The following is culled from comments I made on a Facebook thread in a private group in which it was being alleged that most Orthodox Christians aren’t meant to function as missionaries. The argument was mentioned that the Lord’s command to go into all the earth and preach the Gospel was given only (or mainly) to the apostles. Allowance was made for certain rare…
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost and the Fifth Sunday of Matthew, July 9, 2017 Romans 10:1-10; Matthew 8:28-9:1 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:2) St. Paul says this…
Vespers for the Fourth Sunday After Pentecost, July 1, 2017 Mark 11:17, Isaiah 56:1-8 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick Eastern Dioceses Parish Life Conference, Morristown, New Jersey In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. After the Lord Jesus upends the tables of the money changers in the Temple in Mark 11, He…
This past week I attended the Ancient Faith Writing and Podcasting Conference (AFCon), an event which I also attended last year (its inaugural year), where I spoke on ministry in social media. This year, though, I wasn’t one of the scheduled speakers but was just attending along with everyone else. Last year, I have to admit that I was a bit ambivalent about attending.…
Second Sunday after Pentecost, June 18, 2017 Romans 2:10-16; Matthew 4:18-23 Very Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. With these words in Matthew’s Gospel chapter 4, Jesus summons His first two disciples—Simon Peter and Andrew. They are…
In response to my recent posts (here and here) where I talk about the research I’ve begun into Mormonism, I’ve gotten several comments urging me to reconsider, not to learn about Mormonism. Most comments have gone the other way, encouraging me to keep going and to write on this subject. But several have come from folks concerned that either I will be led astray…
It has been said that freedom in America is only ever one generation away from extinction. It seems to me that the same could be said of American churches. Over the past couple of days, a number of the ministry leaders in our parish gathered together to ask a couple sets of questions. The first set was last night following a potluck meal, and…
One of the things I’ve encountered among some Orthodox Christians in America is the idea that, since most Christians in history were basically illiterate—that’s one reason we have iconography, right?—then there really is not an urgency to teach people what we might think of as the “data” of the Orthodox faith. It’s enough to have a good piety, to be a good person, to…