube, Facebook, Telegram and Instagram.

“We had the one, and we lost him”: Fr. Matthew Baker’s Significance in Orthodoxy

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Several times now I have been asked by folks who were not at Fr. Matthew Baker’s funeral this past Saturday to write something about it. I have to admit that I do not really want to. I am a bit exhausted. But I will at least mention that it was beautiful—not merely in an aesthetic sense, though of course it was, with the roughly…

“God will make him a saint for you”: On Rigidity

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
I spent the day yesterday at St. Tikhon’s with some of my fellow clergy from the Lehigh Valley Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood, and we shared a beautiful day of brotherhood as guests of the monastery. In one of our conversations, one of the priests was relating time he had spent with a holy elder in Greece (who is still living, though not in good health),…

Lenten Evangelism #6: St. Gregory Palamas and the Paralytic

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, March 8, 2015 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On this second Sunday of the Great Fast, we celebrate St. Gregory Palamas, that 14th century ascetic and archbishop whose contributions to Orthodox theology and life were so profound that he not only…

The Church is Love: More on the Legacy of Fr. Matthew Baker

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
It’s been astounding over the past few days to watch the fundraising campaign for Fr. Matthew Baker’s widow Presbytera Katherine and their six children raise so much in such a short time. (And if you are able to give, please do. That may look like a lot, but the Bakers will be dealing with a loss of income that will affect them for many…

Remembering Matthew: On the Death of a Man, by Fr. Joseph Lucas

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
I was sent this remembrance today of Fr. Matthew Baker from Fr. Joseph Lucas, another priest-scholar and friend of Fr. Matthew. These words resonate with me, as well. Manhood was something that Fr. Matthew talked about a good bit in his private conversations with friends, and it was something that he helped other men to build. Fr. Joseph is a priest of the Orthodox…

Fr. Matthew Baker: Priesthood and Sacrifice (Homily for Sunday of the Holy Cross)

· Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
I committed to blogging every day for 40 days this Lent, but I have to admit that I don’t feel like writing about almost anything right now except trying somehow to keep my friend Fr. Matthew in my immediate memory, as if that somehow holds off the reality of his shocking departure from this earthly life. (For more on Fr. Matthew and also for…