Orthodox Parker

Happy New Year, Tim Tebow

2012-01-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

I, along with millions of other people, have been following the saga of Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos. I've had the privilege of following this saga as a Colorado resident and Denver Broncos fan.

At the moment, I feel bad for the kid. The loss to Kansas City while only scoring three points was very frustrating to him and everyone else rooting for the Broncos.

The fishbowl existence that exists for EVERY quarterback of the Broncos has to be an increasingly hard burden to shoulder. As an Eastern Orthodox Christian who USED to be a Southern Baptist (Tebow's current spiritual home is the Southern Baptist Church), I have mixed feelings about the whole thing.

I'm glad the Broncos are in the playoffs again, I just wish it was more enjoyable for someone like TT who has put so much hard work into this season.

God seems to have an ironic sense of humor.

The Broncos lose, the Raiders lose, and the Broncos get to the playoffs anyway. I'm sure Tim wasn't looking for the answer to his prayers on the sideline yesterday to get in by the Raiders losing. I'm sure his prayer was that the Broncos might win and take care of their own business.

I love the fact that Tebow seeks to draw attention to Jesus Christ so openly. I have thoroughly enjoyed the winning streak he helped to engineer this year when the Broncos went 6-0 at one point and 7-1 with Tebow at the helm . . .

But the three-game losing streak to close out the season, coupled with what seems to be Tim's increasingly desperate-looking praying on the sidelines is starting to make me very uncomfortable.

My fear for Tim is that he is getting so wrapped up in his personal NFL dream that he's starting to confuse this dream with God's ultimate will and purpose for his life.

I believe it is God's will for Tebow to be involved in NFL football, but perhaps for a very limited time.

From Tebow's own account from his autobiography "Through My Eyes" which I was given as a Christmas present, a larger purpose for Tebow seems to be implied: 'As The Jesus Film played on a large, homemade screen hanging between two coconut trees, (my dad) became heavily burdened by the millions of babies being aborted in America. While weeping over the gigantic loss of human life, my dad began to pray, 'Father, if you want another preacher in this world, you give him to me. You give me Timmy, and I'll raise him to be a preacher.'

This is reminiscent of what happened with the Prophet Samuel and with the Judge, Sampson. Their mothers asked desperately for children with the proviso that said children would be dedicated completely to God in a specifically ministerial role.

It seems possible to me that this 2011 - 2012 season with the Broncos is only a brief chapter in a larger story.

Tebow has achieved international fame this year. People all over the world have been "Tebowing."

Tebow's dream was to be a starting NFL quarterback. Well, that dream has ALREADY been accomplished. God never promised that Tebow would have a LONG career as a starting NFL quarterback.

In the larger scheme of things, NFL football is NOT AS IMPORTANT as doing direct ministry for God.

This is what is making me uncomfortable right now. I can foresee an internal battle for Tim Tebow should God call him away from football and towards direct Christian Ministry of the kind that his father Bob is involved in. Part of such a call away from NFL football might be "running into a wall" where Tim can't continue to progress as a player.

As an Eastern Orthodox Christian who knows the weaknesses and "holes" of my past evangelical / baptist faith, I fear that Tim is in for some bumps and bruises along the way. I'm not talking here of literally physical bumps and bruises, but of some bumps and bruises to his feelings and current identity.

So I'm wishing Tim a Happy New Year. By "Happy" I mean a year for Tim with the happy circumstance of moving into the center of God's will for his life. Getting there might not be a happy experience for him at first, but I do believe Tim truly loves God and will eventually surrender to Him his personal dream of playing football, should God request that he do so. And God just might do this, not because he is mean or punishing Tim, but because He has a plan in mind that has existed from the foundation of the world.

Tim may still succeed wildly as an NFL Quarterback and football player, but this might not be God's highest priority for him.

Tim has been a "preacher" of a sort for the Christian faith as a football player. But God might call him to be an ACTUAL preacher as well.

My prayer for TIm is that IF he goes through a period of suffering and finds that his current evangelical faith lets him down, that he will find his way to a fuller and face-forwardly sacramental and more historically-based Christianity. And if Tim ever becomes a pastor like his dad, I pray that someday, he might also become a Priest with a capital "P."

The Baptist Christian Faith has its strong points, but also grave weaknesses. My fear is that TIm will put all of his weight on those areas of weakness and get deeply hurt in the process. My prayer for him is that IF this happens, that his faith will not fail.

This kind of a fall happened to me when I was around his age. I pray it doesn't happen to him in the same way.

One thing he has going for him seems to be his single-mindedness. I lacked this trait when I was younger.

Hopefully this will keep him from falling as hard as I did.

And maybe he won't really fall all that hard at all.

Saint Timothy, Apostle of Christ Jesus, pray for your younger brother Tim Tebow that he will be saved to the uttermost, and protected from all the assaults of the Enemy of our souls.

Columba Silouan

If Cross Communion Conversions were Sports Trades

2011-06-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

Back in May of this year, Owen White, the former "Ochlophobist" left the Eastern Orthodox Church for the Roman Catholic Church and shut down his blog, limiting it to "Invited Readers Only."

This June, Fr. Al Kimmel, the former "Pontifications" blogger and a former Episcopal Priest (who was instrumental in guiding the way to catholicism for many disaffected Episcopalians and Anglicans looking for a new ship to sail on) has joined Holy Orthodoxy.

Personally, I'm very glad he's come on board. I believe he will be a wonderful priest for us on a par with Fr. Stephen Freeman.

If cross communion conversions such as the two above were sports trades, then I would say that we in Orthodoxy have gotten "a steal of a deal."

We get a real gentleman and able Priest, Fr. Al now Fr. Aiden, to join our ranks as a Western Rite Priest in ROCOR, and we ship off a layman (with marked politically liberal and overall cynical tendencies) to Rome.

We get rid of "a cancer in the clubhouse" (in my opinion) and end up with a true team player and bona fide star at his position.

Fr. Kimmel's blog was always one of my favs.

Great Trade!

May God Grant Fr. Aiden Many, Many Years as a ROCOR priest.

WHY PLANT A NEW CHURCH?

2011-05-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

The Following is a reprint of an article by a Protestant author. I find his arguments very persuasive, and I think we Orthodox could learn much from his thoughts and assertions.

Blessings,

Columba Simon.

Please see below:

WHY PLANT A NEW CHURCH?

By James P. Allen

December 20, 2010

The time has come for ministerial jealousy to cease. There should be no spirit of competition between denominations and certainly not between churches of similar doctrinal persuasions. In 1900 there were 27 churches for every 10,000 people in America, but today there are less than 11 churches for every 10,000 people. The only hope for America is for us to plant new churches within every neighborhood and every sub culture.

Let's consider some of the other reasons why we need to plant new churches.

NEW CONGREGATIONS ARE MORE EVANGELISTIC

Bruce McNicol of Interest Ministries is quoted in the magazine "Christianity Today" as saying, "Among evangelical churches, those under three years old will win ten people to Christ per year for every hundred church members; those 3 to 15 years old will win five people per year. After age 15, the number drops to three per year."

Lyle Schaller, in his book 44 Questions For Church Planters, writes, "...new churches are more likely to reach more people and to grow in size than are long-established parishes. Perhaps the simplest explanation of this pattern is that new congregations are organized around evangelism and reaching people not actively involved in the life of any worshipping community. By contrast, powerful internal institutional pressures tend to encourage long-established churches to allocate most of their resources to the care of members. One result is that the vast majority of new congregations in the United States reach their peak in size during the first two or three decades of their existence and then remain on a plateau in size or begin to shrink in numbers."

New congregations have a higher level of commitment toward evangelism. They realize that their survival as a church depends on constantly reaching new people.

NEW CONGREGATIONS ARE A BLESSING TO ESTABLISHED CHURCHES

One fallacy that Satan would instill in the minds of established churches is that a new church starting in their area will hurt their attendance and income. Fear is one of the first tactics the enemy will use against Christians to keep them from doing what God wants them to do. Losing church members to new congregations is a common fear expressed, but one that should quickly be dispelled.

No church is going to be effective in reaching the entire community. Just as a radio station will not reach all people and must target a particular group to gain an audience; churches will always be more effective reaching one target group. The exciting thing about starting new churches is that they are often able to reach people that have been unreached by all other existing efforts of established churches.

Another fact that should expel fear of loss is a testimony of a church that has started neighboring churches. Dan Betzer, a pastor in Fort Myers, Florida related at a minister's retreat in Monroe, Louisiana, the story of how his church mothered its first church. With a growing desire to see an Assemblies of God church across the river from Fort Myers, Dan prayed for God to send someone to pastor this new church. After months of prayer, a young man walked into his office who said the Lord had called him to pastor a new church across the river. Dan hired this young preacher and placed him on his staff for a short period, so the people of the church could get to know him and develop confidence in him.

On his last day with them, Dan allowed him to preach the morning service. The planned altar call was for everyone who was being led of the Lord to become a part of the new church to rise from his or her seat and walk out the door with the new pastor. Dan had thought that maybe 35 people would become a part of the new church, but to his amazement, 135 people followed the new pastor out of the building. Half of the choir left, one deacon left and many other tithers. As they were walking out Dan said he was calculating the tithes that were leaving and realized that $5,000.00 a week was walking out the door. He was devastated and walked around the rest of the day in shock.

All fear left him by the next Sunday. He looked around the church and it seemed just as full as the week before, the choir was full again and within a couple of months the income was back to where it was before the new church started. Dan went on to explain how God will bless those churches that will follow His leading and give as He directs them to give.

Peter Wagner said, "Some are reluctant to start new churches for fear of harming those churches that are currently located in the target community. They feel that doing so could create undesirable competition between brothers and sisters in Christ. I mention here that in more cases than not, a new church in the community tends to raise the religious interest of the people in general and if handled properly can be a benefit to existing churches. That which blesses the kingdom of God as a whole also blesses the churches that truly are a part of the Kingdom." He went on to site that in the town of Ewa, Hawaii a Southern Baptist church was planted. This church plant raised the spiritual level so high that the Roman Catholic Church witnessed a 100% attendance growth and the local Congregational church saw an attendance increase of 155%.

Lyle Schaller has made a similar observation about planting a new congregation in the midst of existing congregations of the same denomination. He said, "Contrary to conventional wisdom, congregations usually benefit from intradenominational competition. While it is impossible to isolate one factor as being decisive, the presence of two or more congregations with the same denominational affiliation usually results in a higher level of congregational health and vitality than if one congregation has a denominational monopoly in that community."

Brad Boydston, a church planter with the Covenant Church said, "As strange as it might sound, one of the best places to start a Covenant church is where one or more already exists. A new Covenant church will raise the visibility of the existing church and will in turn receive the support and encouragement of the established congregation."

After interviewing various church planters, we have determined that the new church is able to keep one in ten they are able to reach. The other nine out of that ten often start going to, or return to, other congregations.

NEW CONGREGATIONS RAISE UP NEW LEADERS

Many established congregations have a lack of room for more leaders. Although most pastors struggle with finding adequate leadership to minister to their local congregations, there are often many people who feel their ministry gifts are not needed in their church.

Planting new churches spurs opportunities of ministry to people who want to be better used of the Lord in ministering. How often do we witness churches with several people called to preach sitting quietly on the pews of established churches, because they have not been given opportunity to use their gift? Perhaps one of the reasons this problem exists is because God has not called many of our present preachers to pastor established churches, but to go out and plant new churches.

NEW CHURCHES REACH OTHER CULTURES

It has been said many times that the United States is the melting pot of the world. Today over 60% of our nation is composed of other cultures than white Anglo-Saxon. If we are going to be effective in reaching America, we should realize that establishing new church plants is the only way we will reach all types of people.

Many speculate that the unchurched population of the United States is exceeding the 70% mark. No longer can we be referred to as a Christian nation. Every major cultic group has targeted the United States as their mission field. The largest Muslim mosque is not in the Middle East somewhere, but in California. Brazil is the only country in the world that receives more missionaries than the United States. Now countries we have reached through our missionary efforts are sending Christian missionaries back to reach us. Without doubt, we should continue sending missionaries to the unreached people groups in the world, but America now needs our attention. It is time we start sending missionaries to the unreached cultures in our own cities.

END

Columba Simon

2011-05-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

I'm considering the idea of modifying my Orthodox Name to Columba Simon as opposed to Columba Silouan.

My reason for this is that Silouan is the Russian version of Simon. I'm not Russian, and my culture is not Russian.

I think "Simon" better communicates to my culture.

Perhaps as Orthodox Christians we should be prepared to better translate our faith to our native culture by using terms more familiar to those around us.

The name "Silouan" can seem to be exotic and strange, perhaps lessening it's impact and effectiveness.

As a possible application of this idea, let's say for the sake of argument that some Orthodox Christians wish to plant a church and name it for Saint Silouan the Athonite.

It might be more effective to call such a parish "Saint Simon's Orthodox Church."

I'm an advocate of making our Orthodoxy as "native" as possible.

For example, you wouldn't call an Anglican Church Saint Juan's Anglican Church unless you lived in Latin America. You would call it Saint John's.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God

Columba Simon

Fr. Chad Hatfield on Baptism and the Great Commission

2011-05-14T08:38:00.000-07:00

Fr. Chad Hatfield of Saint Vladimir's Seminary has published a booklet entitled Holy Saturday: Baptism and The Great Commission.

The booklet was included in a mailing seeking financial donations to the seminary. Archpriest Chad Hatfield is the seminary's Chancellor.

Here are some excerpts from this fine booklet:

"The Orthodox Church is in the business of making converts. The Great Commission, given by our Lord in the closing words of Matthew's Gospel, is not an option. Archbishop Anastasios of Albania has stated 'A Church without mission is a contradiction in terms' and 'Indifference to mission is a negation of Orthodoxy.'

I would expand this by saying: 'a Christian not engaged in mission is simply not a Christian.'

For too many in Orthodoxy, words like 'evangelism' and 'outreach' are not claimed as our own and are given over to others. This sad fact keeps 'The Pearl of Great Price' hidden in ghetto worlds where cultural preservation and so-called 'ethnic pride' is substituted for the Gospel Truth. All too easily our faith communities have created a surrogate gospel supported by surrogate ministries that betray our baptismal identities as Orthodox Christians.

If Orthodox Christians are once again to proclaim the glad tidings with boldness, we will need to restore the centrality of The Great Commission. We will need to bring ourselves to a fresh response to the New Testament teaching that we did not choose God but he chose us (John 15:16).

We have many positive signs that a recovery of the centrality of The Great Commission is underway."

I am an Adult Sunday School teacher at the parish I attend. For the next unit of study, we will be looking at The Way course as well as examples and tools available for fulfilling The Great Commission.

I will say it again. If we don't fulfill The Great Commission, others will, to our loss and discredit.

We have a stiff challenge to meet. We only have to look at the example of the Anglican Church of North America and / or the Anglican Mission in the Americas to see christians with a healthy regard for The Great Commission. My challenge to my fellow Eastern Orthodox Christians is to rise to the level and zeal that our Anglican brothers and sisters are demonstrating.

We have a faith free from Anglican errors such as Calvinistic "Predestination" and the denial of a full Sacramental Christianity (I'm thinking here about our freedom to ask the Saints to pray for us and the freedom to believe in their relics as effective helps to our spiritual life in Christ).

With a "fuller gospel" we need to Preach The Gospel.

Fr. Hatfield has issued us a proper challenge as the Chancellor of one of our seminaries. Let's meet his challenge.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity,

Columba Simon

Once Again, Great Lent is Here. This means . . .

2011-03-10T18:05:00.000-08:00

That delightful time of spiritual refreshment and rejuvenation known as Great Lent is upon us.

One of our Deacons or our Priest recently advised us to make Lent a time of retreating from the hassles of the world in order to focus on Christ.

I'm totally on board with this advice.

Just like last year, I'm staying off of my Facebook page until Great Lent is over.

If anyone really needs to get in touch with me, my e-mail address is chcate@juno.com.

My Lenten Rule for 2011 is as follows:

First, I'm giving up on the drinking of the purified water I love from Vitamin Cottage.

Second, I'm going to amend my ways regarding my constant and sometimes peace-robbing interest in the Holy Diaconate and Priesthood.

I wish to really try and develop a mindset of praying about this interest only, and resolutely refuse to actively seek these offices of Holy Mother Church.

If the Priesthood is in my future, God Himself will have to elevate me. Any possibility of this must be from His initiative and choosing. Lord willing, I will continue to work hard for my local parish and in my local community for the advancement of Holy Orthodoxy and let the chips fall where they may.

I'm going to cease worrying about my goals for 2011. During Great Lent I'm simply going to live my life and focus on my relationship with God (or lack thereof) for the next 40 days.

I'm going to try and make at least one Stations of the Cross service.

I'm going to talk about myself less on the way home from church and at other times and ask the children more questions about themselves.

I'm going to try less "rote" prayers before meals and bedtime in an attempt to get my children to learn to speak to God in a more personal way.

Groan. Here's a really tough one! I'm going to cut out Sports talk and Sports Radio listening for 40 days and instead listen to the local classical music station and K-Love.

I'm going to try and cut down on my swearing at work.

I'm going to make it a point to go to a Lenten Confession to Fr. Falconi or Fr. Lou.

As far as the dietary requirements are concerned, I plan to eat less and keep my normal practice of meatless and dairy-less Wednesdays and Fridays. With a pre-existing medical condition, I'm unable to strictly practice the dietary standards of Great Lent as much as I would like to do.

This is my Lenten Rule for 2011.

Columba Silouan

A Question Posed to An Anglican Priest I Know

2011-03-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

I've just Facebooked an Anglican Priest friend of mine I know with the following question:

Can 20 new churches happen if you and your people only stay "within the brand name?"

Of course, what I meant by my question is "Can the goal of 20 new churches happen if those churches HAVE to be AMIA?"

I would like to recruit some Anglican friends to take a dare.

I dare those AMIA and CANA Anglicans in the greater Denver area who have strong Anglo-Catholic leanings to consider the following ideas:

Help me plant an Eastern Orthodox Parish in Parker Colorado with the following Attributes:

Instead of using the Popular ALPHA course, we use THE WAY.

We take a page out of the Wellspring Anglican Church playbook and seek to meet the needs of the people of the surrounding area of Parker, most notably in the following manner:

There are many apartment dwellers in Parker and other people who have had to move out of homes due to foreclosures. Parker isn't solely composed of the super rich, although there are some neighborhoods in Parker with GIANT houses in them.

We have some older neighborhoods in Parker. One of these is the Cottonwood neighborhood.

We also have many townhomes, condos, and apartment dwellers around here.

Some if not all of the things Wellspring has done in the community that surrounds them could also be very effective here in Parker.

Help me plant an Eastern Orthodox and Western Rite parish in Parker that runs a Christian Coffee Shop where ministry can take place and Contemporary Christian Music can be performed and used as a ministry tool to the areas youth while at the same time not compromising the worship standards of the Holy Eucharist / Divine Liturgy that Eastern Orthodoxy is famous for.

Help me plant an EO parish with a strong Sunday School program steeped in the study of Holy Scripture as understood by the EO Church.

Help me plant an EO parish with a vibrant and effective Healing Ministry as practiced in a regular "Service of Holy Unction" at the parish that takes place during the Sunday School Hour when it is held.

By regular, I mean every other month, or even every month.

Again, at such a service, reverent praise and worship music that is compatible with the doctrines of Holy Orthodoxy can be used.

We've seen this very thing done at our own parish in Denver.

And the healing ministry can be expanded to include the types of healing that Wellspring has offered through their church.

Such an expansion would occur in addition to the Service of Holy Unction, and not in place of it. Such an add on would happen at another time during the week besides Sunday and some of this could take place at the Coffee House.

Help me plant a church with the best aspects of an AMIA parish while holding firmly to the beliefs found in Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Help me plant a church with a vibrant small groups ministry that meets during the week like the "Life Groups" concept practiced at Wellspring.

I'm now 45 years old and I can't see all of these things happen by myself.

This is my dream, and has been for more than two years now.

I challenge AMIA folks to consider helping with this project and I challenge them to consider becoming Orthodox while doing the same good things they've been doing all along.

Such a joining of efforts would be VERY powerful in my opinion.

My answer to my own question above is that 20 churches by 2020 can much better be accomplished by thinking outside of the boxes we are accustomed to.

The goal of 20 Churches by 2020 should transcend the AMIA brand name. Let the 20 new churches share some of the DNA of being Liturgical, Sacramental and Charismatic (in the best sense of that word) but let them also be placed in multiple Christian jurisdictions and Communions.

Help me plant a church that can be one of the 20. This is my plea as an Orthodox Christian to my Anglican brothers and sisters.

Thanks be to God.

Columba Silouan

The Way Course Has Arrived

2011-02-12T08:49:00.000-08:00

The Orthodox Evangelism course known as The Way has arrived in the mail. The Way is a boxed set of five CDs that the faithful can use to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ as understood in and through Holy Orthodoxy.

This course is similar to the Alpha Course that Anglicans in England put together to win the unchurched to Christ and to bring nominal Christians back into the fold.

I plan to review this course and present it to our Adult Sunday School class in the near future. It takes a dedicated team to run this course, so I'll be on the hunt for such a team.

I've obtained permission from our Arch Priest to use this course, although the course recommends obtaining permission from a bishop. As I understand things, some of these decisions and permissions have been delegated to our Arch Priest, so his permission is probably sufficient.

This winter has been a bit difficult, and I've been unproductive in church matters as a direct result. My colleague and friend at work came down with a severe respiratory infection which sidelined him for seven work days. Afterwards I caught it and I've lost a total of three work days. This has prevented projects like blogging and writing.

Now that I'm on the mend, such projects can resume, Lord Willing of course.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God

Columba Sillouan

Pictures (Continued from Previous Post)

2011-01-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

Inspiration from a Past Trip

2011-01-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

I've been sorting through some photos from our trip to Washington D.C. this past summer. Of special interest to me are the photos of The National Cathedral and the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Many of these photos were taken by my sister-in-law, and some were taken by me.

Great Christian Architecture and Artwork inspires me. Never mind the fact that one building was built by the Episcopal Church and one building by the Roman Catholic Church. These buildings are nevertheless edifying for all Christians.

Enjoy the posting of these wonderful photos and let them inspire you as well.

Belated New Year's Resolutions (er, goals)

2011-01-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

As the New Year picks up steam, it's a good thing to take a look back and then a look forward.

During the past year on the church front, I continued my duties as an Orthodox Reader and Server (Acolyte). I co-taught the Adult Sunday School Class at our parish church, trading off months with our Assistant Priest. I helped to initiate a monthly healing service at our parish (Service of Holy Unction) and I set up a regular time of Intercessory Prayer once every other month during the Adult Sunday School hour.

I also obtained permission to have a Youth For Christ representative (who plans to embark on a missionary trip to Cyprus) visit our Sunday School class in an attempt to raise support for this effort and better partner with the Orthodox Church. Brandon spoke to our class and at least one person signed on as a supporter. There may have been others as well. Our own family also pledged a monthly dollar amount to help Brandon reach his goal.

Finally, early in the year, I was able to re-obtain a Stations of the Cross set I originally put together for Wellspring Anglican Church. These were donated to the Saint Laurence Retreat Center where these can bless guests for years to come.

Looking back, this was one of my most productive years in volunteer church work.

My goals for next year are to preview and run at least one The Way course in an attempt to do Orthodox Evangelism. Permission was granted from my Arch-Priest to do this.

I will probably preview the course at Saint Mark's during the Adult Sunday School hour, and I may run the course in my local area at a Christian coffee shop up the street.

One of my desires for next year is the possibility of legally changing my first and middle name. If I go through with this, my name will be changed to my Orthodox name, Columba Silouan. My last name will stay the same.

My original middle name will continue to be carried proudly by my daughter. My son has a middle name inspired by his maternal grandfather.

I am hoping to go through with my dream of laying the groundwork for a Western Rite parish in my immediate area. My hopes include pulling together all of the things I've learned over the past few years.

I believe an Eastern Orthodox church with uncompromising standards for worship during the Divine Liturgy paired with an innovative outlook in other aspects of parish life is a workable and sustainable model to pursue and follow in planting a new parish.

I have been inspired by a local AMIA priest and his goal to plant 20 churches by 2020. I believe his approach and the approach of his parent church in reaching a community has merit and can be integrated with an Eastern Orthodox approach in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.

I plan to continue the writing of my issues-oriented autobiographical book with hopes of wrapping the book up this year and finding a publisher. When I get the manuscript to a point where I'm satisfied with it, I plan to run excerpts past a couple of friends to get some feedback.

I also have a goal to start advertising Quiet Minds vitamins as an additional source of income and to help others address Central Nervous System Disorders.

Of course, I plan to take in a few Rockies games this year, and my new co-worker has vowed to teach me the art of Fly Fishing.

I also plan to continue my practice of being a family man, husband and father. The highlight of our year on the family front last year was our vacation to Washington D.C. and Maryland (Ocean City) to see Dianna's sister and brother-in-law and our two nieces.

All in all, these are some detailed resolutions (er, goals) for the coming year. Please pray for me the sinner and for God's will to be done.

Columba Silouan

A New Orthodox College in San Diego

2010-12-12T16:49:00.000-08:00

The first Orthodox undergraduate liberal arts college in the United States has been started in San Diego.

The name of this new college is Saint Katherine College.

The link is here: http://www.stkath.org/

Blessings,

Columba Siluoan

Positive Parish News

2010-12-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

In the vein of sticking with Antioch, there is positive news to report about life at the parish I attend.

In recent weeks, we've instituted a "children's sermon" during the 10:00 AM Divine Liturgy, a monthly Holy Unction service, and a monthly Intercessory Prayer session during the Adult Sunday School hour.

I also have hopes to preview "The Way" Orthodox evangelism program at some point in the future.

My hope to see more Orthodox churches planted in our region is nothing more than a dim and flickering dream at this point in my life. I have a wife and two young children and I work 40 plus hours a week. There isn't much time left over to work with in pursuing the evangelism dream.

Perhaps when the time comes in my life when my schedule opens up a bit, the "mess in Antioch" will be nothing more than a distant memory.

My prayers still include a future Western Rite Orthodox Church in Parker and elsewhere around the state of Colorado. Perhaps years of prayer can help to lay a foundation for actual later concrete results in this area.

In the meantime, I shall continue my endeavor to be "Orthodox in Parker."

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God

Columba Silouan

Metropolitan Philip

2010-11-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

This is probably a bit risky, but I'm going to weigh in on the controversy concerning Metropolitan Philip.

After the first round of controversy over "Auxiliary Bishops" I had hoped things had blown over.

When the second round surfaced, I was discouraged.

Having been a part of the movement to combat liberal revisionism in the Episcopal Church in the late 1990's and early 2000's, I thought I had made a clean getaway from controversies over Primates and Bishops.

My family and I followed a church plant started by an Episcopal priest who would later become a Bishop in the Anglican Mission in the Americas.

Our reason was the same as the rest of our fellow church members: The ordination of a practicing homosexual Bishop in the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire was unacceptable.

Personally for me, this didn't mean that I believed homosexuals in other fields besides ecclesiastical fields shouldn't have full equal rights. Homosexuals make fine Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers and Businessmen.

But I believed and still believe that the office of Bishop and the state of being a practicing Homosexual don't go together. My attitude was "Fine. Be a homosexual if that is your choice, but choose another career besides Christian Priest or Christian Bishop."

Such a person can even choose something similar, like Professor of World Religions or Psychologist. But I've always been against the ordination of practicing homosexuals.

Scripture and Tradition are against the ordination to Holy Orders of those with sexual standards that differ from those believed in by the Christian Church for two thousand years.

This is every bit as non-negotiable to me as the Ordination of Women to the Holy Priesthood and Episcopate.

The Priests are Icons of Jesus Christ. The Icon has to be a faithful representation.

Leaving ECUSA for the AMIA was a decision based on conscience.

Leaving the AMIA and journeying to Eastern Orthodoxy was a matter of belief.

Once my family and I joined the Antiochian Archdiocese, we hoped we were home.

In spite of the recent problems, I've come to believe that we are STILL home, even in Antioch.

Am I happy or pleased about the current controversy? Not in the slightest.

In recent weeks, I went through a bit of a panicked state about the controversy.

I even posted a comment on www.ocanews.org. This is not the safest thing to do if you're a member in good standing of the Antiochian Archdiocese. I was frustrated and discouraged about the controversy, however, and on a lark, I posted my comments. I realized later that for me personally, this action might have been sinful.

My comments likened the current situation with Metropolitan Philip to the situation of the owner of the Denver Broncos, Pat Bowlen.

My analogy was that Pat Bowlen, who is an aging NFL owner nearing the current age of Metropolitan Philip, has made some bad decisions as of late.

Hiring Josh McDaniels has set off a chain reaction that has led to the current mess the Broncos are in. McDaniels might be a good coach in the future, but he was too young to be given the power and responsibility that Mr. Bowlen gave him.

There are persistent rumors that Pat Bowlen is battling short-term memory loss or possibly Alzheimers Syndrome.

I put forth the theory that Metroplitan Philip's advancing age might be causing him problems in a similar vein. Some of his recent decisions have also caused chain reactions.

In the past, the Broncos have been to many Super Bowls and have won two. I suggested that right now, the Denver Broncos are a real mess, but that they will survive it.

I also said that the Antiochian Archdiocese will also survive our current troubles. Metropolitan Philip has also presided over the winning of some "super bowls." But right now our "team" is having a bad season in light of some of his recent decisions.

Running away again is not the answer.

Taking up the Cross of Christ, as Father Stephen Freeman argues in Glory to God for All Things is a better course of action.

I was tempted to look to other Orthodox jurisdictions for "a way out" of this crisis.

But my parish is really "home" for me. I realize this every time I serve at the Altar as an Acolyte or Reader.

I'm still "home" even with these controversies which are "above my pay grade."

Metropolitan Philip was not the first Metropolitan of the AOANA and he won't be the last.

And the story isn't over yet. The Holy Spirit can still reach Metropolitan Philip and lead him in a different direction then the one he is currently pursuing.

This is a different sort of controversy than the one I faced in ECUSA. Issues of the faith are not in question. Issues about the Bishops won't last forever. The AOANA is part of the Holy Orthodox Church and I believe the Orthodox Church is self-correcting over time.

So I need to bloom where I'm planted, and wait this time of troubles out.

Metropolitan Philip has done many good things in the past. Paving the way for Fr. Peter Gillquist and others to enter the Orthodox Church was one of those good things. That one was a "super bowl win."

The present doesn't undo those things.

I hope and pray MP "lightens up." Nevertheless, this is God's issue, and not mine.

As penance for posting on OCAnews.org, I decided to actually read the book Metropolitan Philip, His Life and Dreams to balance out the things I've been hearing and reading about.

All of this is an issue of Loyalty. Will I be loyal to my Archdiocese even when things are difficult?

It's good spiritual therapy for me.

I began to learn the sin of disloyalty when my parents were divorced in the 1970's.

I thought of my dad as a "tyrant" at the time.

What I failed to realize was that I was still to maintain a measure of loyalty to him because he was still my father. "Honor your Father and Mother" is not a commandment that is easily abrogated.

If a parent tries to get a son or daughter to forsake God, then that son or daughter must obey God first. But the son or daughter of divorcing parents is seldom put in such a position.

Learning loyalty now through this hard situation is penance and therapy for past sins.

Taking up the Cross, being patient and loyal and waiting for God to move the heart of our "king" and "father" is a better course of action then rebellion and disloyalty.

So I'm staying put in Antioch. No more church hopping or jurisdictional hopping to escape problems and challenges.

May God have mercy on me a sinner, and may God save the Antiochian Archdiocese and the Western Rite!

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God

Columba Silouan

Updated Comings and Goings

2010-10-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

This is on the Eastern Orthodox Evangelism and Adult Sunday School front:

Things are going really well at Saint Marks. Fr. Falconi and I have the blessing of our clever and witty Arch-Priest to conduct regular prayer sessions and Holy Unction sessions. I believe this will be a source of real blessing and support for our class members.

Also, there are two really exciting recent developments on the Evangelism side of things.

First, there is a new Eastern Orthodox evangelism program called The Way that is similar to the Anglican Alpha program.

I've always said that we need an Eastern Orthodox version of Alpha, and now we have it. It has been approved by Bishop Kallistos Ware, among other Orthodox leaders and the pilot program was successful. Now, with the permission of your local Bishop and Priest, you can use this program to win people to Jesus Christ.

Also, God paved the way for a Youth for Christ leader in our area to address our Adult Sunday School class about his upcoming Mission to Cyprus.

The presentation was a smashing success. This YFC leader's objective is to address nominalism in Cyprus, which is a predominately Eastern Orthodox country.

Pairing the Evangelical zeal of organizations like YFC and Eastern Orthodoxy has been a hope of mine. Now the potential to see this hope realized is starting to take shape.

The objective of YFC is to plug new Christians and revived Christians back into their churches. This means the revitalization of the faithful in Cyprus.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God

Columba Silouan

Answered Prayers

2010-10-30T08:51:00.000-07:00

Answered Prayers are usually a good RX for the spiritual blues.

God recently answered a prayer of mine regarding the new hire that was slated to join our shipping team at work.

Not only do we get along famously, but I see the potential for a real friendship.

This goes beyond a "bare minimum" answer. This is a yes answer in spades!

Thanks be to God.

Columba

Holding Off The Wolf Within

2010-10-20T20:02:00.000-07:00

Scripture warns us Beware of those who appear in sheep's clothing, but who inwardly are ravenous wolves.

"Hey sweetie, Father P has sent us a letter asking for our support."

My wife handed me a fancy and well-done appeal letter.

The heading said "Church of the Advent" in bold, red lettering.

Father P, Wheaton Graduate, Denver Seminary Graduate, and pastoral assistant to the priest-in-charge at our former AMIA parish church felt called to plant a new AMIA church in the downtown Denver Baker neighborhood.

Strike that. He felt called to plant a new church and 19 additional churches.

He called it 20 churches by 2020.

20 Anglican "Almost Orthodox" churches.

That last is an editorial comment.

Additionally, Fr. P. wrote that he felt called to mentor six additional people to do the same thing.

Since our time at the AMIA parish, he had become a full-fledged Anglican priest.

I wondered if one of these future churches would end up in my hometown of Parker.

My dream, of course, was planting a Western Rite Eastern Orthodox Church in Parker. Or to see it planted. It's harder to plant a church when you aren't a priest.

And the "my dream" part was an issue. Was this God's dream or just "my dream?"

This was the perennial question.

As an Orthodox Reader, I reasoned that perhaps as a lowest ranking member of the Priestly order, I might still take a shot at it.

I thought to myself "When it comes down to it, how different are these Anglicans from us Western Rite Orthodox besides our icons and incense?

I answered my own question: "They have a much bigger heart for evangelism and church planting."

"Oh, and they really don't have a sense of the wisdom of our monastics. But other than that . . ." I mused.

"Wheaton college. Now THAT'S where I should have gone to school. Attending a Christian college in the conservative midwest instead of in loopy Southern California."

I dove into the letter. If I had been a rainbow trout, the letter would have been a juicy fly in season and I would have swallowed the hook as well as the bait.

Fr. P started off with a popular Saint Irenaeus quote: The Glory of God is a human being fully alive.

Okay, of course he was using gender inclusive language here for the sake of marketing purposes.

Know your audience, I guess.

I knew the quote really said: The Glory of God is Man Fully Alive.

It was the John Eldredge / Saint Irenaus quote all over again.

And I knew the rest of the quote which most fail to add when they use it.

And the Glory of Man is the Vision of God.

The Vision of God. Something we Eastern Orthodox are supposed to excel at. Why do people always leave that harder part of the quote out?

Again perhaps for marketing purposes. Pehaps they figure they can deliver the harder news of the second half of the Saint Irenaus quote later down the line.

After the trout swallows the fly AND the hook.

Anyway I felt immediately wistful and envious.

I tried to calm myself down with a Fr. Stephen Freeman quote.

"The blessings that others experience are not at our expense."

Unlike me, Fr. P had remained in the AMIA, become a full-fledged priest (which had always been my own dream), and now he was going out to "captain his own."

I, in the meantime would remain an Orthodox Lay Reader, Acolyte and Adult Sunday School Teacher.

Fr. P was going to plant a church in a downtown neighborhood where one of our Western Rite Orthodox churches was already present.

It would probably grow to 300 people, too, like our former AMIA parish. And Saint Augustines would probably remain stuck around 100 people, just scraping by.

However, I comforted myself with the thought that Saint A's would continue to have their beautiful and historic Orthodox temple with beautiful Christian artwork, icons, stained glass, music and a pipe organ. Church of the Advent would probably start off in rented space, have a worship band, overhead projector and bare, white walls.

But my thoughts returned to my own situation.

Here I was, working in a corporate shipping department. Again.

Don't get me wrong. It's a blessing to have a job at all in this tough economy where the unemployment rate is hovering near 10%.

But still . . .

This wasn't the only example of someone else doing "full time ministry" that came my way in the Summer and early Fall of 2010.

Our neighboring family down the street was raising funds for a Youth for Christ Mission to Cyprus, which is a predominately Eastern Orthodox country.

This young couple were invited by my wife Dianna to come on over to dinner to give us their appeal for support.

Their children and our children attend the local chapter of AWANA at Fellowship Community Church.

I said to myself: "Okay God. Here are TWO people working in full-time Christian service while I continue to need to work full-time for the guaranteed money."

Fr. P said he felt prompted to plant a church by seeing a horse of all things. And by reading his appeal letter, I just knew he was being strongly influenced by one of my idols: John Eldredge.

John Eldredge. Another person working in full-time ministry. We were now up to three examples of men doing what I wish I could be doing.

While Fr. P said he was inspired by a horse, I felt like a donkey.

I understood completely where he and the Youth for Christ were coming from, however.

Our neighbor felt called to bring non-Christians and nominal Orthodox Christians to a deep commitment to and relationship with Jesus Christ. Fr. P felt called to plant a new church in a downtown neighborhood where in the words of his appeal letter "the existing churches are in decline both numerically and financially"

And here we continued to be, at Saint Mark's Antiochian Orthodox Church, drinking deeply at the deep and wonderful fountain of Western Rite Holy Orthodoxy, yet witnesses to our own backwardness in some areas where the evangelicals seemed to have us totally licked.

We pledged our financial support to both men and I taught an Adult Sunday School Class on the necessity of doing effective Eastern Orthodox evangelism.

My parish priest was a bit taken aback. "I hear you don't think we're doing a good enough job with evangelism." He said in response to the Sunday School class.

My answer? "I'm just afraid our competiton is going to snap up all the potential converts."

I could have answered more honestly:

"Hell yes we're doing a miserable job of evangelism!! We're getting our asses kicked by the AMIA and Youth for Christ for crying out loud!! And in TWO countries, for heaven's sake!!"

Lord have mercy.

At least there's the new Orthodox Evangelism tool called The Way, modeled after the highly successful Alpha program. I could have focused on this positive.

But there was a deeper issue in my life to look at.

I was seeking to fill the empty places in my heart with religious activities.

Was this a good thing to do or a bad thing to do? Even if I was, did this mean I should go "cold turkey" and cease and desist, or should I go ahead anyway and seek to do these good works?

I came to the conclusion that I should continue to do as many good works as I could. But I also concluded I needed to see my spiritual father / confessor as well.

It was time to go back to my Greek Orthodox Father Confessor, Fr. Lou for the sacrament of Holy Confession and Penance.

I came to the conclusion that I needed to combat the "ravenous wolf" of selfish needs that continued to dog my every step.

Didn't the Holy Scripture itself warn Christians to beware of those who come disguised in sheeps clothing, but who inside are ravenous wolves?

The solution seemed to be to find a balance between the impulse to be busy for God and doing so from inner emptiness.

How could I continue to be busy for God and at the same time try to consciously do it for unselfish reasons?

The answer came to me:

Try to intentionally put yourself and your thoughts entirely out of the picture and focus on others while in the midst of doing good works and constructive things.

Get your mind out of the gutter of selfishness.

Perhaps this way I would be putting aside the ravenous wolf inside and truly be on my way to being a lamb of God in imitation of The Lamb of God.

I thought back to my recent Facebook activities.

My mistakes with former classmates I had contacted.

Trying to do good with sin right there with me.

Where was this persistant sin coming from?

This was indeed my problem:

Doing anything good while still thinking and feeling about myself.

This was indeed an answer, and it was all about intentional focus.

Like the Orthodox discipline of Nepsis, you put yourself out of your mind when you seek to help others.

Focus exclusively on the other persons of God and your neighbor.

This may seem totally obvious, but it's harder to do than you might think.

Only with this proper focus is it possible to freely do good works from your deep heart.

Good works paired with self-centeredness are merely the sound of clanging cymbals.

There is a balance to be found:. Don't give up in despair and fail to do good works because you are naturally self-centered.

Instead do any good works, forgetting about yourself completely while in the process of carrying them out.

And be sure to run doubtful things past your spiritual father first.

Go away, wolf! Beat it!

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God

Goodbye Biola and Regent

2010-10-10T15:18:00.000-07:00

I've decided to change my Facebook profile today.

Under "Education" I dropped Biola University and Regent University from my list of schools.

I've added Colorado Christian University.

My reason for this is that after 20 plus years of regretting Biola, I've come to the conclusion that my religion would counsel me to forget what lies behind.

I've concluded that I need to press forward to the things God has for me now.

This doesn't mean I'm going to drop my four Biola friends I currently have on my Facebook page. They are worthy friends and I'm glad I knew them back then and I'm glad to be in touch with them now.

It does mean that I no longer consider myself a Biolan. I'm not worthy of the title and for me, personally, Biola is not an association I need anymore. I'm not an Eagle. I'm a Cougar.

My Alma Mater is the school I actually graduated from. That school's current form exists in and through Colorado Christian University.

Colorado Baptist University was absorbed by Colorado Christian College, forming Colorado Christian University in the fall of 1989.

I graduated from Colorado Baptist, then a branch of Southwest Baptist University, in the spring of 1989.

Merger talks happened over the course of that Spring Semester and the decision to merge was finalized before I graduated.

Thus, I am an Alumnus of Colorado Christian University. I never once set foot in Bolivar Missouri, where Southwest Baptist University is located.

But I did take two classes from CCU during the time I was away from Biola recovering from a bone marrow illness.

That combined with my graduation from an original CCU founding institution makes me a CCU Alum.

Go Cougars!

Biola and I were mismatched from the beginning. I realize now that I would have been better served in attending college somewhere else. Wheaton College comes to mind. Or perhaps Rockmont college close to home . . .

Or maybe even CU or CSU.

Regent University was just my attempt to recapture something that was irretrievably lost to me. Those graduate level classes rounded out my education, but I didn't graduate from Regent either, so I don't deserve to be associated with this graduate school in Virginia Beach.

Listing either institution as though I am an Alum of either one of them just doesn't make sense.

It is better to leave these places in my past and not to dwell on that past anymore.

My loyalty as an alum is to Colorado Christian University.

May God richly bless this local Christian University to be everything to its students that Biola failed to be for me. May all CCU students be everything to CCU that I failed to be for Biola but succeeded in being for Colorado Baptist / CCU.

And may the graduate programs of CCU grow to be everything Regent University is now.

My true undergraduate accomplishment was graduating from CBU / CCU with a "B" average and editing News and Views and Wings of Promise.

My graduation happened after "coming off the mat" from a tough ending at Biola and the loss of my best friend of the time, Rona Williams, who died in a car accident in the summer of 1988.

This was the true accomplishment. Attending Biola and Regent really wasn't.

It isn't enough to just survive a place. I did more than survive at CBU / CCU.

I pray that someday, an Eastern Orthodox University in this country will be founded to equal all the best Protestant and Catholic universities that currently exist.

Blessings in Christ, the Absolute God,
and in the Holy Trinity of which He is a loving part,

Columba Silouan

Saint Francis of Assisi in Estes Park

2010-08-23T19:59:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a weekend in Estes Park where we had a wonderful time away at a condo some church friends let us use.

We attended church on Sunday Morning at Saint Francis of Assisi Anglican Church, which is in the Anglican Province of North America.

Saint Francis is an Anglican Catholic parish and the service was much like the one at our home church which is in the Western Rite.

We refrained from taking the Eucharist per the rules of the Holy Orthodox Church, but we went forward for the priestly blessing and were indeed blessed, nevertheless.

The building was designed by a previous rector named Fr. Wells. He designed the church, the stained glass windows, the bronze work and the grounds.

This building would make a perfect Western Rite Orthodox Temple. I wish we had ten more like it.

The people were very friendly and we felt right at home.

More on Kujami Coffee

2010-07-21T19:52:00.000-07:00

From the website of the coffee shop I plan to visit:

"Unique and absolute occasion for the senses, Kunjuani Coffea is a true retreat in every manner of the word. From the moment you set foot amidst the friendly, old-world setting you’ll be captivated by the difference.

Every freshly prepared espresso is individually hand-pulled by a trained and experienced barista – not a machine. The exquisite, full-flavored whole beans are skillfully roasted in small batches from a Colorado artisan roaster. The sumptuous pastries are delivered fresh daily from a local bakery. And the gracious ambiance and free WiFi invite you to settle in and stay. (Even the convenient drive-thru offers a prompt and pleasant experience.)

Come indulge yourself with a perfectly prepared beverage, relax by the large, stone fireplace and lose yourself completely among the comfortable and lovingly created environment. Then discover what it truly means to ‘get Kunjani’d’."

The free Wi-Fi should mean that I can pack up a used laptop recently purchased from my company and write and report from there. This should be fun and a bit of an adventure. Stay tuned.

Columba Silouan

Looking for the Nebuchadnezzar

2010-07-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

Last week's goal of camping out at a local coffee shop had to be put on hold because my wife was under the weather.

The plan is to try again tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've written a letter to Craig McConnell of Ransomed Hearts in an effort to locate the house church formerly known as The Nebuchadnezzar.

This house church has since been renamed Imago Dei.

I hope to supplement my spiritual activities with periodic midweek visits to this group for possible Bible Study and prayer.

This in no way means I'm giving up on Holy Orthodoxy, but in my opinion I do need Christians of other stripes to keep me healthy and sharp.

Perhaps I can find some allies down in Colorado Springs.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God.

The Tentmaker

Future Efforts

2010-07-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, July the 15th, will be the first evening I spend a couple of hours at a local coffee shop.

This will be the beginning of an attempt to find potential converts to Orthodoxy, as well as potential church planters.

The approach will be simple: go to the coffee shop with Orthodox Study Bible in hand and do some reading. I will be praying that God will send me contacts and set up divine appointments.

And I may rotate from the coffee shop to the local Celtic Tavern which is pretty much across the street from the coffee shop.

If I do this long enough and pair these locations with the Steaming Bean next fall, some positive results may take place.

The bottom line is that a local Orthodox parish would provide a better opportunity for greater involvement for those of us who are Parker residents.

I firmly believe that there should be an Orthodox parish in every suburb of all major cities in the U.S.

For a city like Denver, that would mean suburbs like Aurora, Parker, Highlands Ranch, Englewood, Littleton, Thorton, Westminister, Wheatridge and Lakewood. It would also mean nearby towns such as Franktown, Elizabeth, Castle Rock, Brighton, etc.

That would mean 13 parishes for those municipalities listed directly above.

Ambitious? Unrealistic?

Probably so.

But thinking in these terms beats the complacent alternative.

The Anglican Church in North America isn't waiting around and has pledged the planting of hundreds of new parishes across the country.

Should we be any less ambitious than they are?

Blessings in The Holy Trinity, One God and the Divine Community of Love.

Columba Silouan

Well That Didn't Work

2010-07-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

So I put my Rose Window T-shirt on, donned my "I Love Orthodox Missions" button, and put on my celtic cross and headed out to the Steaming Bean with my Orthodox Study Bible.

It was closed. Turns out they have "summer hours."

So next week, I'll try Kunjuani Coffee, which is a secular coffee house up the street.

Maybe that will be better, anyway.

Blessings,

Columba Silouan

An Experiment: Camping out at the Steaming Bean

2010-07-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's time to take the plunge.

It's time to go to the Steaming Bean with my "I Love Orthodox Missions" button and sit there for an hour or two.

It's time to see what God might do with such a step.

Tomorrow evening after the kids are in bed, or maybe before, I will take a trip to the Steaming Bean Christian Coffee Shop at Mainstreet and Parker Road in Parker.

I will blog the results of this first evening.

I've been meaning to do this for a long time.

Let's see what and who God sends my way.

Prayers Coveted.

Blessings in The Holy Trinity, One God

Columba Silouan

Are House Churches and Eastern Orthodoxy Polar Opposites or Compatible?

2010-07-07T19:25:00.000-07:00

I've been reading about the growing popularity of "house churches" and as an Eastern Orthodox Christian I have some questions about them.

Is it possible to have an Eastern Orthodox "house church?"

Do "house churches" as they are currently comprised tend towards iconoclasm?

Can a "house church" be developed that checks in with an Orthodox Bishop and can a hypothetical "house church" have Priests and Deacons involved in it?

Would an EO "house church" movement bear a lot of fruit even with the necessities of Liturgy, Sacraments, Vestments, and so on?

On the surface of things, the current Protestant version of "house churches" would seem to be a direct rebuke / challenge to the Orthodox Church, but looking beneath the surface, is it possible to adapt this idea and use it to spread The Faith?

And finally a Western Rite question: Would it be easier to do an Eastern Orthodox House Church using the Western Liturgies?

Questions, questions.

Columba Sillouan

The Mixed Bag that is Facebook

2010-06-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some thinking tonight on my forays into the world of Facebook.

After being involved with Facebook for about a year now, I can say that my experience with it has been a mixed bag. I have learned some things.

My original intent was to use Facebook as a tool to promote the new Saint Laurence Retreat Center and Western Rite Orthodoxy, as well as Orthodox Church Planting.

Instead, I was bitten by the "Facebook Bug" and attempted to contact old college associates.

The positive thing is that I gained two lasting contacts from my college days at my first college, Biola University.

I didn't graduate from Biola. I graduated from Southwest Baptist University after transferring to the SBU Colorado Branch Campus known as Colorado Baptist University.

The most intense college experiences of my life happened at Biola. Biola was the place where my hopes were white hot before being dashed by "The Divine Thwarter."

I had high hopes for a number of reunions and the restoration of some lost friendships. I was looking for absolution. In some ways I found that absolution. In other ways, loose ends remained.

I gained / regained two lost colleagues as a result.

And for this I am thankful to God and grateful.

However, I contacted at least ten former classmates. I only received feedback from four and only two of those had staying power.

It's interesting to look at the nature of the hopes that Facebook generated in me.

I hoped for a lot. I hoped, as John Eldredge writes, "for things the way they should be, not for things the way they are."

I've concluded that the hope I felt properly belongs to a new world, and not to this one.

In the new world that God is creating for all faithful Christians, hopes for joyful reunions will be realized.

In this present world in most respects, such hopes will have to remain deferred.

I can hang onto my hopes for the coming new world. I need to let such hopes in this world go.

The new world can witness the restoration and purification of things I hoped for back then. Those hopes were dashed, but maybe not forever. Maybe those hopes will get replaced by new and better hopes.

Should I reach The New Heavens and The New Earth, I will be able to enjoy the friends I thought lost forever. I will be able to do this as a New Creation. The old will pass away and everything will become new.

I will be able to enjoy all my friends from a sound position of sinlessness and wholeness.

That will be heavenly indeed.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God

Columba Silouan

Joint Anglican Orthodox Worship Workshop?

2010-06-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, I became involved in a discussion about the frustrations of some local young men who have aspirations for the Holy Orders in a local AMIA church I used to attend.

According to a source at my home parish who has a family member who is an AMIA communicant, some of these young men want to go deeper into Liturgy and reverent worship but are being stymied.

At this point, an idea came to me.

As an Eastern Orthodox Christian in the Western Rite, and with a new conference center at Tallahassee Creek in Fremont County, we have an opportunity to address this need.

We could host a worship conference where we train these Anglicans in how we worship in the Western Rite. We could also expand the conference to be a men's retreat.

The new basilica at Tallahassee Creek can be used in this way because it is not strictly an Orthodox building.

We couldn't pull this kind of thing off at our own parish church because our Eastern Orthodox canons wouldn't allow non-Orthodox Christians behind our altar.

At Saint Laurence, however, a full Western-Rite service with Anglicans could easily be pulled off. The Orthodox wouldn't be able to commune with the Anglicans, but could help them through all the steps of the Liturgy.

Establishing friendly ties with the local Anglicans in our area is a good idea. After all, not too many years back, most of us were together in Episcopalian parishes before the final apostasy of the Episcopal Church.

If we teach young men like these deeper ways of worshipping God, it will lead the AMIA in our area closer to Orthodox norms while truly bettering Anglican parish life.

And some Anglicans will be drawn to convert to Holy Orthodoxy.

We get the best of both worlds. Anglicans who are more Orthodox and new Orthodox Christians who decide to come all the way home.

And here's an absolutely crazy dream, while I'm at it.

Wouldn't it be a hoot to invite John Eldredge to speak at any "Men's Conference" portion of such a weekend?

I would love to see John exposed to the way we worship. He attended an Episcopal Church in the Springs for a period of time according to his own writings.

Pulling all of this off would be a huge coup for the new retreat center and I think would bear lasting fruit.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God

Summer Thoughts

2010-06-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

The first official day of Summer just came and went. This is my first posting on Orthodox Parker since April the 13th.

That's quite a long time between postings. Too long, in fact.

Since my last posting, I've set up a "trading months" situation for the Adult Sunday School Class at our parish. The other teacher is our assistant priest, Fr. John Falconi.

I've settled in to my second position at Dish Network, which is a Materials Handler position at Corporate Headquarters. In this position, I have all the old duties I used to have when I was a corporate mail clerk for ten years.

Lord willing, this position looks to be stable and long-term.

Between my last posting in April and this one, I briefly kicked around an idea for an Ecumenically shared ministry. I learned about a new Lutheran denomination called the LCMC which came about as a direct result of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's decision to ordain actively homosexual pastors.

A local Lutheran church in Parker voted to stay in that denomination, prompting the orthodox (with a small "o") pastor to leave, move down the street and begin a new parish.

So now there is a Lutheran version of the Anglican Mission in the Americas.

I had the novel idea of a ecumenically shared parish made up of an AMIA group, an LCMC group, and an Orthodox group.

The idea is especially novel because it is the least likely to happen from the Eastern Orthodox side of things.

The fictional parish would be created along the lines of the Church of the Apostles parish in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. That parish is shared by Episcopalians and Roman Catholics. They do communion apart, but do everything else together.

My concern is that christianity is getting more and more subdivided into smaller and smaller groupings. This means less impact on our culture, more unproductive competition with each other, and diminished opportunities for growth and stability.

I am a sucker for christian architecture and art. I have a nostalgia for "good old days" when a more united christendom built churches like the Hagia Sophia and the great cathedrals of Europe.

The smaller we are, the harder we fall?

This may seem like a silly concern, but as an Eastern Orthodox Christian, I am, by definition, not an Iconoclast in any way.

Christianity has a visible and physical presence in the world. Jesus Christ came in the flesh to save us. This means it is a-okay to have a Christianity with maximum amounts of sacred images and art.

Of course, from the Orthodox perspective, The Church is not divided. This is true, but christianity with a small "c" is certainly divided whether we acknowledge it or not.

The divisions in christianity still harm the Orthodox, even if supposedly we're "not involved" in those
divisions per se.

Divide and Conquer. I'm sure our enemy the devil is still using this time - tested strategy against us to great effect.

I'm tired of the balkanization of christianity. I dream of the time when christianity is more unified, even if some of the groups have to remain apart during communion.

If we could marshall our efforts as much as possible, what might be accomplished?

I would like to see what Dr. Francis Schaeffer once called "an ecumenicism of orthodoxy."

The splits between conservative christians and liberal christians have created an unbridgeable chasm between Lutherans and Episcopalians, but perhaps the conservative Lutherans and Anglicans could work together with Western Rite Orthodox Christians . . .

If only there was the vision for it.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God.

Columba Siluouan

Modern Language Liturgies Pro and Con

2010-04-13T19:40:00.000-07:00

Recently, the subject of Elizabethan English language usage in the Western Rite was discussed on westernriteorthodoxy@yahoogroups.com. The question about the possibility of a Modern Language version of the Western Rite Liturgies was raised, and this wasn't the first time.

I mentioned this discussion in our Adult Sunday School class at our parish, where I am currently the teacher. I had two ideas at the time. The first was to develop a Modern Language version of the 2009 Book of Common Prayer published by Lancelot Andrewes Press for the purpose of a one year "transitional period" for new WR parishes. This idea wasn't enthusiastically received.

My other idea was for us to develop an "Elizabethan English for Dummies" booklet for new convert parishes. This idea was well received.

My current thoughts on this subject are as follows:

On the one hand, I have a question. Why is it that many people are eager to discard the Old English for the Liturgy of the Church, when those same people would probably object to attending a Shakespearian play that was done in Modern English? Isn't part of the charm of experiencing Shakespeare wrapped up in the cadences and beauty of the older language?

On the other hand, I've concluded that a carefully produced and thoughtfully rendered Modern English version of each Western Rite Liturgy would be a good idea in light of the fact that less and less people have been exposed to an Old English version of scripture.

Also, those of us in the Western Rite ought to produce a Modern Language version while we have control over such a project and before it might be taken out of our hands.

I believe that at some point in the future, this issue will stare us squarely in the face. if the Saint Chrysostom Liturgy is being used in Modern English, pressure will someday be brought to bear on us to do the same with our Liturgies.

Grist for the mill, to be sure.

Columba Silouan

Another Summer's Approach

2010-03-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

Spring begins on Monday, March the 15th. It won't be too long before another Summer is here, with new opportunities to write about Orthodoxy and promote a potential church plant in Parker.

Going into this new Spring and Summer I have some advantages that I lacked one year ago at this time.

The first new advantage is that my new job is much more secure than it was even a few months ago. May the Lord continue to have mercy.

With my transfer to the Facilities department at my company with duties I have performed well in previously, I can turn my attention back to projects such as Growing Up Christian in America and Saint Ambrose Orthodox Church.

To get a new church going won't be easy at all. But I still believe the goal is worthwhile.

One need I see is to find a younger point man to help with this effort.

I'm not old by any means at the age of 44, but a younger person might be more inspirational than a middle aged and balding forty something.

This will be a matter for prolonged prayer.

If this Spring and Summer season is to be any more productive than last Spring and Summer, time will need to be spent once a week in Parker promoting the idea for a new parish.

Again, the model for a new Orthodox parish in Parker is as follows: The Parish will be a "Western Rite" parish and can either be an Antiochian, an OCA, or a ROCOR parish. The most likely home for such a parish would be in the Antiochian Archdiocese, but if the opportunity presents itself, membership in the OCA or ROCOR might also work very well.

Rumors have persisted for months that the OCA is looking at opening up a Western Rite of its own, and ROCOR already has a Western Rite presence.

The local diocese of Antioch has an excellent bishop as its head, Bishop Basil Essey. Any church under Bishop Basil would be blessed to have him as Bishop.

However, at the present time there continues to be controversy within the larger Archdiocese, and perhaps a new start under a different Orthodox jurisdiction would be a fruitful move for the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this area.

Whatever God allows to happen will happen.

My hopes for the "DNA" of a new Parker mission parish are as follows:

1. A thriving church school program with excellent classes at all levels of the parish.

2. A strong and sustained small group Bible Study program where the scriptures are studied from an Eastern Orthodox perspective using The Orthodox Study Bible and various Orthodox Bible Study guides by authors such as Fr. Patrick Henry O'Reardon and others.

3. A strong and sustained small group fellowship setup where people can meet on a regular basis and share their lives with each other.

4. A monthly or twice-monthly praise and worship session that stands apart from the Divine Liturgy as a means of ongoing encouragement and inspiration for the faithful.

5. Maintaining an excellent liturgical and musical life for the parish during the central service of the Mass, along the lines of the venerable tradition at Saint Mark's Orthodox Church.

6. Practice of the Divine Liturgy using the 2009 Book of Common Prayer and the Saint Dunstan's and Saint Ambrose Psalter and Hymnbook. All services will be in English. Those who desire Latin Masses are free to repair to Saint Mark's Orthodox Church.

7. Continued use of the discipline of Morning and Evening Prayer / Matins, again using Anglican Plainchant as found in the Saint Dunstan's Psalter.

8. Faithful Observance of all Orthodox Holy Days and Feasts as possible at the new parish, but if not possible, encouragement of mission members to attend the same events at Saint Mark's.

9. Outreach to the surrounding community including establishing a regular presence at the Steaming Bean Christian Coffee Shop at the intersection of Parker Road and Mainstreet.

10. The eventual construction of an Orthodox Temple friendly to Western forms while maintaining the iconographic and liturgical standards that Eastern Orthodoxy requires.

11. A parish that reaches out to unchurched people as well as to disaffected christians of all stripes.

12. A parish that practices hospitality.

13. A parish that has regular prayer services during the month where healing is sought for the sick and all night prayer is available.

These are some starting points to ponder and this is not meant to be an exhaustive list.

The Peace of Christ be with you!

Columba Silouan

A Final Piece of the Puzzle?

2010-02-15T11:09:00.000-08:00

Well it's finally happened. Be careful what you wish for.

After two years of career upheaval and struggle in my life, an Internal Transfer to a Materials Handler 1 position at Dish Network Corporate Headquarters has been approved for me. I started my new position last week.

I've done most of these duties EXCEPT for driving the corporate mail van to locations all around town. This aspect of the position is sure to be a challenge for me. Two other major challenges will be working with three other mail clerks (in my previous mail clerk position, I was the only mail clerk), and the high volume, faster pace of the Dish Network mail center.

Lord willing, this can be my last job stop for quite a while.

There is a Deacon at my parish who works for UPS while serving the church. His example is one to emulate for me.

As far as my hopes and dreams for deep involvement in church activities are concerned, I will need to take this as it comes to me. For now, I will continue to teach our Adult Sunday School at Saint Mark's, as well as serve as an Acolyte and Tonsured Lay Reader.

May anyone who reads this have a blessed and Holy Lent.

Sincerely in the Holy Trinity, One God

Columba Silouan

Qualifications of a Bishop or Priest

2010-01-16T09:55:00.000-08:00

Good day, readers.

Even though he's ticked me off in recent days, the Ochlophobist did post a link to a superb new Orthodox website:

http://orthodoxleader.paradosis.com/2010/01/15/the-making-of-a-pastor-part-1/

This was a convicting post and the website as a whole is sorely needed.

I fall short in a number of ways according to this post.

I've never really blown the doors off of a secular career, as one example.

Time to seek greater mercy and repentance.

This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (1 Tim. 3:1-7, NKJV)

Columba Silouan

Ivory Tower Orthodoxy

2009-12-13T09:43:00.000-08:00

My previous post perhaps seemed a bit harsh. It was probably sinful, too. But the Ochlophobist's attitude towards Fr. Ken and Emmanuel Orthodox Church made me as angry as I've been in a long time.

If I recall correctly, Owen is married but has no children of his own. Perhaps if he had children of his own, he would have less time to pontificate on certain Orthodox subjects.

It is precisely those of us with young families who cannot afford to indulge in what I call "Ivory Tower Orthodoxy." This is a substandard practice of Orthodoxy more concerned with academic discussions than with changing lives.

The CULTURAL practices of singing praise music, meeting for small group bible studies and the other things evangelicals do are greatly beneficial to young families with children. Some of these young families lack a deep background in biblical knowledge and need more than lectures on what is or isn't kosher when it comes to the challenging religion that is Eastern Orthodoxy.

We all can't be monks and oblates. Some of us have to live and work in the world.

Doing so requires a certain ongoing level of encouragement that some of our parishes aren't good at providing.

I will pray for the Ochlophobist, but it will take me a while to get over my anger towards him and how unjust he seems to be with his criticisms.

I will have to be angry and sin not. My anger will have to be righteous anger directed against the small mindedness of what I read over the weekend.

It is opinions like the ones Owen White voiced that tempt me at times to return to Anglicanism, and specifically the Anglican Province of North America. I know I should never do this, and that I should stick with Eastern Orthodoxy for life, but such opinions don't help.

Saint Columba and Saint Silouan pray for this wretched sinner.

Columba Silouan

THE OCHLOPHOBIST IS A JERK DOT COM

2009-12-12T19:15:00.001-08:00

In my opinion, it's now official. Brother Owen White, otherwise known as the Ochophobist, is a real jerk.

In one of his latest posts, Owen White has decided to take on Emmanuel Orthodox Church and Saint Stephen's Orthodox Church to task because they sing praise music. Evidently, these two parishes that came to us from the Charismatic Episcopal Church are just not Orthodox enough for Owen.

Emmanuel as you may recall from an earlier post has a period before their Divine Liturgy and after Matins where they sing praise music for around 30 minutes.

If I recall correctly, parish members of Saint Stephens sing praise music during the week in small group settings.

Owen White treated Father Ken Devoie in a condescending manner in the comments section after his critical posting.

I will post more about this story later.

Brother Owen needs to quit acting like such a pompous ass. Again, this is only my own opinion.

Forgive me.

Columba Silouan

Not One, but Two New Blogs

2009-11-29T16:28:00.001-08:00

Good evening dear readers.

This repentance thing is a lot of hard work. Now instead of one new blog, I've started two.

The first new blog is called House of Repentance and is a blog about how I work out my repentance, and thus my salvation in the context of my daily life.

The other new blog is called Lessons After The Fall and this blog covers the biggest failure of my life, which was my time at Biola University. The subject matter of this one involves what led up to my Biola wipeout and the aftermath.

As far as any new Orthodox Mission to Parker goes, the most I can do right now is to immerse this project in prayer. I would like to do more at some point, but there are too many pressing duties right now to move forward.

I plan to start working again on Growing up Christian in America which is an autobiographical issues oriented book detailing why I became an Eastern Orthodox convert and what I believe Orthodoxy can say to Christians today.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God.

Columba Silouan

Where Angels Fear to Tread: Fools Rush In

2009-11-15T17:48:00.000-08:00

As one friend of ours said when I recently created a Facebook account:

"Welcome to the Dark Side."

My recent projects online have been nerve-wracking at times and I've struggled with questions about whether I am doing things correctly when I participate in this medium called The Internet.

I've decided to start a sister blog to this one called the House of Repentance blogspot.

This new blog will be dedicated to exploring the concept of repentance and how I as an Orthodox Christian pursue repentance in the context of my family, my parish, my workplace, and with my other relationships and associations.

Orthodox Parker will continue to explore the possibility of a future Orthodox Mission in Parker, Colorado and other Orthodox subjects.

I will post the new URL shortly. This new blog is also a Blogger website.

Columba Silouan

The Hard Reality of Career

2009-11-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

Good evening dear readers,

All the blogging about developments in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Orthodox Church of America has been fun and interesting, but now I'm back to thinking about what I should be doing as my life's work.

I'm thinking about becoming a teacher.

I'm also thinking about putting desires and dreams about the Orthodox priesthood on temporary to permanent hold.

When I look at the subdeacons and deacons of my parish, every one of them has a better or more solid career situation as their "anchoring job."

There are at least three computer programmers, one corporate trainer and a full time UPS employee among the ranks of our clergy at Saint Marks.

Only our Archpriest is paid full time in his direct role as a priest.

God has been impressing on me more and more that my first duty and priority must be to my family, and their support.

I am currently employed at Dish Network. It's a good company and a decent position, to be sure, but it doesn't feel safe or permanent. I don't know what the outcome is going to be.

My career situation has been problematic for a long time. I feel the need to find a permanent, long-term solution to this issue before I will have the strength necessary for any run at the Holy Priesthood.

So I plan to pray a lot and move forward gingerly in the direction of becoming a school teacher.

I don't know how Dish Network is going to turn out. I hope it turns out well, but in this economy, you just never know.

God's Blessings to you and yours,

Columba Silouan

What if: What if a Joint Parish was Created?

2009-10-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting link to a church I came across during my years in Virginia Beach, VA:

Church of the Holy Apostles

This church is a parish with an Anglican congregation and a Roman Catholic congregation in the same building, but with separate altars.

All of this talk about new structures for Anglican converts got me daydreaming of an imaginary future parish somewhere composed of a Roman Catholic congregation in the new Anglican Apostolate and an Eastern Orthodox congregation in a potential OCA Anglican Diocese.

Such an arrangement would have the advantage of pooling scarce resources during times of economic trouble such as ours.

Such a parish would also have twice the appeal to potential converts to both Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

I don't know if Eastern Orthodox canons would allow for such an arrangement, but it made for an interesting daydream, to be sure.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity.

Columba

Further Discussion about "Semi Conversion"

2009-10-26T18:54:00.000-07:00

Good evening, dear readers.

My Orthodox brother in the Lord Subdeacon Joseph had some further comments about this subject, so I've decided to address these further. He wrote the following in a comment:

One who wholeheartedly believes in all Orthodox theology and doctrine".... there is the crux of the problem. "Semi-converts" accept SOME of the Orthodox doctrine, along with SOME of their former doctrine, as the Orthodox doctrine. (I am specifically referring to things at variance with Orthodoxy).

I am also confused as to how you could make the SJC liturgy the core of a Western rite service.

Well, let's start with the second question first.

I'll admit that when I first decided to make the Western Rite my home in Holy Orthodoxy, I thought of an obvious question: If Byzantine Rite Orthodox object to The Liturgy of Saint Tikhon because of it's rootedness in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, why didn't someone come up with an approach that placed the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom at the center of things and then build around it with the western forms and customs the Western Rite has that stand apart from the Saint Tikhon Liturgy?

If this approach had been looked at first, the worship of Western Rite Orthodox Christians and Eastern Rite Christians would at least share the same words of the core liturgy used.

So I've pictured how this might work as follows:

You replace the Mass or Divine Liturgy in a current Western Rite service with the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.

You leave the rest of the services intact, including the collects of the day, which are treasured by those coming from the Anglican and Lutheran traditions. You examine these collects closely to make sure they conform to Holy Orthodoxy.

You leave the use of Anglican Plainchant and Gregorian Chant intact in Western Rite Services.

You leave the Hymnody intact, including the use of the Saint Ambrose Hymnal and the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal that those parishes that came into Orthodoxy from the Anglican tradition brought with them.

You leave the customs intact, including the blessing of birthdays and anniversaries and the prayers of the people. You leave the use of western style vestments intact. You allow praying of the Rosary as well as use of The Jesus Prayer. You allow the use of The Stations of the Cross.

And finally, you allow the music programs of these parishes to continue with full choirs, pipe organs, pianos and the like.

This approach could have been taken, however when the disaffected Anglicans of the 1970's entered Holy Orthodoxy, they wanted to bring a cleaned up version of the 1928 BCP with them. Bishop Bellavin who later became Saint Tikhon had already gone over the Anglican Book of Common Prayer many years before, along with some other Orthodox assistants and had produced a version compatible with Eastern Orthodox theology.

The Anglicans had fought a major battle over the 1928 Prayerbook in the Episcopal Church and had also battled against Women's Ordination to the Diaconate and Priesthood. They lost these battles and the so-called 1979 "Book of Common Prayer" was adopted in the Episcopal Church. As a result, many of these traditionally minded Anglicans were forced all the way out of their former church homes.

My theory is that Metropolitan Phillip and other Antiochian Leaders in an attempt to be gracious to these battle weary Anglicans who desired to enter the Orthodox Church allowed the Liturgies of Saint Tikhon and the Liturgies of Saint Gregory to stand in the Antiochian jurisdiction.

One of the attachments to the 1928 Book of Common prayer re-worked into the Liturgy of Saint Tikhon was the use of the "Old English" or "King James English" in its pages.

The Anglicans of the 1970's distrusted all "Novus Ordo" type liturgical innovations, having been burned by the 1979 BCP controversy. This distrust of modern English usage included Orthodox translations of The Divine Liturgy into modern English.

My journey into Eastern Orthodoxy came at a later time. We finally converted in 2006, with developments in this direction taking place beginning in the 1980's and stretching into the 1990's. Some of the influences that started me in this direction were those of C.S. Lewis and Dr. Francis Schaeffer.

My wife and I were not as hung up over the use of "King James English" as those who came before us into the Western Rite of Holy Orthodoxy. We are products of a different time.

My wife was raised an Episcopalian, but later became a "born again" worshipper at an Assembly of God church in Colorado Springs. During her college days, she attended Baptist Churches and Protestant College Campus groups.

I attended Biola University, transferred to Colorado Baptist University, took graduate courses at Pat Robertson's Regent University, and evolved from my Baptist roots through different Anglican jurisdictions, spent a year and a half in the LCMS Lutheran Church waiting for a time when my wife might convert to Holy Orthodoxy, and then finally made the journey to Saint Mark's in Denver while maintaining ties to Saint Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church in Greenwood Village.

With this background in Evangelical and Charismatic circles, the main versions of the Bible that I encountered were the New International Version, the New King James, The Revised Standard, and finally the English Standard Version, which is actually a pretty good translation.

When our conversion to Orthodoxy was complete, we picked up a copy of the Orthodox Study Bible, which features a new Old Testament translation from the Septuagint paired with the New Testament translation taken from the New King James version of the Bible.

I was taught to love traditional language and music by my mother, who raised me in a way that is unusual in this day and age. It was due to her influence that I moved in the Orthodox direction. The Roman Catholic Church was implementing Vatican II during this time and most of the Protestant world was following their lead and "modernizing" everything to do with worship and church music.

About "Semi Conversion" to Holy Orthodoxy

Sudeacon Joseph has said that many of us who convert to Holy Orthodoxy only semi convert. But here is another way to look at it: God leads many of us who are converts from western christian confessions and traditions by steadily divorcing us from our past errors and moving us ever closer in the direction of Orthodox beliefs.

In my case, God had to first cleanse me of common Baptist errors such as Pre-millenial Dispensationalism, Rapturist and Antinomian "Personal Savior" easy believism and "Eternal Security" heresies.

Then, he had to separate me from other protestant errors such as "Semi - Deism" where certain gifts of the Holy Spirit were for a bygone age and no longer operative in modern times and where a person could not expect to be delivered from demonic bondage and oppression or supernaturally healed of diseases or distresses.

He also had to instill in me a love of the Holy Eucharist and Liturgical worship and He had to break me of protestant iconoclasm. Time spent as an Anglican helped greatly with this process.

Perhaps the biggest false doctrine God had to bring me out of was the belief that Jesus could be my Savior without being The Lord of my life.

And finally, God brought me to Holy Orthodoxy when my own belief system was turned on it's head: Instead of believing that one decision had saved me, I fell into the despair of believing that one sin had damned me forever. Saint Silouan's holy example became a help to me later, since he went through similar struggles.

It was easy for Satan to turn heterodox doctrines against me to the detriment of my soul. Heresy is cruel to its adherents.

I have accepted every basic Eastern Orthodox doctrine that has been presented to me, but I will say this: ALL CHRISTIANS SOMETIMES DOUBT ASPECTS OF THEIR OWN FAITH.

And I've run into Eastern Rite Orthodox who don't observe any of the fasting disciplines of The Church, who don't regularly go to Confession, who hardly ever partake of the Eucharist, and whose women don't cover their heads or dress modestly.

So the problem of "semi-conversion" would not just appear to be a Western Rite issue.

Again, I would mention that Subdeacon Joseph is a member of the clergy, and as such is probably much more devoted in his faith than some of the ordinary laymen and laywomen of many an Orthodox parish.

I, too, as a minor order member of the clerical ranks, am probably more interested in these matters than some laymen and laywomen who just try to go about their daily lives in humble, if simple obedience to our Church.

I believe that with the scandal of the division of Christians, that all of us sometimes have doubts. One of my deepest frustrations is that there are four ancient christian groups who name the name of "Christian" who claim the exclusive title of The Church: These are, of course, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Chaldean Church, or The Assyrian Church of the East.

I have settled on Holy Orthodoxy as being the purest form of Christianity that exists, but I've come to realize that even though we are The Church, that the "Ancient Undivided Christian Church" we always talk about persisted, but the people who called themselves "Christians" did suffer from divisions starting in A.D. 431 with the second major division taking place in A.D. 461.

And so I've often asked this question: "Why didn't The Lord appear to these ancient christians at these key times and stave off these divisions? And why if Church Unity is so important, did not all the Bishops refuse to budge until the Holy Spirit brought them back to unity?"

The right conclusion, even if somewhat unsatisfying at times is the following: He allowed us our free will and we divided one from another in our fallenness.

Even though I've come to accept that The Church is, indeed, Infallible, I know that her members certainly aren't. I first accepted this belief because I concluded that the alternative of a fallible church was a terrible one, and unacceptable.

It is hard to get a complete handle on "Things that are at variance with Orthodoxy." It is easy to get the basics right, but there are more complicated matters that only the highest ranks of the clergy and monastics came truly come to grips with, and these over hundreds of years.

This is why The Rudder is a record of all the decisions about canon law without being a completely binding document for Orthodox Christians. Some of the canons have been deemed to be culturally bound to the times they were written in.

This is why we have "Great Synods of the Orthodox Church" every now and then. So we can iron out certain things through the guidance of the Holy Spirit working through the clergy and laity until agreement is reached.

As Orthodox Christians, we no more take the Bible alone than we take the Canons alone. Sola Scriptura does not apply, neither does Sola Canonica. The living tradition of The Church becomes the final arbiter.

So these thoughts above are my best attempt at trying to address the questions raised by my brother in Christ.

Fr. John Connely, my priest, believes that The Book of Common Prayer can be a valid form to worship God with. So do the leaders of the Western Rite movement in Holy Orthodoxy.

These matters are for The Church to decide, and not us as individuals. And for now, Antioch has allowed the use of these liturgies to stand.

Is it possible that God will reverse these decisions? I suppose so. He is God. Let Him do what is Right in His Eyes.

But I believe that some form of The Western Rite movement is here to stay.

I believe this because I don't believe He would allow the Roman Catholics to be better at something than we who are The Church are at something.

Why would he be more compassionate with them and working through them than with us and through us?

That wouldn't make any sense at all.

I think the fact that the Roman Catholic Church is setting up an alternative Anglican structure at this time, and the fact that Metropolitan Jonah has been reportedly setting up a similar arrangement might mean The Holy Spirit is at work.

I also think that these high ranking leaders keep in contact with each other more than we know.

This past Sunday I heard from a subdeacon at my parish that Bishop Hilarion was at the Vatican two weeks ago. Bishop Hilarion knows Metropolitan Kyrill, and Metropolitan Kyrill of Russia knows Metropolitan Jonah. And I'm sure Pope Benedict knows all three of these Holy men.

These Christian leaders are responsible men. I'm sure as responsible men, they realize it is important to keep in touch with one another for the sake of a unified Christian witness to the watching world.

So my guess is that some "cross-pollenization" might be taking place.

We need to expect great things from our Great God. He is able to bring our schisms to an end, and we need to expect that He might do so.

There need be no division between Eastern Rite Orthodox and Western Rite Orthodox. If there is a division, it is our fault and not God's.

My conclusion is this: Apparent shortcomings of Western Rite Orthodox Christians in the view of Eastern Rite Orthodox Christians are sometimes more a matter of culture than a matter of falling short of our Holy religion. Let us think the best of each other and not the worst.

Sincerely in the Blessed Trinity,

Columba Silouan

Some Thoughts on Questions Raised

2009-10-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon dear readers.

I was asked some questions during this process of discussing a possible new Anglican diocese and I thought about these all day while I was at work.

The following are only my opinions and are not reflective of "official Orthodoxy."

First, it was alleged that those of us who are members in good standing of Orthodox parishes that are Western Rite are "Semi-Converts."

Well, if being a "semi-convert" means someone who regularly goes to confession with a canonical Orthodox priest, one who regularly attends the Divine Liturgy, one who tries to keep the times of abstinence and fasting during the Church Year, one who tithes faithfully to his or her parish, one who regularly reads up on Orthodox subjects and who reads Orthodox books, one who wholeheartedly believes in all Orthodox theology and doctrine, one who prays the Jesus Prayer, one who prays for his or her parish Priest, one who has a Spiritual Father and Father Confessor, then may all of us be "semi-converts."

I'll have more to say about this and other subjects in a future posting.

In the meantime a picture paints a thousand words, so I'll link to a church website that illustrates what I mean by creating a better space for Anglicans (and by extension other converts from the western cultural church traditions) to illustrate what I mean:

http://www.walsingham-church.org/photos

If the Roman Catholic Church can allow former Anglicans the kind of freedom it takes to have their own architecture and music, why is it that we can't be granted the same freedoms in the Holy Orthodox Church?

As long as all Orthodox elements are present in a parish community, why is the kind of architecture and music practiced at Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston off limits?

The current Western Rite is good, but it could be better.

It is my personal opinion that the Romanesque architecture mandated by the Western Rite of Antioch is "over-thinking the plumbing."

Some food for thought: If in our wildest dreams as Orthodox Christians the whole realm of England decided to convert to Holy Orthodoxy in a gigantic move of the Lord in that country, do you really suppose they would leave all their church forms behind?

Rather, they would blend their forms, some of which are ancient, with Orthodox forms and develop their own unique style and culture while becoming completely Orthodox in doctrine and practice.

Those of us who favor a "Western Rite" in Orthodoxy don't intend to take the entire Orthodox Church over, driving out the Eastern Rite and the Eastern forms.

We just want our own forms included in the Church as well.

I wouldn't have a problem with making the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom the core liturgy in the Western Rite as long as Western Forms could be built around it.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity, One God.

Columba Siluoan

Notes From The Underground Part Two

2009-10-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

Good evening once again.

What follows are the postings on NFTU and my responses to them. The tone was mostly polite and I found it to be a good experience overall.

Wed Oct 21 2009

From: Notes from the underground.

True Orthodox and Ecumenical News

"Anglican Diocese" of the OCA?!?!?

Posted by Subdeacon Joseph Tuesday, October 20

We can't really be reading this. More Angliochians? More semi-convert Anglican parishes? More people who have no clue as to what Western Orthodoxy is taken in to the OCA? More "Liturgy Of St Tikhon" (Or "LOST" for short) parishes?

The whole post can be found linked to the title but if this really came from St Mark's Angliochian Parish in Denver, then we can be sure this may well be happening.

Click the story below to see it....

Comments that followed:

Good evening.

Okay, that would be my web blog. Thanks for increasing traffic on it. I wasn't aware it was even searchable. Nice.

My name is Columba Silouan and I'm a tonsured lay reader at Saint Marks.

It's high time for the Eastern Orthodox Church as a whole to broaden their view of reaching out to Anglicans.

The Roman Catholic Church has just announced that their doors are open for the Traditional Anglican Communion to enter in large numbers.

And so we are going to do . . . what exactly?

In my opinion, we need to be as generous and proactive as the Romans. Bravo for Metropolitan Jonah's efforts and vision. A Western Rite in the OCA might be a better one than the one we have in Antioch.

Otherwise, Rome will gain all the Anglican converts while we sit on our hands with our noses in the air.

I, too am an ex-Anglican and I fervently pray that all that was good and beautiful in the church of my heritage and ancestry will be redeemed and preserved in Holy Orthodoxy. The Anglican movement is dead, and those of us who were Anglicans are looking for Good Samaritans, not those who pass by the road on the other side.

I know many Eastern Rite Orthodox who are warm, humble and holy people, including my Greek Orthodox Confessor, Fr. Lou at Saint Catherine's in Denver.

I also have encountered some who are disdainful snobs who think that anything western at all is heterodox and off limits.

I can assure you that you won't win many converts from Anglicanism with attitudes of the latter nature.

Sincerely in the Blessed Trinity,
Columba Silouan

Note: I have to admit here that I was a tad frustrated at the time I posted my first comment. I had just learned of the Roman Catholic action of setting up a "constitution" by which Anglicans can be received into the RCC. I didn't believe it was time to quibble when our biggest ecclesiastical competitors had made such a bold, and in my estimation, generous move.
I also may have been a bit harsh in my assessment that the overall Anglican movement is dead. Apart from Holy Church, however, it is certainly wounded.

The next post is from Subdeacon Joseph from New York:

Dear Columba Silouan,

You write, "I also have encountered some who are disdainful snobs who think that anything western at all is heterodox and off limits.... I can assure you that you won't win many converts from Anglicanism with attitudes of the latter nature. "

I don't have a problem with Western rites as long as they are Orthodox; it has long been a position of mine that the "Liturgy of St Tikhon" is very questionable. I myself pray using a Western Rite, but I am certain it is Orthodox by *its nature* (knowing where the text comes from) as opposed to it being Orthodox by *my nature* (because it is familiar to me in my youth-- much of what is Western and actually Orthodox was not-- and I just happen to be Orthodox).

In my Archdiocese we allow the use of a generally Sarum (11th century) recension of the Roman rite. These texts are clearly Orthodox in their doctrinal content and we know how to use them. It's not "liturgical archaeology", as many falsely claim, since any educated High Church Anglican has seen a Sarum Liturgy. I see no reason to use false BCP or
AM constructions. We shall never see properly converted English Orthodox of Western provenance if we keep offering bread for a stone. As for Rome taking them; well, Rome approved many of Cranmer's modifications with the New Mass, so I think we can agree that at the least, Rome is a place where those who cannot accept that the post-schism and Protestant nature of their liturgical and spiritual practices are actually post schism and Protestant would be more than
welcome.

Still, I sense we'll be seeing more of the LOST. And that saddens me. Because in the desire to preserve Anglican tradition, we are forgetting genuine English Orthodox tradition.

--
In Christ,
Subdeacon Joseph Suaiden
St Eulalia Orthodox Mission, Bronx NY

The Second Comment in response to my first posting was

less sympathetic to Western Rite Orthodoxy in general:

Jonathan· 1 day ago

I personally feel that 'Western Rite' Orthodoxy is a strange and possibly dangerous thing, since it doesn't have a continuous tradition in Orthodoxy, unlike the Eastern Rite. It would certainly be better to dig up an old Latin rite from the days when the Latin Church still held to Orthodox doctrine, as St John Maximovich tried to do when he was Archbishop of Western Europe, rather than try to adapt a rite born in the midst of heresy, such as the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, as St Tikhon tried to do.

But even the ancient Orthodox Latin rites have fallen into disuse, and I think it's unwise to take any liturgy out of its historical context, mainly because in all these rites there is a wealth of unwritten tradition that accompanies what has been written down. In the Eastern Rite, it is possible for Westerners to draw upon this unbroken tradition to supplement the codified rituals; in the 'Western Rite', the oral tradition is lost and one has to 'reconstruct' it based on one's personal reading of history, which is almost bound to lead to errors.
If even St Tikhon, who was born and bred in the Orthodox faith, was unable successfully to recreate the heretical Anglican rite as an Orthodox rite, how much less are we unsaintly converts?

My next posting follows and was partly in response to the idea that the Sarum Rite would be a better Western Rite to use than the 1928 BCP / Liturgy of Saint Tikhon:

Good evening. This is Columba again.

I've got no problem with the idea of using the Sarum Rite. Supposedly much of the BCP had as it's primary source the Sarum Rite. But the Western Rite goes beyond just the core liturgy. One small for instance is that we sometimes pray The Stations of the Cross as Western Rite Orthodox. And many Orthodox parishes of both rites have started to use stained glass in their churches.

The Western Rite in the Antiochian Archdiocese also allows the use of music from various western sources, including Gregorian Chant, Anglican Plainchant and hymns drawn from sources as late as the 19th century.

I'm thinking here of hymnody by John and Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts, to name only three sources.

In the Western Rite, we also use Bach, Handel, Brahms, Mendohlsen, Motzart, Beethoven, Haydn and countless other western composers whose music became the backbone of some of the greatest western hymns, anthems and oratorios of the faith.

These hymns don't take over the entire service by any means, but they do well at various points in a Western Rite service. The predominate form of music in our services is still chanting, which is the backbone of Orthodox music.

And of course, I wouldn't advocate changing things like Icons or Iconography AT ALL. But using western music is a different matter in my opinion. Most converts come to the use of Icons without a background involving them. They don't come to church music without a background, however.

Now as Orthodox Christians, we should screen the words of western hymns to ensure that they fully comply with Eastern Orthodox Theology, but if you truly want to reach Christians from all the western confessions you need to have the option of incorporating their greatest works of music.

Bishop Basil of the Diocese of Wichita once attended a high mass at an Episcopal Cathedral back in the days before many of the modern Episcopal innovations and heresies occurred. He wept because he realized this form of worship was in serious danger of dying out.

Its in danger of dying out because modern protestants are stampeding en - masse to entertainment based and trendy worship forms. And Vatican II in the Roman Catholic Church didn't help matters, either.

The only places left where traditional style western worship is truly safe is in isolated pockets of traditional Roman Catholics, a few Presbyterian churches, the LCMS, perhaps WELS, the Traditional Anglican Communion, other traditional groups of a similar nature, and Western Rite Orthodoxy.

In my opinion, reaching America for Eastern Orthodoxy must take into account the entire remaining ecclesiastical church culture of the target country. We can't do it exactly like Saint's Cyril and Methodius did it because this culture already has a remnant christian culture present where Holy Russia was a completely pagan country.

I was taught as a catechumen that the Orthodox Church knows where The Church is, but can't state where The Church isn't. It isn't entirely the fault of my American and English forefathers that Holy Orthodoxy was lost to them. And I believe in a God who preserved a "faithful remnant" in the middle of imperfect "church" situations.

The holiest of the Protestants and Roman Catholics of non-orthodox countries nevertheless knew God. Even the Orthodox believe that men like George Herbert, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein walked with God and had creative works that were inspired by the life (energies) of God.

And think of Johann Sebastian Bach who titled all of his music "To The Glory of God."

The Great Schism was a terrible tragedy, not just a crime committed by the Roman Catholic Church. The Protestant Reformation was also a great tragedy.
I'm sure God has grieved the consequences that millions of innocent Christians suffered from these two events.

We can have a larger view of Orthodox cultural engagement without compromising our beliefs. Our God is big enough to handle it if we adopt such a perspective.

You may win converts and deny them their heritage, but that will make for converts who are saddened at their very core by the loss of that heritage. And that sadness is an unnecessary burden in a world that already saddles us with many a burden.

I believe that BOTH rites are necessary to have a healthy Orthodox Church in America. There are many people who have been cut off from the heritage of the west due to their education or background or through complete disinterest. The Eastern Rite can be for them a great discovery of faith and the joy of worshipping in a traditional and rooted way. I don't see why we can't use both Rites to grow parishes.

For instance, why can't a parish be planted with two services available, one Eastern Rite and one Western Rite with both done with the greatest amount of excellence possible?

Doing such a thing would be casting the widest possible net.

Many times as Orthodox Christians we limit ourselves unnecessarily.

At any rate, I need to be humble and open to whatever God is trying to teach me personally about this subject. If the Western Rite is truly wrong, I would hope that the entire Orthodox Church would convene a church council of some sort to come to a resolution about it.

I took my family for a visit to an OCA Eastern Rite parish last Sunday to try and make some contacts for dreams of an Orthodox mission in Parker. This dream and hope was the original idea behind my small blog. I found the Eastern Rite that was practiced there to be uplifting and holy.

But I still love the Western Rite and hope to see God work through it as well.

Sincerely in the Blessed, Kind, Merciful and Holy Trinity,

Columba Silouan

Brother Jonathan then wrote the following:

Columba Silouan, you wrote:"It's high time for the Eastern Orthodox Church as a whole to broaden their view of reaching out to Anglicans."

Please define what you mean by, "reaching out"?

Also, include the rudder index to each canon you may specify, as well as to which rudder you are using.

I am unfamiliar with such a canon or an economia made on behalf of the Orthodox Church, please, exemplify what you mean to demonstrate by Church Law.

Columba, my main suspicion about Western Rite Orthodoxy is that it is not organic. Tradition is not something that can be invented anew. Think of it as the life-force of a tree or a vine: you can graft branches onto the tree, but it depends how long the branch has been severed. If the branch still has life in it, it will continue to grow after being grafted, but if it has long since died and dried out, it will not come back to life. The West has been cut off from the life-giving Tree of the Church for a thousand years. Its ancient rites are like dried out branches, which have lost the life of unbroken Tradition, while the post-Schism rites never had life to begin with.

If converts are unwilling to accept that, that means they have not accepted that hitherto they have not been practicing true Orthodox Christianity, but a heretical pseudo-Christianity, which means they are still not fully converted.Reply0Jonathan· 1 hour agoAnd no, the Orthodox do NOT believe that the 'holiest' of the Catholics and Protestants (whatever 'holy' is supposed to mean outside the Church) 'knew' God or 'walked with' God.

This doesn't mean everything they wrote was worthless, but if they happened to write something compatible with our Faith, that does not take away from the fact that they were heretics and not part of the Church. Their ultimate fates are in God's hands, but we cannot use them to say it's possible to be saved outside the Church, which goes clear against Orthodox teaching. It's like saying that it's fine to be a pagan because many pagan Greek philosophers happened to say wise things despite their spiritual darkness.

To which I responded thusly:

Hello again, brothers and sisters.

As far as referring to The Rudder and The Canons goes about this subject, all I have to say in response is that our Holy Orthodox Church is already in violation of some of the canons and especially when it comes to multiple Orthodox jurisdictions in the United States, which is a far more serious matter than how we set up a structure for converts from Anglicanism.

And the Western Rite isn't just an outreach to Anglicans, either. I was a Baptist before I converted to Anglicanism and then later to Holy Orthodoxy. Some of the music in our Hymns at Saint Marks was even sung by the baptist churches I was a part of.

Western Rite Orthodoxy can appeal to Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and even Baptists. That's why I believe it's a good thing.

Okay, Orthodoxy OFFICIALLY might not state that people such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkein, or for that matter, Corrie Ten Boom and Mother Theresa of Calcutta knew God, but most Orthodox people know better than that. We might not think these heterodox christians knew Him as well as they should, but it is an extremely strange view of GOD to hold that only those Christians who have the blessing of being within The Church truly know God. Even Jesus told those who were offficially "IN" the ancient Jewish "church" that they DIDN'T know him. I'm talking about the Scribes and Pharisees, folks, who were "Officially" spotless but inwardly were wolves that Christ didn't recognize as being His.

I'm sure Jesus hasn't changed in the past 2,000 years in these matters.

Even our Holy Monks hope that all people may one day be saved. That speaks to me of a very generous attitude on the part of our Lord. Now, I do think some people will be lost, but one thing I love about Orthodoxy is the hope that the majority of all people God has created might be saved in the end. I found Protestantism pretty negative in that regard where most people would be lost in the end.

Again, with the formula that I was taught as a Catechumen, you can't state with certainty that the people I've mentioned here were not imperfectly a part of The Church, even if they were outside it's visible boundaries. Even the Roman Catholic Church isn't so narrow about this issue.

Jesus said to us that "we will know them by their fruit." He also told His Disciples that "Everyone who is not against us is for us."

I will say in conclusion that I don't accept all modern views about what Orthodoxy believes about these matters. One of my Orthodox textbooks I've read, The Mystery of Faith, posits the idea that the Fathers of the Church were less narrow in their views than we modern Orthodox are and have become about them.

Why does the heterodox Roman Catholic Church seem to have a more wholesome and generous attitude about these matters than some of us? We are the Church, they are short of the Church. But sometimes they do put us to shame with their liberality of spirit.

I learned some of these ways of thinking from the Greek Orthodox Church, not the Western Rite. I do think the Greeks are sometimes more open minded about these things. Sometimes some of them are too open minded. But I appreciate their warm and generous attitudes as well.

Saint Silouan the Athonite would probably emphasize more of God's love and compassion. This is in part why I adopted his name as one of my Orthodox names. He was a remarkable example of the love of Christ.

I adopted the other name, Columba, in honor of Saint Columba, who was a very flawed monk before he became a holy saint. So it is with me currently and a layperson who tries to repent in the "monastery" of my family, church and job, so I hope to become someday.

I'm looking forward to the first modern Western Rite saint being canonized. I think someday it will happen.

Sincerely in Christ,

Columba

Notes From The Underground Finds This Blog

2009-10-21T21:06:00.000-07:00

Good Evening and Greetings in the Most Holy Trinity, One God.

Well my little blog has been discovered. My post about the strong possibility of a new Western Rite / Anglican Diocese has raised some eyebrows in some quarters of the Orthodox Web Blog World.

I don't have much time to cover this development this evening, but I can say that the Notes From The Underground web blog somehow found my Anglican Diocese Post and it concerned them, to say the least.

I will post everything related to this soon. I will also say that no one at Saint Mark's in Denver cautioned me about mentioning this bit of news. I don't think it's anything to be furtive about. Of course, I'm strongly in favor of such a development, and I realize some Eastern Rite Orthodox are probably firmly opposed to it. We can agree to disagree about this and remain brothers and sisters in the bonds of love.

I primary use this blog to practice my writing and was unaware that it could be found, although I'm pleased as punch that it was. Must be the inner journalist in me.

Again, the primary purpose for Orthodox Parker is to generate interest in an Orthodox Mission to the town of Parker, Colorado.

My original hope was that the mission would be a Western Rite mission, but I'm open to a different outcome.

God's will be done.

Sincerely in the Holy Trinity,

Columba Silouan

New Western Rite in the OCA

2009-10-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

Greetings in Christ.

Last Sunday, news of the conference at Nashotah House between Metropolitan Jonah, Saint Vladimir's Seminary Dean Chad Hatfield, and conservative Anglican Leaders was reviewed by our parish priest at Saint Marks in Denver.

One of the major announcements during Sunday School was that Metropolitan Jonah, and by extension the OCA, is proposing a new diocese for the OCA called The Anglican Diocese.

This would be a Western Rite diocese that would mirror other ethnic dioceses that currently exist in the OCA such as the Bulgarian Diocese, the Albanian Diocese, etc. This Diocese would allow the customs and culture of Anglican converts to Holy Orthodoxy to be preserved and practiced freely.

The OCA also seems to have regional dioceses, so they have the best of both worlds, so to speak.

The new Anglican Diocese would have it's own Bishop, which would be a step forward for the Western Rite overall. The Antiochian Western Rite currently has a Dean, but not a Bishop.

Of course, this is not to say that the Diocesan Bishops Antioch has aren't excellent.

A Western Rite in the OCA would be a wonderful thing. Please keep this possibility in your prayers.

Columba Silouan

The OCA Targets Parker

2009-10-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, during the Feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I learned from local Orthodox priest Fr. David Mustian that the OCA has targeted Parker for an Orthodox mission.

The Orthodox Church in America had as it's local dean a wonderful priest named Fr. Hirsch, who died over the summer. He was the main contact for this effort.

This is an answer to my prayers, but is not without a price.

The OCA has no Western Rite and many among its ranks are not favorable towards the Western Rite.

Another local priest, Fr. John Armstrong is one of the remaining contacts for this missionary effort. I've e-mailed him once and received a kind response confirming the plans of the OCA, and called him and talked to him.

I've asked my family to make a pilgrimage to Saint Herman's Orthodox Church a couple of Sundays from now in an attempt to cultivate ties with Fr. Armstrong and other Parker residents who might attend Saint Herman's.

I also broached the subject of a Western Rite presence in any new parish, in the form of a chapel or oratory.

Please stay tuned on further developments.

Columba Silouoan.

An Elephant in the Room

2009-08-31T20:10:00.000-07:00

With the scandals rocking the Antiochian Archdiocese over the past year, much discussion is taking place about what the future might hold if things don't improve.

There is no need here to go into the details of "the recent troubles" in Antioch. But the Ochlophobist wrote something of particular interest to anyone who is a part of the Western Rite:

+Jonah, after a few speeches, has put the OCA in a situation where if they were to start a Western Rite they would get virtually all WR parishes that would have thought of going to the AOANA previously. Perhaps the OCA will not go that route, but I'm told of at least one parish and at least one entire small group of continuing Anglicans that are currently more or less holding out for an OCA option in part because they do not consider the AOANA viable at this time. It could well turn out that neither of those institutions would have become Orthodox anyway, but there is no doubt that the "energy" with regard to WR is going to leave the AOANA if this scandal continues (which virtually everyone expects) and the OCA puts another option on the table.

The statement above becomes an elephant in the room for those of us in the Western Rite and the Antiochian Archdiocese. The Diocese of Wichita, which is the diocese I worship in, has a godly bishop, Bishop Basil, but the problems at the national level are causing headaches everywhere.

I'm sure these problems can be outlasted, but in the short run real damage is being done to our witness.

It seems we have an elephant in the room, and a bull in the china shop doing much damage. Let's pray God in His mercy intervenes. God save our Archdiocese!

Columba Silouoan

The Ochlophobist Blows Away Wild at Heart

2009-08-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

Over on one of my favorite Orthodox web blogs, the Ochlophobist has taken aim at John Eldredge and the book Wild at Heart. Literally.

Here is what he said about this subject:

Ken Myers, of the Mars Hill Audio Journal, wrote an excellent essay some years ago that was an historical overview of the relationship of Evangelicals to “high” culture. He notes the influence of Francis Schaeffer on a generation of Evangelical college students, and the urgent and hasty embrace of “high” culture right at the very time that “high” culture in the West went into a rather earnest self-destruct mode. Myers then describes and catalogs the complete lack of discernment and lack of wherewithal on the part of culturally liberated Evangelicals now with a fetish for all things cultural.

One sees the result of this trend in the later manifestations of (the new & improved) Christianity Today, Book & Culture, Sojourners, the Emergent Church, and a number of Evangelical and Evangelical offshoot cultural enterprises. The desire, or the base impulse anyway, that started all of this crass and furious cultural engagement was more or a less a good one – the thought that to be an embodied Christian in a world God loved meant to relate, on some meaningful level, with culture. But that good desire went, well, pretty much nowhere, for the most part, because it was awash in unmitigated stupidity and intellectual immaturity. The whole ethos of Evangelical attempts at an engagement with culture is adolescent in the current sense of that term (perpetual and narcissistic), to the core. The few anomalies decidedly stand out. Alan Jacobs.

Wild at Heart may declare that “man is made for the purpose of actively participating in and enjoying the wonder, beauty, and the fruits of God's good creation” but this message is so drowned in a sea of effete emotionalism, and unmitigated self-consciousness, and 14 year oldish masturbative catharsis seeking, that the impulse loses virtually all merit. I would argue that the impulse is itself just a game. It establishes a pretty predictable and obvious crisis to do battle in and with, and the battle then plays out with unreserved affect and exaggerated import.

I have heard, from more than a few, how liberating this book is for those who come from certain, “restrained” backgrounds. I do not think the book actually liberates. I think the book sets up an emotional playground of manipulated catharsis in which the reader or group of readers plays out the (now) very common game of personal liberation. It reminds me of Evangelicals who become Anglicans or Catholics or Orthodox and all of a sudden find themselves allowed to drink alcohol. They (often, usually the males) make a big deal out of it. They sort of take on this new identity as “drinker.” They talk about it a lot, they think about it a lot, they feel a lot about it, they convince themselves of their new ontological status. But after three drinks it is apparent to any serious drinker that joe schmuck cannot handle the slightest buzz. They love the new self-fabricated identity far more than they do the actual act of drinking, and on top of it they are incompetent as a drinker.

This book is an icon of that sort of marketed (to self and others) image falsification. This book will not actually bring the reader, any reader, closer to the fruits of God’s creation. It will not teach one anything of importance with regard to wonder or beauty or a genuine thanksgiving for God’s fruits. It will teach one to posture about these things, but not to actually engage them. For real engagement, read Papadiamandis. Read Archimandrite Sophrony.

I stand by what I said about this book above in the thread. It is a horrible book. It is destructive to the soul. Every copy should be destroyed. It is one of many examples of a man profiting from the selling of trash in a religious context. He profits both in terms of money and in terms of his apparent need for cathartic release. Thus a whip is certainly in order.

As I have argued here before, there is a strong strand of antinomianism running in American Orthodoxy. They like the desert fathers and certain modern elders a whole lot, but their ethos strikes me as having a lot more in common with those popular distortions of Zen one sees about everywhere these days than it does anything particularly Orthodox. What I always chuckle about with regard to these folks is this - they espouse a rhetorical pacifism - their understanding of judging goes beyond not judging the man, and extends to an extreme disinclination to judge what the man does, even though what the man does might be affecting many people, even many Orthodox people. I disagree with this extension of the prohibition against judgment, but I would have a modicum of respect for it were it not for this - these same folks who are so averse to the judging of actions apparently find no problem with publicly passing judgment upon the actions of those who judge in a manner they don't like. It reminds me of those who are tolerant of everyone except those who are not tolerant of the things they are tolerant of, in which case they become quite intolerant. Spirit of the age, methinks.

My first response was as follows:

The Orthodox Tentmaker said...

Dear Ochlophobist,

Tsk, Tsk. On this one, you and I will have to respectfully disagree.

I like JE. I consider him to be a potential Orthodox Convert, and then you go ahead and do this.

I actually taught an adult Sunday School class at Saint Mark's in Denver about an Orthodox perspective on his books.

It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness. I don't think Fr. Stephen Freeman would consider this a laughing matter, and I know you respect him.

Now, if you took a gun to The Purpose Driven Life, I wouldn't bat an eyelash. But Eldredge is a potential ally and I don't think it's a good idea to alienate him.

I have every one of his books, and I'm not about to shoot them up. Kindly reconsider bro.

And of course, I'll remain a faithful reader. Although this one sorely tested my loyalty. AHEM!

Sincerely Yours,

Columba Silouan

To which our dear Ochlophobist said...

Orthotent,

Let me assure you, somethin' got lit up.

Should Fr. Stephen ask me to take this post down, I would.

If shooting JE's book does not encourage him to convert, I don't know what will. If the man actually cares to follow the principles and stylized posture he presents on the surface of his work, then I would think he might be inclined to understand this post. If not, well, he sells enough books to get by with the "good life" - so what does it matter?

But thank you, my friend, for being willing to look past my worrisome idiosyncrasies and prejudices. I need all of the slack I can get.

So now I have a ton of things to write about this evening,

(and I'm sure, a few subsequent evenings).

I'll start out by saying that later, I did chuckle a bit at the picture. I appreciated the male humor. Nevertheless, as someone who really likes John Eldredge, I feel the need to address some things.

As a convert to Orthodoxy, I try to view all subjects through the prism of my faith. Orthodoxy comes first, and all other beliefs from my past life as a heterodox Christian come second. Nevertheless, I don't reject out of hand all the good things I was exposed to in my life prior to Orthodoxy. I believe God was at work, even before my conversion.

Dr. Francis Schaeffer's influence was one of the stepping stones that led to my conversion. And I know from one of JE's monthly newsletters from Ransomed Heart that he is one of JE's main models.

Ortho made a good point about drinking above. I'm afraid that I, indeed have been guilty of the attitude he describes about that subject, at least.

But there is a danger for us converts. That danger is to hold bitterness in our hearts towards any of the people who might of helped to drive us out of our former church affiliations and into Orthodoxy.

There is also a danger of envying the successes of our heterodox brothers and sisters. Och mentioned that John Eldredge lives "the good life." I don't fault JE for this. He's worked hard for everything he has. Is it his problem if we Orthodox can't get our own acts together and become as influential in this culture as he is?

There are many refugees in Orthodoxy who disagreed as a matter of principle with Charismatics and Evangelicals. Some of us have actually suffered rejection and outright mistreatment and disrespect from these people. I'm included among that number.

Nevertheless, not everything those who have rejected us or our interests have done in their own attempts to live out their Christianity has been negative.

I've learned many Orthodox things from Charismatics and Evangelicals. I first had to convert away from fundamentalist Baptist theology to Charismatic (with a small "C") theology before I was able to finally convert to Holy Orthodoxy.

We can't return mistreatment for mistreatment. We are certainly free to criticize JE and his work, but in my opinion we must maintain a good attitude when we do so. The Holy Scriptures tell us that when we say "Raca" or "You fool" to our brothers, whether heterodox or Orthodox, we are in danger of the "hell of fire."

I know The Ochlophobist meant well. I think his views are a tad overboard on this matter, however. JE has many Orthodox leanings. Now, if only we could give him a good push all the way into Orthodoxy!

I plan to address this subject in greater detail, as time permits.

Blessings in the Holy Trinity,

Columba Silouan

Pastoral Care and the Crisis of Power

2009-07-16T19:20:00.000-07:00

The following comments are by Archimandrite Touma (Bitar), abbot of the monastery of Saint Silouan at Douma. These comments speak to the recent troubles in the Antiochian Archdiocese that began in the winter of 2009. This was originally posted on the Notes on Arab Orthodoxy blog and on The Ochlophobist blog. These are some of the finest words yet written on the subject.

In the See of Antioch, at the current time, there is a confrontation, a crisis of opinion, and painful consequences may follow. Are the bishops, within an eparchy that is headed by a patriarch or a metropolitan as an ecclesial administrative unit, bishops over a territory and a faithful people, or are they auxiliary bishops (asaqifa musa’idun)?

The traditional position, within the Orthodox ecclesiological framework, makes the bishops within a single eparchy brothers and the primate (mallak) of the eparchy first of all the first among equals and secondarily the head of a local council, governed by principles and canons and made up of the bishops of that eparchy. This assumes that each of them oversees a territory and a people. In principle, bishops are not titular or auxiliaries, dependent upon the metropolitan or the patriarch.

But, historical events came about in past eras that divided some bishops from their territories and their flocks, as happened in the Byzantine Empire after the fall of some of its regions to the Ottomans. It was hoped at the time that exiled or refugee bishops would return to their regions. However, matters became more complicated and situations worsened and such bishops found themselves permanently exiled from their flocks. Or, the dioceses which they had overseen in principle were emptied of their Orthodox people.

With the passing of time, this inaugurated the custom of consecrating titular bishops who, at first, longed for military or political turnarounds that would return an Orthodox presence to their former regions. When the years went by and the winds did not blow as the boats wished, hopes changed to almost a formal etiquette, and the custom became firmly entrenched of choosing titular bishops who quickly became helpers (musa’idun) or auxiliaries (mu’awinun) to some of the actual primates of the eparchies, dependent on the patriarch. This gave birth to an unintended custom, without any ecclesiological base. However, it became accepted and enshrined in practice insofar as the ancient traditional practice among us of each bishop being the bishop of a people and a territory into decline in practice. With it, the page closed on local synods within one eparchy and it sufficed to have synods on the level of patriarchates or the equivalent.

Some circles, today, hold fast to the contingent practice over ecclesiological theology because it has become widespread and followed for many years. The temporary became permanent. Others hold to intellectual principles of ecclesiological theology and hope to rectify the current historical deviation in this situation and to return dioceses to their traditional function, especially since there exists a need, here and there, for more bishops of territory and people so that we do not go too far in making the episcopate in general only an administrative, ritual function. The bishop is the pastor par excellence and must remain so in practice.

Between those who seek this or that line of thought, today, there is confrontation and debate. It does not appear that it will result in a speedy understanding in the foreseeable future and it is to be feared that it will grow into an impasse and from there into something with an unpraiseworthy outcome.

How to get out of this dilemma?

The answer is not easy. However, if we were to put forward the reasons for this crisis, we do not find it to be simply ecclesiological or canonical in nature, but also historical, temperamental, and psychological. We have become accustomed to such with the passing of generations! It is not easy for those who have become accustomed to sole power in their eparchies and to dealing with titular bishops almost like deacons to have partners in power within the lifetime in which they work. Let us say it frankly: the problem is the problem of a power struggle! Few are prepared to let go of their prerogatives! The issue, at the base, is not ,as it is put forward, a theological issue and it is not a pastoral issue. What determines the traditional or the ecclesiological, theological or the canonical argument, at the basic level, is the holding on of each of the concerned parties to the power which they think rightly belongs to themselves and not to others. Each one brings forward this or that evidence, in reality, because it is convenient for him. If we were to hold fast to ecclesiological theology and the traditional canons, in the matter before us, then we would have to openly express only a small number of the positions we implicitly adopt or to which we consent and which are not in agreement with [Orthodox] principles.

The question of the diaspora, especially North America, is today in our opinion the foundation of the current problem and what brought to light the intellectual divide which had long remained hidden. The status of any of the Orthodox churches, the See of Antioch included, is not sound there, either from an ecclesiological or a canonical standpoint. By what right do we hold on to the dependence of the Antiochian Archdiocese in North America on us? That eparchy is no longer at the stage of just being sent out. We helped it during its beginnings, but now it is mature, and more mature than us here in its theology and its learning and its organization. By what right, then, is it assumed that it should be under our care? Is it because some of its people have left us? So what? Generations and generations have grown up there for years and the people in those lands have become American. Is it because there is a sentimental heritage which ties us to them and them to us, or because there is something like nationalist feelings which hold us to them and them to us so that they must be subject to our local ecclesial structure? This has no relation in any case to ecclesiological thought nor to the ancient ecclesiological practice which has come down to us from the Apostles and saints. Thus the practical theology which we use in this matter is faulty and unacceptable if we were to be fair and correct.

And what is to be said about the canonical disorders that we’re up to our ears in over there?

The situation of all the Orthodox eparchies dependent on mother churches in North America is uncanonical. There is one Orthodox church in those lands whose situation is sound and canonical: the American Orthodox Church (OCA). This alone is independent and autocephalous and this is de-facto recognized by the other Orthodox eparchies. Its recognition, formal or implicit, by the eparchies depending on mother churches is clear and frank confirmation that the status of these eparchies is uncanonical and unsound. If these eparchies and mother churches on which they depend were to be logical with themselves and consistent with Orthodox ecclesiological and canonical thought, in the true sense of the word, then they would belong to the OCA or would at least enter into an understanding with it and the thorny crisis of the Orthodox presence there, theologically and canonically, would end. The simplest position and the most sound is for us to leave the Orthodox in North America to themselves and to encourage them to arrange their affairs themselves! We and the other mother churches are the ones who are complicating their affairs!

Naturally, there are those who claim that the problem of the diaspora is, to a great extent, a problem of nationalist sentiment. The sentiments exist, but not to the degree that is thought. The Church in the past has dealt with nationalism-- in Constantinople, in Antioch, and elsewhere-- and she is able to deal with it in every time and place whenever proper ecclesial sentiment abounds. But if nationalistic notions eclipse concern of the Church, then this is a dangerous event and a serious deviation because we are no longer a church possessing one faith, but rather a group of tribes. The truth is that the mother churches hold on to their eparchies in North America because they do not want to be stripped of their prerogatives and their benefits and their power there. The issue of money plays an important role in this matter and likewise does political and ecclesial influence. None of this has any connection to the Church in the exact meaning of the word, not to her theology, nor to her canons, nor to pastoral care for her people nor to her spirituality.

I will return to the subject of the bishops and I will say that the hidden cause behind the debate going on between those who hold to the concept of titular, helper bishops and the concept of local bishops over a people and a territory is, in reality, related to the passions. There is struggle for power, in the worldly sense, going on, and the arguments put forth call for each to claim his own power and leadership. But we have no power to receive, rather service to give for the Church of Christ and the People of God. For this reason, if we were to be just, then we must, first and last, to put pastoral care for the People of God before ourselves and before any other standard. The struggle for power going on today is, unfortunately, on account of this pastoral care! The single legitimate and acceptable question in this context is: what is most appropriate for the care of the Orthodox faithful here and there?

For this reason it is to be hoped that the interaction of the metropolitan with the bishops within a single eparchy, wherever they may be and especially right now in North America, will be first of all with goodness, love, humility of heart, and magnanimity. The issue of the episcopate, which has long been outside the genuine ecclesiology, will not be solved by emptying it of its pastoral content and enshrining its titularity, and not by, in response, idolatrously harping on the application of cannons but rather by the metropolitan embracing the bishops as brothers, and the bishops the metropolitan. Calmly and deliberately we will become able to solve our issues in cooperation and simplicity and flexibility, relying on [Orthodox] principles, and we will raise up the People of God in truth so that God will be glorified in us. The way of dividing, subjugating with decisions from on high, and debasing is of no avail. It will only alienate and create factions and lead to schism! I say this and it is to be feared that we are in a delicate and dangerous situation. Orthodox America will not be treated in the ruinous way we are accustomed to in our lands here! If we do not leave our selfishness and our pride and build each other up with kindness and generosity and put the good of the Church and its unity and theological principles ahead of any personal consideration, whatever it may be, then worse is to come!

Archimandrite Touma (Bitar)
Abbot of the Monastery of St. Silouan the Athonite-- Douma
Sunday July 12, 2009

Thoughts about the Western Rite

2009-07-15T19:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder if the Western Rite in its current form is all it should be.

One of the thoughts I've had frequently is why the approach to a "Western" from of Eastern Orthodoxy didn't just take the following approach:

Start with a King James English language version of the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom and build western practices around it. The core Liturgy would be all the same words with collects and other texts added around that skeleton. Then add Western Hymnody and you have a Western Rite closer to what the Eastern Rite Orthodox use.

The texts to the Eastern Rite liturgy combined with the styles and forms of the west would be a powerful combination.

I wonder sometimes why no one ever thought to try this approach?

At any rate, I love the Liturgy of Saint Tikhon and the Book of Common Prayer, but some of the most vocal critics of the current Western Rite liturgies focus their criticisms on this Liturgy the most.

So were we wise in adapting it for Orthodox use if doing so has proven to be so controversial?

I would be able to grow quite comfortable with a new Western Rite liturgy that had at it's core the Eastern Rite texts combined with Western forms of ritual, music and the like.

Things to ponder on a Wednesday evening.

Columba Silouan

Get to Know the Original

2009-07-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

I've just found a "Widget" on the website for Saint Andrew's Orthodox Church, located in Oklahoma. This is the coolest thing ever! After my "shock and awe" from seeing what the ACNA is doing with evangelism efforts, it was a real shot in the arm to see something this innovative coming from our Orthodox brothers and sisters.

Maybe there's hope yet in our own efforts to reach others with Holy Orthodoxy.

Pax,

Columba Silouan

Reflections on the ACNA

2009-06-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

Well, it's now official. The Anglican Church of North America, with it's inaugural assembly is officially launched.

One of the guest speakers at this event is Metropolitan Jonah of the OCA. It is my hope that he will generate interest in Holy Orthodoxy among many.

There is much that is admirable about this new Anglican province, but it differs from Holy Orthodoxy in important respects.

While Orthodoxy unreservedly acknowledges the Seven Ecumenical Councils in their entirety, the ACNA accepts the first four, and the Christological statements of the fifth, sixth and seven Councils. One would guess that this would allow ACNA Anglicans to be favorable towards the use of Icons and Images, because they are aspects of the Christology of the Seventh Ecumenical Council.

The Orthodox Church holds Scripture and Holy Tradition to be part of the one revelation of Jesus Christ, while the ACNA puts Holy Scripture alone as the final authority on matters of faith and doctrine.

The ACNA limits the office of Bishop to those who are male, like Holy Orthodoxy. Unlike Holy Orthodoxy, there is limited acceptance of female priests and deacons permitted in some quarters of the province. In other quarters of the province, this practice is not allowed.

The standards for worship will differ between the ACNA and Western Rite Orthodoxy, not to mention with the wider Orthodox world. My guess is that the majority of ACNA Anglicans will worship in a more contemporary manner than what would be acceptable in Holy Orthodoxy.

One area where I expect the ACNA to continue to outdo us in Holy Orthodoxy is in the area of Evangelism and Church Planting. I hope we can gain ground in this area.

I have some unique feelings about this new Anglican endeavor, since I was once a member of one of the sub-groups that make up this new province, the Anglican Mission in the Americas.

I wonder what my life would be like right now if I had stayed in the AMIA.

I think I would have been constantly frustrated by the lack of interest in traditional Anglican worship. Thankfully, I'm not faced with this issue in the Antiochian Archdiocese.

It is unavoidable that there will be ties and frequent interaction with ACNA Anglicans and Western Rite Orthodox Christians. Those in the ACNA are "our country cousins" of a sort and many of them experienced similar battles with the Episcopal Church. But those of us who converted to Holy Orthodoxy went down a different path.

I still believe our Holy Orthodox faith is THE TRUTH and anything else, even if very close, is less than the truth.

So it's good that my family and I are where we are.

This being said, I firmly believe a large percentage of ACNA Anglicans have a closeness to the same God I worship.

Christ is in our midst,

Columba Silouan

Saint Ambrose Orthodox Church, Revisited

2009-06-21T14:13:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon and Happy Father's Day everyone!

The Antiochian crisis over auxiliary bishops appears to be over, with a favorable ruling from the Holy Synod stating that the Episcopate is one, and that a Bishop is a Bishop, period. There is no such thing as an "auxiliary bishop."

At first glance, it appears that the decision is a bit of a split decision. No, there is no such thing as an "assistant bishop," but the existing bishops were still said to be those who assist the Metropolitan in the administration of the Archdiocese.

At any rate, during the crisis, one of the silliest edicts that came down was a prohibition of public prayers at the Divine Liturgy for any bishop but the Metropolitan and the Patriarch, unless the "auxiliary bishop" was present in the parish at the time.

Of course, most of the Priests thumbed their noses at this unwise and unnecessary edict. I say, rightly so. All of our bishops need prayer all the time.

I learned from observing this to respect the office of bishop, but not necessarily every lame-brained decision coming down from the individuals who hold the office.

I've also come to the conclusion that it's time to move forward with the dream of finding new convert families in the Parker area in the hopes that an eventual Western Rite mission can be established.

The benefits of establishing new parishes are increased revenues for the new retreat center and for Lancelot Andrewes Press, and a much greater readership for our materials. Other benefits are obvious: Increased conversions, vital parishes, and the blessings of obeying the Great Commission.

A local priest responded to a question I offered about an exception to the 60-mile rule in the following manner:

Benedictions,

I cannot do anything about the 60 mile rule. I can, once some of the
dust settles on the Diocesan bishops crisis, offer an opinion under
the best circumstances and get a response, maybe, from Bp Basil and
that, so far as I am concerned would be the road map. However, a
'mission station' would still need layers of approval further up the
hierarchy at some time. My sense is the whole scheme would float on my
reputation and personal contact with Metropolitan Philip and
Chancellor Kevorkian and Bp Basil. So far all that is working pretty
well.

A Road Map is designed to be followed to a destination.

I took the following from this response:

Maintain a good relationship with the established priests in our area at all times. Be obedient to their leadership and guidance.

Go ahead with dreaming and planning for an eventual mission. Start the work.

Don't do anything that might embarrass our local priests or harm their reputations.

Once enough people and resources are garnered, put the ball in the court of our local priests and let them carry that ball to the Bishop, the Vicar General, and on to the Metropolitan.

We live and serve in a heirarchical church, and acquiring permissions is just part of things with us. As long as everything is done decently and in good order, God can open doors no man can shut.

So if we build it correctly and bathe the endeavor in prayer, perhaps the approval will come.

In other words, do the work and then cross the bridge of gaining the proper approvals when we come to it.

Worst case-scenario: Generate interest and conversions to Holy Orthodoxy and if no approval comes, pack out Saint Marks.

But I believe God can move mountains, and there is no harm in trying to brush back the "60 mile rule."

Pax Christi,

Columba Silouan

The Recent Troubles in the Antiochian Archdiocese

2009-06-10T19:46:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, the issue of the American Bishops being reduced to Auxiliary Status came at a really bad time. The Archdiocese is growing and new Western Rite Parishes are joining from the Charismatic Episcopal Church, an organization I spent a year in myself.

In addition to the new parishes joining en-masse, here in Colorado we've seen the publishing of a new Book of Common Prayer, and the continuing progress of the new retreat center in Southern Colorado.

Why now, when enthusiasm is building and exciting things are happening did this unwelcome interruption occur?

I think first and foremost, this controversy is a spiritual attack from the enemy of our souls. My hope is that, as often is the case, the devil will overreach and Christ and His Church will emerge stronger and better for these travails.

I have prayerful hopes that the trip of the American Bishops to Damascus to meet with Patriarch Ignatius will bear good fruit.

Pax Christ,

Columba Silouan

Free at Last! My New I-Mac and Me

2009-06-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

At long last, I have a new and powerful tool at my disposal. After following the Dave Ramsey plan, my wife and I saved up enough emergency fund and living expenses money to allow for the purchase of a new computer.

My old PC, complete with Windows 98 finally got to the point where my virus protection would no longer update because the operating system was too old and not supported.

This new machine will allow for better and faster blogging and many other things. It's a powerful tool that I would like to use to promote Eastern Orthodoxy.

Now, if I could just think up a name for my new machine.

Blessings,

Columba Silouan

Latest Hopes and Dreams

2009-01-25T16:27:00.000-08:00

Hello, fair readers! It's time for a "Hopes and Dreams" update.

Here's where I'm at at the moment. I see a new approach to Orthodox Evangelism in my mind's eye, and it goes something like this:

Personally speaking: Continue to take steps towards increased Reading and Acolyting experience, perhaps culminating in "the next step." Enjoy this process and don't rush things.

Discipleship: Start the small group Orthodox Bible Study soon, and grow it to the point where a mid-week praise and worship session / hymn-sing can be included. Eventually institute praying with each other. Throw in the best elements from protestant "cell groups."

When enough growth occurs, start up "men's groups" along the lines of John Eldredge or Marked Men for Christ.

Evangelism: Start helping one of my fellow parishoners with lay readers services down here in Parker.

Make the new goal absolutely packing out Saint Marks Orthodox Church to the point where a new mission in our area becomes necessary.

Methodology: The way we gain new members is to be a regional AND loyal sub-group of the larger group with our own unique emphasis and philosophy. We "hang out" together, just like those members of the so-called "house church" down the street from my wife and I, but we always convene at Saint Mark's on Sundays and we continue to give our time, talent and treasure faithfully to our mother parish.

In my opinion, some of the people we draw this way will stay with Saint Marks. They won't want the hassle of a new mission. But some of the most energetic will want a new mission when Saint Marks just can't hold all the people anymore.

The end result will be TWO vibrant Orthodox parishes.

Models to look at: I think the major way Saint Mark's can grow numerically is to take the approach that Emmanuel Orthodox Church and Saint Stephen's Orthodox Church has taken. We maintain our liturgical and musical standards but also allow for additional expressions and activities in our common life.

We do our uniquely Orthodox alternative to the Vatican II model: Always preserving the Divine Liturgy and its Holy integrity, while practicing the best things that we did when we were protestant christians "on the side", so to speak.

If we had a vital and dynamic small groups / cell groups ministry, I think many more people would strongly consider Holy Orthodoxy as a spiritual home.

And I plan to state UP FRONT that one of the goals is church growth and new missions, provided we fill up and improve life at Saint Mark's first.

This small groups ministry can bridge the gap for new converts, giving them the encouragement they are used to from their past traditions, allowing them to "catch their breath" figuratively speaking in doing the (for many of them) hard work of Orthodox worship and living. We practice a rigorous form of Christianity that many just aren't used to. One thing we aren't is "laid-back." Converting to Orthodoxy is an adjustment for a great many converts. We can help make that adjustment a much smoother one.

Our religion is "the Maximalist form of Christianity." Let's live like it and go after new families.

I believe Saint Marks is a special place, and that makes it something I want to see duplicated.

So "The Dream" is back, but with this new focus I've written about here.

Let's overcome the obstacles in our way and convert both lost people and heterodox christians, bringing them into the blessings of Holy Orthodoxy.

Saint Mark's first, then in God's good time, Saint Ambrose!

Forgive me,

Columba Siluoan.

Restarting the Bible Study: Why the delay?

2009-01-25T16:19:00.000-08:00

As I've stated previously, I really wish and intend to get what was formerly the Orthodox Men's Small Group Bible Study re-ignited.

I know I keep saying I will get this done, but it hasn't happened yet and here's why:

I said earlier that I supposedly have a new job with Dish Network. Since the post that mentioned this possibility was published, I've been through a third interview, a series of assessments, and I'm still waiting to see if I have the job or not.

I've also applied for positions with Citi Financial, Homestead Technologies, and a company called Pro-Source.

This second bout with unemployment has been a real roller coaster ride. Add on top of this a bit of the wind being taken out of my sails by the Lord interrupting my plans to get an Orthodox Mission planted in Parker, and you get my lack of progress in re-starting the Bible Study.

I've just been too sapped and drained lately to get the ball rolling.

But the good news is I continue to gain experience with acolyting and reading at Saint Marks, and the more I do this, the more peace I'm feeling. Doing these things at church has been a peaceful and fulfilling island in this storm of career change.

So yes, I really want to see the Orthodox Bible Study resume soon. But until I get something nailed down on the job front, I'm finding that I'm just too distracted.

I think this job situation will be resolved soon. When it is, I will revisit the Bible Study at that time.

Forgive me,

Columba Siluoan

House Churches: Modern vs. Ancient

2009-01-25T15:50:00.000-08:00

One of my readers posted a comment on one of my past posts about restarting the small group bible study. In her comment, she provided a link to an article about "House Churches."

Here is the link: http://www.kencollins.com/glossary/architecture.htm

This is an important article by Ken Collins. Evidently Pastor Collins is a member of the Disciples of Christ, which is a protestant denomination more favorable to traditional church set-ups, which makes him kind of an ally to traditionally minded Orthodox church planters.

My wife and I have had a positive experience with one of these modern, so-called "house churches" down the street from us in our very own neighborhood. We attended a Thursday evening class called "Financial Peace University" by protestant author Dave Ramsey. Mr. Ramsey also has a show on Fox Business Network, and the class was excellent. Ramsey is a deeply committed protestant christian who emphasizes getting in control of your finances so you can give money away to others and to your local church.

I believe these well-meaning folks think that one of the best ways to "do church" is to meet relevant and urgent needs that people have in our modern culture. Providing the Financial Peace University class at their homes was no doubt seen by them as one of the deepest ways they could reach out to non-believers. And this approach is a good idea, if you pair it with involvement in an actual Church with a capital "C."

I've been wishing that the three families of this "house church" who live in three paired homes adjacent to each other (and with shared backyards) really knew what an ancient "house church" was like. If only these couples knew the true facts, perhaps they could help us pack Saint Marks while continuing their activities at the same time, thus making new missions necessary.

I believe their approach can bring many people into the christian faith. But we need to bring people to the Christian Faith, too.

These three families are salt-of-the-earth types of people who really love Jesus Christ. They all come from a Southern Baptist background. I pray and wish they will become Orthodox Christians and join this really great institution Christ founded called the Holy Orthodox Church.

We could sure use more people like these earnest and well-meaning, but misguided folks. Bible studies and fellowship in a house church without the sacraments fall short of what Christ intends for us as Christians. I know God is working through their efforts but He intends so much more!

They are settling for something good, but not God's best. And sometimes the merely good is enemy of the best.

As Orthodox Christians, I wonder what these great and sincere folks could accomplish within one of our parishes. Y'all please pray for these three couples, that someday the blessed Trinity will woo them into our Holy Church. The fruit that would result would be very significant. Joining their holy zeal with our holy structure would be a dynamic mix.

I guess it's time for some "friendship evangelism" on our part.

(This will probably take a while).

Pax,

Columba Silouan

Transgressive Liturgy. An Analysis of the Article

2009-01-12T20:40:00.000-08:00

In our Adult Sunday School class, we're studying an article by James Hitchcock. In this article, the "therapuetic mentality" and its affect on American culture and Roman Catholic worship is addressed.

The controversy over Christianity and Psychology isn't a new one. I had a painful round of this myself when I was a young man at Biola University.

I remember well the book by Bob and Diedra Bobgan called "Psychoheresy." I remember well the "Nothing Buttery" approach to Christian counseling which was "use only the Bible." I remember books by Paul Vietz like "Psychology as Religion, the Cult of Self-Worship."

I also remember the other camp: Rosemead School of Psychology. The Integration of Faith and Learning. "Spoiling the Egyptians," and so on.

One of the primary psychological schools of thought used at Rosemead was the Rogerian model. So the counselling used was referred to as "neo-Rogerian." They also used "free-association" therapy. They didn't use the "Behaviorist" approach like others at the time (Dr. D. James Dobson comes to mind here). Instructors at Rosemead referred to all the founders of modern psychology, including Sigmund Frued.

Rosemead and those sympathetic to the school were strongly opposed by other protestant factions like devotees of Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church and The Master's College. Additional student factions who opposed or who frowned on this mixture of "christianity" and psychotherapy were members of The Navigators on campus and students who were members of a local Pentecostal church called "Believer's Fellowship."

The controversy grew so intense that those who opposed any mixture of christianity and psychology refused to eat with members of the other faction, considering them to be on the road to "final apostasy."

In this atmosphere, anyone with real personal problems was going to get creamed by the one side and confused by the other side.

It may well be a good idea for Orthodox Christians to be strongly opposed to the field of pychology, the so-called "therapuetic culture." But filtering psychological analysis and ideas through the lense of Orthodoxy might also be useful if we can keep the influence of psychology from changing any aspect of our Orthodox faith in the process. Many say that psychology is good at labelling problems and issues but impotent when it comes to real and lasting solutions.

And then there is the matter of psychology v.s. psychiatry, or so called physical diseases and chemical imbalances that affect the brain. My personal opinion about PHYSICAL disorders such as "Bi-Polar" disorder, for instance is that they should be treated with the best medicines available under the care of the best physicians available. Bi-Polar disorder is a PSYCHIATRIC issue, not a "therapuetic" issue.

It's a common error to confuse Phychology with Psychiatry, and this error should be beyond Orthodox Christians.

Nevertheless any "Bi-Polar" person who is an Orthodox Christian is still responsible to resist the evil passions of his or her mood swings and thereby lessen the extent and effect of this disorder. No person is a helpless pawn. God has given us the gift of Free Will, even if that will is weakened by illness. Orthodox Christians believe that no one has been created with an immutable nature. Everyone can change for the better. Total Depravity and Double Presdestination are protestant ideas we Orthodox don't suscribe to at all. Nothing is inevitable when you are an Orthodox Christian.

Resisting Bi-Polar mood swings through medicine and the disciplines of our Holy Faith is the responsible and fully human thing to do, and becoming truly human is what Orthodox Christianity is all about.

In future posts as time permits, I may delve into greater detail about this thought provoking Transgressive Liturgy article we're studying. There are many wonderful thoughts expressed within this article. But it is also very hard-hitting.

Again, in my humble opinion, you draw more bees with honey than with vinegar.

We need to do our duty, as the article suggests but as John Eldredge has said there are ways to do our duty without killing our hearts in the process.

Our adult Sunday School teacher recently stated that true happiness is a by-product of doing our Christian duty, as the Transgressive Liturgy article suggests. I found this to be a most agreeable addition on his part, softening the hard edges of the article a bit.

So I believe a sound approach is to resist the abuses of the therapuetic culture without losing our hearts in the process. This is the essence of being "watchful" as our teacher admonished us to do in the best tradition of "hesychast" Orthodox spirituality.

Forgive me,

Columba Silouan

It's Not Rocket Science, Folks!

2009-01-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

In this past Sunday's adult Sunday School class, the subject of Orthodox Church Planting was raised by our teacher. In the class, he commented on how difficult it is to plant Orthodox Churches. He mentioned that there is a new family of our parish where the husband is being assigned by his employer to Basalt, Colorado, and that there are precious few Orthodox parishes in that region of the state.

There is one small OCA mission in a mountain town less than an hour away, and one Greek Orthodox mission in Grand Junction somewhere.

Besides that, there are scores of churches of other types and kinds in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, you name it, they're there.

Our teacher went on to mention how an Orthodox Western Rite mission near Oklahoma City became "too successful." The local Greek Orthodox parish became threatened when families were drawn to the Western Rite parish, in effect making the new parish "the enemy." The opposition from this parish eventually led to the demise of the Western Rite mission.

Please!

It's not Rocket Science, Folks!

Granted, it may be a bit more difficult to plant an Orthodox Mission than your standard protestant parish, but we make it way too hard on ourselves.

First of all, the rivalry between Western Rite and Byzantine Rite Orthodox needs to be laid to rest. We have way too much work to do in bringing America to Eastern Orthodoxy! As I've said before, we need to focus on being so vitally Orthodox that it doesn't matter which rite we practice. Our best defense needs to be deep spirituality and griping and back-biting back and forth on how "Orthodox" we are based on what rite we belong too is NOT SPIRITUAL BUT CARNAL.

Also, IT DEMONSTRATES HOW FAR WE STILL HAVE TO GO WHEN ANY ONE OF OUR ORTHODOX PARISHES IS THREATENED BY THE SUCCESS OF ANY OTHER PARISH OR MISSION.

It demonstrates a lack of vision and a smallness of mind when we jealously guard the turf of our parish or our worship tradition within Orthodoxy. There are enough potential converts to go around FOR BOTH RITES, believe me! America needs to be re-evangelized and we have just the church to do this IF we don't shoot ourselves in both feet!

The fact that we have multiple rites makes us truly CATHOLIC, as opposed to merely sectarian, localized, tribal schismatics.

Our focus needs to be outward! We need to quit our Orthodox navel-gazing and reach our world with all that is good and life-giving about our Holy Orthodox faith.

For starters, each one of our parishes, whether Western Rite or Eastern Rite needs to have thriving Sunday School programs, small group Bible Studies and Orthodox Book Studies, and times outside of the Divine Liturgy where the life of the community can be deepened. Every positive thing our protestant brothers and sisters practice that isn't contrary to Holy Orthodox faith needs to be available in our parishes! Orthodoxy is not less than Protestantism, it is more!

And this also goes for every positive thing our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters practice.

AS THE BEE GATHERS NECTAR FROM THE FLOWERS TO MAKE HONEY, SO WE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS GATHER EVERY GOOD THING FROM OUR FATHER'S CREATION TO WIN SOULS.

I don't know which Orthodox Saint said this, but I remember Father Evan Armatas of Saint Spyridon (formerly of Saint Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church) using this quote on many occasions when I was a catechumen and when I was under his spiritual direction.

If we have vital parishes that are full of the life of the Holy Trinity, growth will happen. We won't have to compete for the scraps!

One challenge we have is to grow our home parishes to the point where they are packed to the rafters, thus FORCING us to plant new Orthodox missions.

There needs to be less cursing of the darkness and more lighting of the candili! A prime example of this is the constant criticism I hear of the Roman Catholic Vatican II Council. We've spent far too much time as Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christians criticizing Vatican II and far too little time promoting a distinctive MISSIONAL alternative!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, there are two new Western Rite Orthodox parishes that recently entered Holy Orthodoxy from the Charismatic Episcopal Church.

These two parishes are finding ways of reaching our western culture with things that go beyond which rite is practiced.

Emmanuel Orthodox Catholic Church and Saint Stephens Orthodox Catholic Church in Massachusetts have found an alternative to the Vatican II model that the rest of us would do good to study. Please remember: THESE NEW PARISHES ARE MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING OF THE ANTIOCHIAN ARCHDIOCESE.

WITHOUT VIOLATING THE DIVINE LITURGY, they have nevertheless found a way to allow praise and worship music into the life of their parish communities. Doing this is a prime example of reaching the American culture THAT ACTUALLY EXISTS in the United States instead of just talking about it.

In addition to finding an acceptable way to use praise music, each parish has incorporated all the best practices from their previous affiliation into their newly formed Orthodox parishes. This is a bold move that closes the gap between our communion and communions that currently outdo us in the evangelistic department.

We have the correct theology. But sometimes heterodox parishes "do the church" better than we do, and it doesn't have to be this way.

Sometimes we become unbalanced as Eastern and Western Rite Orthodox Christians, focusing on our prayer books and our liturgies to the neglect of living our Christian lives, which the practicing of the liturgy is supposed to facilitate.

Promoting the finest liturgy and music for use in our Masses has its wonderful place, and I'm all in favor of it, but we need to keep a firm hold on the one thing without letting go of all the other things.

Let me repeat something I've said before: If we don't compete for souls and "market share," other traditions will fill in the vacuum we create with inferior forms of Christian spirituality to the detriment and loss of us all.

Many potential Orthodox conversions will never happen if heterodox Christians "settle" for "less than 100% christianities" that nevertheless are more zealous than we are.

If there are obstacles to the growth of our parishes, let's address these head-on, all the while not compromising our standards. Let's not moan and groan about "how difficult it is." It's all too easy for us to give ourselves excuses.

We can be more innovative without being spiritual innovators in the negative sense, and here I'm thinking about innovators of the liberal Episcopalian variety.

Saint Paul said that he became all things to all men that he might win them all to Christ.

Are we allowed to do less than this canonized saint and apostle?

DARE we do less than he did?

Holy Paul,pray for us sinners, that we might be saved!

Forgive me,

Columba Silouan

Change in Plans (again)

2008-12-30T14:40:00.000-08:00

Well, it looks like I have a job with Echostar / Dish Network. I went through two interviews and was sent for a drug screen.

Thanks be to God.

I've started to read Walking with God by John Eldredge. I see parallel things going on in my life as compared to his in the following way:

At the end of Labor Day weekend in 2008, Eldredge was thrown from his horse and both his wrists were broken. This effectively put him out of commission for a good long while. This demonstrated to him that God is in control of our lives and not us.

This second layoff has impacted my life as an unwelcome interruption as well.

But God seems to be changing my heart and my perspective on a number of things.

I've been pedal to the medal gung ho about getting a mission started in Parker. This layoff kicked that to the side, just like the layoff in 2007.

In addition, I learned this past Sunday that my home parish has an interest in planting a mission in Colorado Springs, but that Parker is "too close."

There seems to be a 60 mile radius limit or something like that.

Now, I can understand setting up a distance limit, but I disagree strongly with one that large.

Nevertheless, any potential mission in Parker might take a great deal longer than I previously thought. For one thing, a friend of mine from Saint Mark's pointed out that he and his wife don't wish to be involved because doing so would uproot their children from their friends at church.

And this is an excellent point. My kids won't be leaving our nest for 12 years in the case of my oldest, to 15 years in the case of my youngest. Taking them away from Saint Marks would disrupt things for them.

So even if I succeed in generating interest for a new mission, I really shouldn't think about leaving my home parish until my kids go off to college.

It seems that God is more interested in my spiritual development and work at Saint Marks.

I was blessed this past Sunday to be "drafted" to perform Reader duties for the Mass. I was also honored to be given the task of Crucifier as well.

Perhaps its more important to God right now that I focus on His call on my life as a Reader, future Sub-Deacon, Deacon and Priest? I know there is no guarantee that I will ever progress past the point I'm currently at, but if this ordained ministry idea is His idea, then it will move forward. I'll need to be prepared properly.

I know my past two years in the Eastern Orthodox Church has changed me for the better. Just ask my most important and honest critic: my wife.

Like John Eldredge, God was speaking to me this Sunday and through the events of the past week. I was suffering from a crisis of confidence and was prepared to withdraw for a while due to the layoff at BMC West. I was specifically going to avoid Reader duties until I was employed again and doing well.

Instead, Brother David send me an e-mail on Saturday to my other e-mail address that I was on for Reading duties. I didn't get that e-mail until after Sunday was over. Instead, David repeated his request during Sunday School at church, and I said "yes" and went and suited up.

God was indeed fatherly through all of this, and having me carry the cross during the Mass was also a good reminder to die to myself and my specific plans in favor of His better plans.

I'm not totally giving up on the idea of Saint Ambrose Orthodox Church, but I'm seeing that it may be postponed, literally for years.

And I'm okay with this.

Now, Orthodox Parker isn't so much about a new mission, it's about me being Orthodox in Parker: Orthodox in my family life, at my new job, and at my home parish, Saint Marks.

I will attempt to get the Bible Study going again, but the focus will be to simply build up the flock at Saint Marks and not to launch out on my own with the new mission idea.

So, I'll continue my blog, but change the focus.

For now, Rest In Peace, Saint Ambrose Orthodox Church. It's time to build Saint Marks with a South Group that can study God's word and fellowship, making Saint Marks better and more healthy.

Pax Christi,

Columba Silouan.

Ouch! Another Layoff. Prayers, please . . .

2008-12-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

Due to the economic downturn / plunge, I was placed on Temporary Curtailment Leave from my new company, BMC West on November the 24th.

My benefits stop at the end of February, provided I call in every other Tuesday.

The chances for a recall to work are slim and none.

Fortunately, I have two interviews tomorrow (12/16/2008).

Please pray that the Lord provides me with a new job soon.

Sincerely yours,

Columba Silouan.

Intro to the new Orthodox BCP

2008-12-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

Good evening everyone. The following is taken from the official introduction to the new BCP that members of the Antiochian Archdiocese are putting together. The release date of this new BCP has been pushed back to February of 2009.

The Book of Common Prayer and Liturgical Worship

The Book of Common Prayer was first published in England and ordered to be used on Whitsunday, 1549. The idea was to put the Holy Mass and Morning and Evening Prayer, the Litany, the Psalms of David, the Lessons for the Year, with the Orders for Baptism, Marriage, and so forth, in one book.

This present Edition is from Lancelot Andrewes Press and is published for our English Orthodox Press division. God helping, it will prove to be a useful compilation of sacred Scripture and set prayers. This book sets forth the worship of God offered in English based on the examples of the Authorized Version of the Bible (1611), the Psalter, and centuries of English usage.

Our small contribution is to make a Prayer Book that is more comprehensive and organized in a rather more linear order. In this Book of Common Prayer the Daily Prayers are found in the beginning with the Psalter, then the Litany, then the Mass with the Proper of the Season and of the Saints, followed by the Pastoral Offices and Sacraments, followed by other helps, such as the Calendar, at the back of the book.

In Liturgical terminology this Prayer Book is organized as 1) a parochial Breviary; 2) a Missal; 3) a Ritual; and 4) a Calendar and Lectionary with Tables, Tutorials and Sentences of Scripture.

For those who are familiar with the Prayer Book there will be few surprises in these pages. The conventions of language and grammar throughout are traditional English usages. The Morning and Evening Prayer are conventional. The Psalms are the familiar texts of the Psalter of Miles Coverdale that has served as a standard for the Book of Common Prayer for nearly five centuries.

The Litany has restored to it the opening petitions as first published in 1544 and has added the petitions for the Faithful Departed proposed in 1928. The Occassional Prayers adopt the bidding, versicle, and response format of the 1929 Scottish Prayer Book. The Church Year follows the course of Sundays from Advent Sunday through Christmas, Septuagesima, Lent, Passiontide, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, and Trinitytide to the Sunday Next before Advent.

There are parallels to the traditions of the Latin Missale and the Byzantine Euchologion. However, this Prayer Book reflects an English Orthodox usage in many particulars, such as the numbering of the Sundays after Trinity Sunday, the use of the Litany, and the distribution of Gospels and other Lessons through the Year.

This Book of Common Prayer differs from earlier versions by the addition of the weekday Old Testament Canticles to Morning Prayer. These are borrowed from Monastic Lauds. The Anthanasian Creed is included as in the English Prayer Book. Orders for Prime (3rd Hour), and Sext (Midday) and Compline (after Evensong before bedtime) are provided. The Psalms are placed in the first part of the book for convenience as they are read daily with Morning Prayer and Evensong.

The Proper of the Season includes all of Holy Week and the full texts of the Ember Days. The Proper of the Saints has been enlarged to include St. George, St. Benedict, and St. Anne, as well as a number of the Feasts of the Blessed Virgin. Some of these are ancient borrowings from the Eastern Church and others are latter additions, such as the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin, which was introduced upon the 1500th anniversary (1931) of the Council of Ephesus.

The Simple Outline of the Mass includes the following elements:

The Preparation, followed by the Introit Psalm, The Summary of the Law, The "Lord Have Mercy Upon Us," The "Glory be to God on High," (The Gloria is sung on most Sundays and Feast Days but is not said on the Sundays of Advent or on the Proper Ferias or Sundays of Lent or at Requiem Masses or Nuptial Masses. Please follow the lead of the Priest for this usage), The Collect, which is a prayer proper to the Mass of the day and read in the Mass and in the orders of Morning and Evening Prayer, A lesson from Scripture, which may be an Epistle from the New Testament or a Prophecy or other reading from the Old Testament.

Next follow Psalm verses or other texts that compose the Gradual and Alleluia verses before the Gospel Reading. In Lent this is replaced by the Tract.

Next follows a reading from one of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John properly said by the Deacon or Priest at Mass. The Creed is recited by all on Sundays and Feast Days as appointed.

There may be a Sermon on any occasion and certainly on Sundays. The Offertory verses are said and the Altar is prepared with the elements of bread and wine. Incense is offered at a Solemn Mass.

Intercessions, a general confession, the Preface, and the recitation of the angelic hymn "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Hosts" (Sanctus) follow the preparation of the Altar and Holy Gifts.

The Eucharistic Canon is recited by the Priest; and this is concluded with the "Our Father" (Lord's Prayer), the hymn "O Lamb of God" (Agnus Dei) and communions of the clergy, acolytes, and faithful. The Communion verses are recited as provided in the Propers.

The Mass concludes with a Proper Collect, a Thanksgiving prayer, Dismissal and Blessing.

A more complete outline of the Mass will be set forth and a Brief Guide to the Mass will also be included in this book. In parish churches on Sundays and Feast Days there will be additional Hymns and service music for the choir and congregation. It is common for a pipe organ or other instrumental music to be included in the liturgical worship. In some places only monophonic chant (Gregorian Tones) will be heard and in other churches there will be polyphonic chant and four-part singing from the vast literature of sacred music.

Other resources for worship include the Antiphons for the Canticles at Morning Prayer and Evensong from the Monastic Diurnal and set to plainchant melodies in the Monastic Diurnal Noted. Patristic sermons and Saint's lives may be found in the Monastic Breviary Matins. The whole of the Psalms and many settings of the Canticles with the Marian Anthems and the rest of Morning Prayer and Evensong set to simple Gregorian Chant tones is available in the St. Dunstans Plainsong Psalter.

For the Sundays, Feast Days, and Proper Ferias of the Church Year, the Mass Propers may be found set to simple Gregorian tones in the various editions of St. Austin's Plainsong Missal. These simple tones can be sung by a Cantor and congregation even where the resources of a rehearsed text are not available.

For the many para-liturgical devotions that may be used during the Year and at particular seasons, such as the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin and the Stations of the Cross, there are many resources. A Scriptural Rosary is available as a tract. A complete volume of Devotions suitable as a supplement to the Book of Common Prayer is now in print in a portable volume, and is called the St. Ambrose Prayer Book.

All the above titles are in print and available from Lancelot Andrewes Press. These titles are easy to order from www.andrewespress.com. Lancelot Andrewes Press is a non-profit religious publishing house whose purpose is to serve those who pray and offer Divine Worship in English. The Book of Common Prayer is published as a title from our distinct division, The English Orthodox Press.

Our hope is to provide a useful prayer book for congregations of English speaking worshippers. This particular edition reflects the usages of the Western Rite Vicariate of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese. For example, the Credo is recited without "Filoque," or the double procession of the Holy Ghost.

The Mass Canon restores a direct Invocation of the Holy Spirit, and the Blessed Virgin and Saints are mentioned in the Prayer for Christ's Church. There is a provision for two additional weeks after Epiphany in the Lectionary due to the Byzantine calculation of the Vernal Equinox (old Julian Calendar) and thus in some years a very late date for Easter Day.

Where the reformed Julian Calendar (Gregorian) is consulted for the Easter date (as in the Orthodox Church of Finland) there is no need for the extended Epiphany season.

Our thanks to an anonymous Patron for the commission to produce this Book of Common Prayer. Our thanks to the many readers by whose good work and good sense this book has been prepared for publication.

"ASSIST us mercifully, O Lord, in these our supplications and prayers, and dispose the way of thy servants towards the attainment of everlasting salvation; that, among all the changes and chances of this mortal life, they may ever be defended by Thy most gracious and ready help; through Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN."

This preface with some light edits is by Father John Conelly, Rector of Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Church.

I believe this new BCP will be a great blessing to Orthodox and Anglican Christians alike.

Sincerely,

Columba Siluoan.

Bible Study to Resume, and other topics

2008-11-17T20:26:00.001-08:00

As a newly minted Orthodox Reader, I am able to lead a Reader's Service.

This will come in handy if I'm ever able to hold such a service in Parker or Castle Rock.

The Men's Bible Study will resume in January, 2009. At present, my wife and I are taking a Financial Peace University class in our neighborhood with a bunch of Protestant Christians down the street.

These good people meet in what they call a "house church."

They believe they are returning to the primitive new testament church, however . . .

They have no Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and no sacraments.

It would be nice someday to gently educate them on how the early church REALLY was.

There is a new leather bound edition of the Orthodox Study Bible. This Bible is terrific! It looks like a Bible Thumper's Bible. This would be wonderfully subversive if a Bible Study was held in a public place, like a Christian Coffee Shop, for instance.

There is such a coffee shop in Parker. It used to be called "The Steaming Bean."

When the financial class concludes, I will be free to lead the Bible Study.

Brother Andrew Deiderich will soon be re-deployed to the Middle East, so he won't be able to lead the study.

This means I will try and step into that role.

I recently purchased a small button that says "I Love Orthodox Missions."

Finally this: A new Book of Common Prayer is about to be published by The Western Rite.

This new BCP will be a fully authorized Orthodox edition and will be completely ok to use in any Western Rite parish or mission.

Armed with the new leather-bound Orthodox Study Bible, a new BCP coupled with all the excellent Bible Study aids the Church is putting out nowadays, things are really looking promising.

I can't wait to get started!

Now, if we can only get a new Hymnbook for the Western Rite, we really will be set.

Pax Christi,

Columba Silouan

Reader Silouan Takes Some Steps

2008-11-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

It is Monday, November the 17th. This is the first posting to Orthodox Parker since February.

The Adult Sunday School class I mentioned in February went well. I taught the class for a month and people enjoyed it and were very receptive.

Life at Saint Marks continues apace, as always.

My friend, Brother David Felker, a Benedictine Oblate, saw my waffling about the path to possible ordination and said one day: "We're going to make you a Reader this month!"

So, when Bishop Basil visited our humble parish, I was tonsured as a Reader and Acolyte. It was a very peaceful, joyful and fulfilling experience.

And it wasn't without some humor.

From my past experience as an Anglican / Episcopalian and also my experience at Saint Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church, I mistakenly believed that I was supposed to sit with the rest of the congregation and be called forward to be tonsured.

I believed that there was no way they would let me back into the altar area without being tonsured first. But, this is the Western Rite, not the Byzantine Rite. And this isn't the Episcopal Church.

I should have known better.

I was sitting near the back of the parish when a subdeacon came to fish me out of the assembly of the faithful and back to the sacristy.

Where I proceeded to fumble into a cossack and surplice.

Fr. Connelly wryly said: "I thought you said you were an experienced acolyte."

To which I responded "Well, my experience was as an Anglican, and these days Anglicans are loosey goosey."

Nevertheless, it was very moving to be tonsured. I sat next to Mr. Wooley, a former Deacon at Saint Mary's Anglican Catholic Church.

When I used to visit Saint Mary's during those days I was still longing to be Catholic, I would always see Deacon Wooley's smiling face.

Now, I was sitting next to him. A great honor.

Mr. Wooley was tonsured alongside me.

My First Reading was on Sunday, November the 9th. It went well, but with the following bump in the road:

The morning I was supposed to read, I was at church before Sunday School and I went to inspect the pulpit where the Epistle Reading takes place. I had dutifully practiced my reading the week before.

My friend Andrew showed me the large Book of Common Prayer used for Readings. I left with the impression that the book would be open to the proper reading and all I had to do was to step forward and do the deed during the Divine Liturgy.

It was Trinity 20 and the reading was from Ephesians, the fifth chapter beginning with the 15th verse.

But when the time during Divine Liturgy came, I strode forward and started to read . . .

The book was open to a reading in Maccabees!

But I recovered well, grabbed a smaller book of Common Prayer, quickly found the reading and finished the task.

Back in the Sacristy, some of the deacons joked "The hazing has only begun!"

I am enjoying my life at present. My new job is going well, and I have a Christian boss.

I work five minutes up the street from my home.

My relationship with my wife and my kids is also going well.

My in-laws, who are terrific people, have moved from Monte Vista to a location five miles away.

This means more dates with my wife!

It's hockey season again. My Avalanche aren't playing so well at present, but as I've said before, bad hockey is better than good football.

The Broncos are playing well, and so are the Nuggets. So I'm having fun with that.

My Rockies traded away Matt Holiday to the Oakland A's.

In a fallen world, there is always at least one fly in the ointment.

Nevertheless, all things considered, I am truly blessed.

Columba Silouan

Stupendous Opportunity!!

2008-02-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

Be careful what you ask for . . .

I've been granted an opportunity to teach the Adult Sunday School Class at Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church starting on February the 17th!

I plan to teach a class covering the Ransomed Hearts ministry of John Eldredge, looking at it from an Eastern Orthodox perspective.

This has long been a dream of mine, and I've believed for a long time that doing so can be powerful and fruitful.

I hope to use this class as a type of "pilot project" or prototype class to explore how to interact with leading evangelical leaders / authors while maintaining Orthodox distinctives /doctrinal purity.

Lord willing, I plan to cover concepts drawn from the following books: The Sacred Romance, The Journey of Desire, Wild at Heart, The Way of the Wild Heart, Waking the Dead, Epic and Captivating.

Some of the methods I plan to use are handouts of quotes and passages, study / discussion questions, and an invitation to ask lengthy questions via e-mail.

I have five weeks to start off with.

Please keep me in your prayers, gentle readers!

Columba Silouan Cate

The Latest Ideas

2008-01-21T20:12:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to formulate a growth strategy based on some new information discovered about Parker and Castle Rock.

Running a constant ad promoting Orthodoxy in the Parker Chronicle is a good place to begin. The content of that ad will depend on the following:

Classes on Orthodoxy can be held for a small fee at the following locations for the not-for-profit rate:

The Parker Recreation Center, The Mainstreet Center, and the Ruth Memorial Chapel all have classroom space that can be rented for a nominal fee. Lemstone Christian Bookstore and the Steaming Bean also have space that can be used.

For vespers services, the Ruth Memorial Chapel in Parker and The Sanctuary at Christs Episcopal Church can be used. More arrangements need to be pursued at Christ's Episcopal Church through their priest Father Rick Meyers.

The Western Rite's Archpriest in our area, Fr. John Charles Connelly, has discouraged the pulling of current members of Saint Mark's Orthodox Church away from the parish in order to start a new mission, but Fr. John seemed to be fine with the attracting of new converts to Orthodoxy.

There is a group of Protestant Christians in our neighborhood that is attempting to go back to "the New Testament Church." These fine people wish to return to the days of the "house church."

If they can be persuaded to "think outside of the box" and meet with my wife and I and perhaps Fr. John Falconi of Saint Columba's, perhaps a strong case for Western Rite Orthodoxy can be presented to them.

By considering them, I, too, am attempting to think "outside of the box."

I must say that although I am greatly pleased by the Divine Liturgy at Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Church, I am less than pleased by the way Christian Community is currently practiced there. The church has experienced a wonderful growth spurt, but the "fellowship of the heart" that I've been longing for has yet to be established in my humble opinion.

We have the right theology at Saint Marks, but I believe we need the right Praxis to go along with it. There are many fine people there and I like all of them, but I would like to see more zeal.

There are many new Western Rite parishes coming into the Antiochian Archdiocese from the Charismatic Episcopal Church. At one time, I was a member of that group. I hope that their zeal will add a whole new dimension to the current Western Rite in Orthodoxy.

Orthodoxy can become a dead shrine if we start focusing on it more than the Blessed Trinity. The point of being Orthodox is to know, serve and love God, not to engage in continual self-congratulations that we have found the true faith.

Yes, I, too, have been going through a bit of a dry spell as of late. The layoff didn't help matters and the daily grind of daily life sometimes becomes a burden that swallows up the initial wonder I experienced as a new convert.

But I still believe in Holy Orthodoxy and I still believe that if you take the best thoughts from people like John Eldredge and balance it with Eastern Orthodoxy, you get a potent spiritual medicine.

I'm certain Father Falconi has held on to the best things from his pre-orthodox days. I also believe the new members from the CEC will do the same.

This is my hope, and I hope I can follow suit. There were good things in my spiritual life before I became Orthodox. Those things don't have to go away just because I'm now Orthodox.

Peace of Christ,

Columba Silouan

The Substance of the Soul

2008-01-06T09:59:00.000-08:00

I was doing some reflection last evening about the stuff our souls are made of.

Here are my thoughts on the matter: I've come to realize that God has created us the way we are on purpose. The life we lead in our body inescapably affects the shape of our soul / spirit.

The Gnostic heresy that the physical world doesn't matter, that it's all about the spirit just doesn't hold up.

God created us as a unity of body and spirit. Our spirits die when we disobey God, our spirits live and develop as we obey God in our bodies.

Before the Fall of Man, this wouldn't have been any big deal. God created Man with a body for a reason. Men will have spiritual bodies in the next life. God created a physical universe for a reason.

Of course, His reason and reasons are way beyond our comprehension, but His reasons were and remain good ones, filled with His wisdom and love.

God didn't create us to stagnate or stand still. When we try to "stop the world" because we want to get off, we hurt the non-physical part of us, too.

God created us to grow for all Eternity. There is no choice but to choose to grow towards God or away from Him.

And we should rejoice that it is so. It is a great gift that He has given to us! Let's do everything in our power to embrace this great gift and use it wisely.

Peace of Christ to all,

Columba Silouan.

Major Interruption / Time to Reflect

2008-01-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

When the summer of 2007 ended, my intention was to begin regular blogging again. On October the 26th, while I was enjoying a weekend with a couple of vacation days tacked on, my entire billing department was laid off from my company.

When I returned the next Wednesday, a co-worker said: "Are you okay? they just moved the entire accounting function to Atlanta."

I looked at him and said: "Well, I'm certainly not going with them!"

I found out very quickly that all of our jobs had been eliminated. Blogging would have to wait while I used my home computer for a more urgent need: Finding a new job.

Well, my new job at Western Union starts on Thursday, January the 10th. I'm home sick today, so it's time to break the ice and throw this update out there.

There are two Bible Studies going on near Parker at the current time: A women's Bible Study attended by my wife has four regular attendees. The men's Bible Study is being hosted on Thursday evenings at my house and is being led by a fine fellow from my parish. We had three men in attendance the last time.

There is a verse which states "Do not despise the day of small beginnings." That's one I'm hanging on to at the current time.

My dreams for a thriving and vital Western Rite Orthodox parish in Parker are still alive. I really want to break the mold and have a Ransomed Hearts flavor to this parish while maintaining Orthodox forms and piety.

I just saw a special on the Black Entertainment Network about one Bishop Ken Ulmer, a black pastor of a Los Angeles mega-church. His denomination is a Full Gospel denomination where he was recently ordained as a "bishop."

There are many aspects of Full Gospel Theology that parallel Orthodox Theology. One aspect of this is Lordship / Conditional salvation. Another aspect is Synergy. The gospel of the Full Gospel crowd and leaders like Jack Hayford, for instance is closer to Eastern Orthodoxy than other branches of Protestantism. In my pre-Orthodox days, I ran into bedrock truths through the Full Gospel movement that paved the way for my eventual recognition of and conversion to Orthodoxy.

The Reverend Ken Ulmer not a bishop in the Eastern Orthodox sense, but he struck me as a humble and God fearing man who is very genuine.

How can we as Orthodox Christians capture the zeal of such men and, from our perspective, heterodox ministries, while retaining our orthodoxy?

I think that it's important that we find a way to bridge these two worlds and get it done. Looking in on a Black Church made me aware of how much work remains to be done. Orthodoxy needs to be more than a "white person's church."

Orthodox Navel-Gazing is not an option that Christ and the Trinity will appreciate come judgment day.

I've mentioned John Eldredge on this blog before, too. These "pre-orthodox" Christian believers are frequently more faith-filled and more expectant than we are.

God fills all things and He will use humble and faith-filled heterodox Christians if we as Orthodox Christians fail to step up and step out. They will get invited to the wedding feast with proper wedding garments while those of us who ostensibly should have our proper Orthodox wedding garments on get shown the door.

I've come to the following conclusion: Heterodox Christians who have a deficient christianity will nevertheless do more with their deficient christianity if they have more faith then we do and more humility than we do. God will work in this world with or without our Orthodox cooperation.

We have to trust and expect God to work in our lives and in the world through us. Faith IN God is just as important as faith about the facts of God.

May God bless Bishop Ulmer and bring him slowly and surely to a place where Orthodox Catholic Christianity enters his frame of reference and converts his heart more deeply to Him. And may God convert our Orthodox hearts to as deep a level as the heart of Bishop Ulmer's.

If you add his real zeal to even better knowledge, look out!

We need to pray for this to happen in the lives of the best heterodox christian leaders. They can be even more effective for Christ than they are, and help the rest of us, too. Some of these men and women can become the future Saints of the Orthodox church. They just need to be introduced to it.

Christ is in our midst!

Columba Silouan

Orthodox Implications of Marriage

2007-10-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased a book on marriage called Preserve Them O Lord by Fr. John Mack.

During my time of learning about Orthodoxy, I came across the Orthodox belief that our marriages have an eternal dimension to them. Such a belief offers many implications for our earthly lives.

As a Protestant, I was taught that human marriage ceases after death. This is probably also a common Roman Catholic belief. But in Eastern Orthodoxy, your marriage continues into eternity! How that works is yet unclear to me as a recent convert, but you don't have to be completely clear about it in order to realize some implications.

Now this Orthodox Christian belief should not be confused with the Mormon belief in "celestial marriage" or the Muslim belief in the 70 virgins! After all, Christ did tell the skeptic Sadducees that in heaven men neither marry nor are women given in marriage but are as the angels in heaven. But Jesus was speaking to the ancient Jewish belief that the primary role of marriage was procreation. Christianity exalted marriage to the status of Icon of the mystical bond between Christ and his Bride, the church.

And as such an icon, marriage must therefore be eternal in some way! The relationship between Christ and his Bride is eternal, so our marriages must reflect that or the icon is defaced.

But more to the point and down to brass tacks, what does the Orthodox belief in the eternality of our marriages mean for us as Christians?

I intend to expand on this topic very soon, but suffice it to say at the moment that such a belief can actually offer people hope when they reason out the implications.

For many people, the thought that their present miserable or disappointing marriage might continue forever is akin to a sentence of eternal damnation! But such a view is short-sighted.

In Orthodoxy, a marriage absolutely doesn't have to stay miserable but can be tranformed into something heavenly. If we allowed this Orthodox perspective to really sink in, we might realize the following things:

First, if we carry our marriage cross faithfully throughout this life, we will be rewarded for it in the life to come. Any imperfections in our marriages and any imperfections in us can be totally redeemed in the life to come.

Think about it! That person you are married to might become, to quote C.S. Lewis, a creature in heaven that if you were to see him or her now, you might be tempted to worship!

Anything we are deeply dissapointed in will be resolved in eternity, provided that we remain faithful and obedient.

If God has promised to wipe away the tears from all faces, well, you do the math if you are currently in a marriage that is painful or a present source of sorrow.

The promise is there: In Orthodoxy the person you are married to RIGHT NOW can be someone you will be ETERNALLY happy with.

The deepest love, joy and contentment IN YOUR PRESENT CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE can and will happen in the world to come. This provides a strong motivation to hang in there with your marriage.

"And they lived happily ever after."

In Orthodoxy, this is really a promise. It might not happen right now, in this temporal life, but it can and will happen in the world to come.

There is only one condition, although it is a tough one:

We must completely lay down our earthly lives for Christ and our marriage partner. But in this requirement, there is also the good news that Christ has provided his Church and the Sacraments to assist us in this journey.

Perhaps many people would quit searching for "the one person I was meant for" if they realized that the person they married is precisely that. The myth of "the Golden Person" has caused the death of many marriages. People in our day and age go from partner to partner and never find the person they are looking for when the first person they married could have been that person if they had made the decision to live the Orthodox Christian life in its fulness.

This Orthodox teaching, properly understood and communicated to others actually has the potential to strenghten the resolve of Christians of all types to stick with their first marriages.

More on this subject very soon. Count on some C.S. Lewis and John Eldredge quotes thrown in for good measure!

Columba Siluoan

How 'Bout Those Rockies!?

2007-10-17T20:34:00.000-07:00

Along with most of the rest of the Colorado population I've been swept up in Rockies Fever.

I really never thought "World Series" and Colorado Rockies would be in the same sentence.

On Monday, October the 15th, I was able to obtain NLCS Home Game Two tickets for me, my wife and my son Adam. Although Adam has been to a number of Avalanche Hockey games, this NLCS game was his first major league ballgame.

Adam, aged 5, made it all the way through the sixth inning before falling asleep for the rest of the game.

I taught him to crack open peanuts and munch away.

It was always a dream of mine to take my son to a ballgame. Now that dream has been realized.

On the Parker Orthodox front, one of the parishioners of Saint Marks is doing a homework assignment involving research of the Parker area for a possible new WR Orthdox parish. He plans to interview me in coming days.

Life at Saint Marks is going well. The recent growth spurt continues with more than 20 people being scheduled for Chrismation over the next few weeks.

The parish has had a makeover with the addition of a new wing and a remodel of the parish hall.

These are truly exciting times to be living in Denver, both on the Sports front and on the WR Orthodox front.

Pax Christi,

Columba Silouan

Back from a Summer Hiatus

2007-08-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

Now that fall is just around the corner, it's time to take keyboard in hand and start blogging again.

The Summer of 2007 has brought many changes. One of these is a new job at my same company under a Christian supervisor as an Accounting Specialist in the Billing Dept.

I thank God for this, as my previous position had degenerated into job duties that were less than "professional office work" which I need as a bare minimum to not consider myself a complete failure.

My dreams for a "Summer of promoting Orthodoxy" fell a bit short. But God was as work anyway. Saint Mark's is experiencing growth and our priest has developed a deep interest in the writings of Archimandrite Zacharias, Saint Sophrany and Saint Silouan, my patron Saint.

My old spiritual director who was actually a young priest of around my age has moved on to a mission in Fort Collins and I have a new and older spiritual father and have good hopes for renewed spiritual progress and growth under his direction.

The Lord continues to bless my family: My wife and kids are thriving and I am becoming more at ease in my role as a husband and father.

Now I need to think about changing my name legally again to Columba Silouan and about how I might go about picking up the threads I laid down about promoting Holy Orthodoxy in Parker.

So "to it" once again! But this time in a more subdued and prayerful demeanor.

Blessings!

Columcille Siluoan

The Pontificator Ends His Blog

2007-07-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

The Pontificator, Fr. Al Kimmel, a former Episcopal priest who converted to the Roman Catholic Church and who inspired many to convert to Roman Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy is ending his blog.

I found his concluding thoughts to be profound. They reminded me of some of the things John Eldredge has said, and they rang true to my own experience as a recent convert to Eastern Orthodoxy.

Just finding what we believe to be The Church doesn't automatically heal all of our disappointments and heartbreaks. These just remind us that we have yet to reach our true home.

Namárië

27 June 2007

Dear friends,

The conviction has been growing upon my heart that it is time for me to cease blogging. This conviction firmly settled two weekends ago during my attendance at the "Orthodox Readings of Augustine" conference at Fordham. It was a most interesting and encouraging conference. It was refreshing to hear Orthodox scholars eschewing the anti-Catholic polemics and caricatures that have become typical within Orthodox discourse during the past fifty years.

In addition to the fine presentations, several people came up to me and introduced themselves as regular readers of Pontifications. Yet when I returned home, I knew that it was time for me to bring Pontifications to closure. As the preacher says, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven."

I began my blog as a way to work through, both intellectually and emotionally, the crisis of conscience caused by the election of Gene Robinson to the episcopate. I knew that I could no longer summon individuals into the communion of the Episcopal Church. What was I to do? I had been a priest for over 20 years. I knew that I could not join one of the multiple Anglican sects.

The fall of the Episcopal Church into heresy had convinced me that Protestantism was incapable of standing against the corrosive tides of modernity. There were only three options for me-Catholicism, Orthodoxy, or agnosticism.

After two years of deliberation, I found myself, much to my surprise, drawn into the communion of the Catholic Church. Becoming Catholic has brought many blessings, but it has not healed the sorrows of my heart. Indeed, in some ways it has intensified these sorrows. But this is all very private. All I need say is that I often find them overwhelming. God is silent. I am reduced to silence.

On the way home to the Shire, Gandalf sees the discomfort of Frodo:
"Are you in pain, Frodo?" "Well, yes I am," said Frodo. "It is my shoulder. The wound aches, and the memory of darkness is heavy on me. It was a year ago today." "Alas! There are some wounds that cannot be wholly cured," said Gandalf.

When compared to the devastating injuries-physical, emotional, and spiritual-that so many people in the world must endure, mine seem minor and trifling. Yet the burden is real.

Over the past few years God has stripped away the loves and passions of my heart. Even the words seem to be disappearing. Writing has become impossible-and prayer, difficult.

I said to my soul, be still, and let the dark come upon you which shall be the darkness of God. (T. S. Elliot)

I wish to thank all who have faithfully read Pontifications over the past three years.

I give you all joy.

Under the Mercy,

Fr. Alvin Kimmel

It is my prayer that whatever is causing Fr. Al's pain will be healed by time and the ministrations of the Holy Trinity.

Columba Silouan

From Orthodox Blogdom: Liturgy Ideas

2007-06-07T20:52:00.000-07:00

Collin Michael Nunis said...

"Judging from the texts I've read and studied, I find both the "Tikhonian" and "Gregorian" liturgies to be beautiful, even though I have yet to attend one.

However, as time passes by, I think it would be good to develop a new liturgy based on both the Tikhonian and Gregorian in both traditional and contemporary English (ala 1979 BCP, minus theological/doctrinal compromises), ensuring that the "best of both the Western-Rite worlds (Roman and Anglican) will be found in this liturgy.

I do not know what others would think, but I believe that a fairly good place to start would be expanding the Roman Catholic Book of Divine Worship's (RC equivalent of BCP) Rite I and Rite II. I do not know how kindly this will be looked upon but if it is possible, that would be great.

By doing this, I think that we will not be selling out to anyone or be "pleasing" to anyone, but rather, make room for the younger generation to understand the depths and beauty of Orthodoxy.

With the Western Rite, not only has it recaptured something it "lost", but has made Orthodoxy more accessible. I'm just hoping to take the accessibility one step further.

Theological correctness for the Eucharistic part of the liturgy is the most important. We should never compromise that. While I am aware that Met. Philip promised no Byzantinisation of the Western Rite, I do not think that using the Byzantine Eucharistic prayer will make the Western Rite less Western."

From these comments, dear readers, we can see that the desire to make Orthodoxy more "accessible" is still alive and well.

I don't know about his idea of a "new" WR liturgy derived from both the Liturgy of Saint Tikhon and the Liturgy of Saint Gregory, but a modern language equivalent for each along the lines of the English Standard version of the Bible might provide at least a shadow of an idea in this direction.

We should consider the Greek Orthodox Church in this regard. Many of their parishes are not allergic to using "you" as opposed to "Thee" in their English translations of the Eastern Rite.

It's kind of silly if we become absolutists on this point if the Greeks aren't that concerned about it. Being addicted to Thees, Thous, Thys and Thines at the expense of potential conversions to Holy Orthodoxy seems to be like straining at gnats while swallowing camels.

Just some thoughts.

Columba Silouan

So What's the Latest on THE PROJECT?

2007-06-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

The latest news I have on THE PROJECT of getting that ball rolling to begin an Eastern Orthodox Mission in Parker is, quite frankly, not much.

The Bible Study has been slow to resume. A new family is visiting Saint Marks and lives close to us and might be open to some involvement. I'm kicking around a number of ideas to try and regain some momentum.

The positive thing is: Saint Marks is feeling more and more like an old friend to us.

Some of the ideas I have are the following: Draw up and distribute flyers and handbills and paste them up all over Parker with the web address of the blogspot and with my e-mail address. Start a newsletter with the tentative name of the Parker Orthodox Times. Start a book study using the books of John Eldredge with an Eastern Orthodox analysis of each one. Attend a Random Hearts event.

As you can see, I have many ideas. But there is one basic thing I'm lacking at the moment: Guinea pigs to practice all these ideas on. :)

I can't be Orthodox as an individual. To ever see this dream become a reality, I'm going to have to find a "Fellowship of the Heart" to journey with.

Part of this Fellowship will have to be found at my home parish.

But part of this Fellowship will have to be searched for.

My dreams for this new church are many and detailed. I wish to see Western Rite Orthodoxy really take off. I wish to see Western Rite parishes every bit as dynamic and thriving as any AMIA parish or CANA parish out there. Of course, we will have to do our parishes differently, because as Orthodox we operate under different contraints then our Anglican counterparts. But make no mistake: Orthodox with a small "o" Anglicans will be our biggest competitors. Behind them will be the LCMS Lutherans.

Why is it a competition, even though we would prefer it not be? Because we believe that Orthodoxy is Christianity without distortions, at least on a doctrinal level. Now WE can distort things ourselves by the way we live, but at least the beliefs are not distortions. It's hard enough to live lives that aren't distorted. When we add distorted and heretical teachings on top of our already distorted lives, things get really sticky.

I have started to pray that someday all the "orthodox" Anglicans will see the light and come home to Holy Orthodoxy. I also pray that as Orthodox Christians, we and our leaders will prepare for and get ready for such an event. We need to pray for our Bishops and other leaders to have deep wisdom about how such an event might become possible.

We need to work on our approach without compromising who and what we are.

What we can do: We can have weekly small groups, book and Bible studies, "singspirations," and otherwise emulate aspects of the Evangelical Culture around us without accomodating to that culture. We remain Orthodox but point to the commonalities between us and the Evangelicals around us. When the differences become apparent, we explain how those differences coming from our side of things can bring life.

We may not be able to do "Praise and Worship" during the Mass, but we can do it in the middle of the week and make some of our "dry" Orthodox parishes less dry when it comes to the life of the community. Orthodoxy isn't dry, but we sometimes make it that way by what we do to Orthodoxy. This doesn't have to be our situation.

Columba Silouan

Still too much Head, not Enough Heart

2007-06-07T20:00:00.001-07:00

Good Evening, Gentle Readers.

After everything that has been said and done on this blog in the past few weeks, I've found that I'm still living too much in my head and not enough in my heart.

I believe this problem comes across in my writing.

I need to remember that I am just at the very beginning of this Orthodox Journey. I'm not even one full year old in the Orthodox Faith, since our Chrismation was August the 20th, 2006.

I thought I read somewhere in Orthodox blogdom that it takes around 10 - 11 years to fully shed all the pre-Orthodox baggage one accumulates before becoming Orthodox.

Yes, I still have some of that baggage. Orthodoxy is true, but the honeymoon is over. My life is still my life and I am still faced with many of the same challenges and disappointments that plagued me before my conversion.

But unlike the past, I keep "waking up" and I keep realizing that, wow! I'm now a member of The Church. I have resources to assist me that I lacked before. And I'm worshipping a God who is very patient and very kind.

There is a new, underlying optimism buried between my habitual pessimism that I developed before becoming Orthodox. The POSSIBILITY of a better life in Christ is more available than before. The barriers facing me are less, although some are still formidable. At least these barriers are not coming from The Church, but instead from this fallen world and from the Adversary.

There is this new possibility: If I want it badly enough, and if I persevere, I have the chance of becoming a REAL Saint. In the past, I already considered myself a saint simply by virtue of "being a Christian." Now I realize that there are SAINTS with a capital S and that I have such a long way to go to become one.

And God's Grace is there in a synergistic way always available to help.

I've made a lot of mistakes, even recently. But now I can practice the Orthodox adage of "you fell, now get up again."

Columba Silouan

Dialogue with an Interested Party

2007-05-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Parker,

My name is Jim, and I have been reading your blog. I like it! I also frequent the RH forum, and try to defend Orthodoxy whenever it comes under fire. Those attempts are usually rabidly resisted by my forum mates, one never knows.

I've even started a few threads trying to introduce folks to it, even though I myself am not Eastern Orthodox. I find Orthodoxy fascinating, compelling, and mysterious. Part of that is due to its ancient heritage, roots that go straight back to the founding of the faith by Jesus and the ante-nicene church fathers.

I am interested in your journey, the adjustments you've had to make as you've made the transition, as well as doctrines that you may have struggled with and successfully integrated into your own faith. As an example, the use of icons was highly offensive to me, in my protestant mind akin to idols and imagery. And I did not understand the veneration of them, to be honest I am not sure that I still do, but I accept that as something that I just don't get.

I am not Orthodox yet, content right now to perch in the Anglican Mission in America. But under the right circumstances, and depending on how the AMiA develops, I may be there sooner than I think.

Anyway, keep blogging, I will be reading and learning. Please feel free to email me to discuss this, I am very interested in your journey,

Thank you so much, and peace to you,

Jim

Dear Jim,

Thanks for writing me and for your kind comments. My response might be kind of lengthy. I hope you don't mind. This issue can be multi-faceted.

I started out my Christian journey as a fundamentalist and dispensationalist Independent Baptist. The theology behind IB Christianity has serious flaws and when I
attempted to base my life on these flaws, I found my life didn't work.

There is a phrase in Orthodox circles that goes something like this: Heresy is cruel to those who follow and practice it. I found this to be true.

My journey into Orthodoxy had its roots in the writings and works of Dr. Francis Schaeffer (and his son Frank's writings as well). Growing up I also loved the writings of C.S. Lewis, so these two influences taken together were not going to let me rest easily in most Protestant churches.

Some of these books were: How Should We Then Live? The Great Evangelical Disaster and Addicted to Mediocrity. The emphasis of Dr. Schaeffer was "The Lordship of Christ in all areas of life." Dr. Schaeffer was interested in making Christ Lord in the Arts and in Culture. The nature of the religious art and culture I loved was going to inevitably lead me somewhere.

My favorite music, for example was baroque classical music and that meant Bach and Handel. My favorite hymns, musically speaking, also came primarily from the same time
period.

Hymns by Isaac Watts and The Wesleys and the music these hymns were set to were particularly good. I also loved church music from even earlier periods going back to the most ancient centuries of the church.

My favorite type of church architecture was also going to lead in a certain direction. I loved stained glass, pipe organs and the great cathedrals of Europe most of all.

In short, my tastes in church expression were Traditional. I deeply needed the worship to be reverent, deep and joyful. These things communicated the greatness of God to my deep heart. JE is right to emphasize the deep heart and how it speaks to us.

Most hymns from the Romantic period and those influenced by the 18th and 19th centuries and American revivalism left me cold. There were a few good hymns from this period, but most of the others were of the "bringing in the sheaves"
variety, and these just didn't cut it.

When I graduated from High School I began to search for a college to attend. I ultimately applied for and was accepted to the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (Biola University).

At Biola, my Baptist underpinnings began to be challenged and knocked out from under me one by one. My beliefs about the end times and The Rapture were the first to go,
since as someone interested in the Arts and Culture, I started to desire enough time down here to make a difference.

A key book was The Meaning of the Millenium, by one Dr. Clouse (I think that was his name).

Also at Biola, I ran squarely into aspects of the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements for the first time which I couldn't just escape by my decisions on who to associate with or where to attend church.

These charismatics were challenging some important errors I was holding to at the time: Cessation of Miracles and sign gifts and easy "Christ as personal savior" believism.

These charismatics had some significant errors of their own, but where they were challenging me was crucial.

Through a series of life experiences The Lord shook me to my foundations: That Christ must be Lord of my life in order for me to truly be "saved" was a viewpoint I hated and feared because it made me very insecure. That "Spiritual Warfare" was still ongoing and serious was also disturbing to me.

I knew that in some areas of my life that Jesus was most certainly NOT my Lord. The problem with my theology of the time was that it allowed me to keep things that way and be "okay" because I had "eternal security" and salvation was by "grace alone."

I was "flying casual" when some serious flying was what was needed.

My belief that the more spectacular spiritual gifts had ceased was a decision to side with The Enlightenment and the resulting skepticism it generated. Either God was
an Interventionist God or He wasn't. It wasn't a long distance from the Enlightenment to the Deism of some of the Founding Fathers of the United States, for example.

Thomas Jefferson wouldn't have done that "cut and paste" job on the Holy Scriptures if he had still believed in the Holy Tradition of The Church.

Some of the Christian leaders during my time at Biola were people like Dr. John MacArthur Jr. who was arguing the Lordship Salvation perspective and even the late Christian singer Keith Green (Memory Eternal), who wrote pamphlets about "What's Wrong with The Gospel - the Added Parts and the Missing Parts."

The christian "relativism" I was running into at Biola wasn't helping me with my life. Who really spoke for God? Everyone had their own favorite "private interpretation" or Christian leader they favored. Competing and contradictory claims led to the loss of my direction in life.

And I knew the Bible! The problem was, people used the Bible in different and contradictory ways.

Other issues I ran into at Biola were over "christian counselling" and the validity of relying on "Christian Psychology" or just relying on the Bible and the church.

After getting "wiped out" at Biola, I transferred to Colorado Baptist University in Denver, finished up and attempted to regroup. I picked up the Schaefferian thread once more and applied and was accepted to Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA(Pat Robertson's Graduate School).

I continued to follow and read the works of Frank Schaeffer IV: Sham Pearls for Real Swine and Dancing Alone.

Frank Schaeffer talked about "the Historic Church" But equating it exclusively with The Orthodox Church just didn't compute for me at that time. So I started to look for historical churches.

I set out to, once again, pursue the career of being a Christian Journalist and to be a crusader in the Christian Right.

But this ultimately led me to apathy and dissilusionment. Fighting the "Culture Wars" didn't fill my inner emptiness.

During this time I met an older Roman Catholic artist friend and began to hang out with her. I also had a Jesuit professor at Regent I liked, too. But I was still Protestant enough to object to the following doctrines: The Immaculate Conception
of Mary, the celibate priesthood, prayers for the dead and The Mass as a re-sacrifice of Christ over and over.

But then I discovered the Charismatic Episocopal Church.

At Regent, I had consented to become a "charismatic with a small c." I now believed all the gifts were for today and even dabbled with speaking in tongues, although I had no real enthusiasm for it.

The CEC was an Anglo-Catholic Anglican group. They were Catholics, but not Roman Catholics. There were no local CEC parishes, so I began to attend a charismatic Episcopal parish in TEC (formerly known as ECUSA) called Messiah Episcopal Church. I became acquainted with Prayer Book Worship and the Holy Eucharist and was converted to "The Real Presence of Christ" in the Eucharist perspective.

Little did I know about all the Episcopalian factions and controversies. What I did know about was that ECUSA was a liberal mainline church and that made me uneasy.

I also ran into the interesting dilemma that American Anglicans frequently face: The Theological Liberals were mostly traditional in worship style and culture, and the Theological "conservatives" were happy clappy.

I didn't mind Christian Contemporary Music in church as long as it was equally mixed with Great Hymns of the Faith. I also didn't mind Christian Rock Music, but I sure didn't want to listen to my Christian Rock during Mass!

In many charismatic Anglican parishes, however, the praise music tends to take over and leave no room for traditional worship at all.

When I left Virginia Beach and Graduate School (I didn't graduate although my grades were good) I returned to Colorado where I attended Beth-El Parish in the CEC. At Beth-El, I functioned as an acolyte and helped the priest at the Altar.

I was interested in the Holy Priesthood as well.

That parish failed and I decided to go to Christ Episcopal Church in Denver. It was from Christ Episcopal Church that I learned to love genuflecting when the cross passed by. My love for the Eucharist also deepened.

Those things, along with praying The Stations of The Cross began to lay the foundation of my not being scandalized by the use of Icons. That, plus reading the newsletter of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, Sursum Corda, for a couple of years led me to the Catholic Faith. Now, I needed to find the Church to practice it in.

I still had issues and fears with ECUSA, and so I teamed up with Fr. David Reagan (Memory Eternal) and attempted to "go independent" of ECUSA while attending an ECUSA parish.

But one thing I've learned since is that "You cannot be Orthodox as an individual."

I travelled with Fr. David to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I was confirmed in the Evangelical Episcopal Church.

I decided to pursue the priesthood in this group, but God kept shutting the door.

The controversies in ECUSA led to Fr. Sandy Green (now Bishop Sandy) to form a "mission church in waiting" at Christ Church in Barns Hall. This new church was named Wellspring and was primarily composed of the Twenties and Thirties
group of Christ Church.

I was re-confirmed in ECUSA during this period.

Since you are in the AMiA, you know the history of the Denver Consecrations. While at Wellspring with my wife, Dianna (while at Christ Church, I found her and we
got married) I was involved in the life of that parish.

The contemporary nature of the worship at Wellspring was a source of great frustration. I ran the church website for over a year, put together a Stations of the Cross set for them and volunteered all over the place.

But Wellspring, as good as it was, wasn't "home." When we moved across town to be closer to my place of employment, we decided to leave Wellspring and church shop.

We temporarily landed at Church of the Holy Spirit in ECUSA, which was another church planted by Christ Church. We were assured that when the time came, this parish would "go with the Anglican Realignment." This has yet to happen.

CHS was pretty good, but it was totally contemporary, once again, and this made me frustrated. To survive, I would attend Saint Mary's Anglican Catholic Church once a month. Their service was traditional and VERY Anglican Catholic.

During this time, I attended an "Into to Orthodoxy" class offered by a Deacon at Saint Catherines Greek Orthodox Church, which is a large parish in Greenwood Village. The name of this Deacon was Father Evan Armatas. He is a young married with three kids and is sharp as a tack.

This class, in a word, was AWESOME. I've taken it twice, my wife going with me the second time around. Deacon Evan is now Father Evan. His class is available by Podcast. You might be able to find it at www.saintcatherinechurch.org

We had a small problem, however. Saint Catherine's was Eastern Rite. This meant no western hymns or music at all.

My wife wasn't totally comfortable and neither was I.

I proposed a Western Rite parish to her (our current church) But at the time she just hated it. We finally could be in ECUSA no longer and at the advice of one of the ministers at Church of the Holy Spirit (He was an ex-LCMS Lutheran Pastor), we tried out the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

Grace Lutheran in Parker was a great church. It was "Confessional Lutheran" and Traditional. But it was Protestant and I was no longer a Protestant in my heart
(There's that word "heart" again).

We were at Grace for about a year-and-a half but I was still spiritually restless. I slowly realized that I didn't subscribe to the Lutheran Confessions. Then, one day, the Pastor preached a sermon about the necessity to honor the vow you make to the LCMS when you are received / confirmed. I realized I couldn't totally honor that vow with my beliefs.

Then Pastor Murphy taught a Sunday School class about mutual submission in the home. The Husband was to care for his wife, but his word was to be the final one when it came to major decisions like what church to attend.

My wife and I had a very deep discussion. Her need was to be in a church home that was our church home for the rest of our lives. My need was to be in a church where I
100% believed in the doctrine of the church.

We visited a couple of Roman Catholic Churches, but God didn't lead us there.

Finally, we landed at Saint Marks. Saint Marks is a Western Rite (Liturgy of Saint Tikhon) parish, and Dianna likes it and has made friends. We also have a dear friend from our Christ Church days who attends with us. He was there before us.

Our two children, Adam and Abbey, are doing fine at Saint Marks also.

The church has some young families and children and more are starting to come as well.

Best thing of all is, I am "home" at last.

While I believe the Eastern Orthodox Church has a strong claim to be the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, I also realize that as John Eldredge has said that we are in a battle and this is a deeply broken and flawed world.

It was never the intention of Jesus Christ that there would be three seperate churches competing for the title of The Catholic Church. Currently at least three churches make this exclusive claim: The Roman Catholic Church is one, The Eastern Orthodox Church is another, and the Oriental Orthodox Church is the third.

But the two churches which hold to the Seven Councils of the Undivided Church are the RC and the EOC.

Fr. Evan's class made an excellent case for the Orthodox Church and coming in from the Protestant Side of things, that case made sense. Something caused the Protestant Reformation and the Great Schism and I believe the Roman Catholic errors are the best explanation for what happened.

The way I see Icons: Icons are "just the messenger" so don't shoot them. They are sacramental, just as the Holy Eucharist is sacramental, but less important than it is.

Icons are a "doorway" for us to see into heaven, see the saints represented by each one, and to be beckoned by the saints to persevere and follow their examples. If they could do it, so can we, and we are invited by them to do so.

We revere the people behind the Icons and ask for their prayers. They are part of the "great cloud of witnesses" and are deeply interested in what goes on here in the Church Militant. As Jesus said, He is not a God of the dead, but
of the living.

Since Christ came in the flesh, it is now permissible for us to represent him in the flesh, along with his followers down through the centuries.

We revere the Icons of the Saints much as sports fans revere those sports figures in the various "Halls of Fame" for each league.

Of course, our own Hall of Fame means much more, since we live for something which is not perishing.

I love NHL Hockey, for example and you can see the "reverence" for the Stanley Cup and all the great players who have gone before. If you go to the NHL Hall of Fame,
you have pictures of each player by their plaques.

Reverencing things is just a part of our nature that God created in us. I find the EOC use of Icons a much better use of that inherent reverence, that's all.

I pray for the reunion of East and West but in this fallen world, being an Orthodox Christian is a great place to be.

My life is still far from perfect, but at least I trust my church.

And I trust the Savior behind that church and believe that I can count on what I'm taught about Him and the Holy Trinity in Orthodoxy. "We have received the heavenly gift, we have beleived the True Faith, worshipping the Undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us."

Finally, to be honest, I still prefer stained glass to Icons. As a Western-Rite Orthodox Christian, I can literally have all of these wonderful things in one church.

At Saint Marks, we have God's Word, stained-glass, a pipe organ, a choir, Anglican plainchant, incense, Icons, a High Altar, vestments, a processional cross and Hymns from the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal, the Saint Ambrose Hymnal and the Saint Dunstan's Psalter. It's truly a feast which brings me closer to God.

And the best thing about Saint Marks is the people.

I've learned that life in Christ is a lifelong conversion.

I would recommend One Flew Over the Onion Dome by Father Joseph Huneycutt as a book to read about Southerners and Eastern Orthodoxy. That Website is called Orthodixie and you can google it (since I don't have the web address handy).

Fr. Stephen Freeman's "Glory to God for All Things" is also excellent.

Fr. Freeman is also a Southerner and a former Episcopal priest as well.

I would also recommend looking into all the Orthodox jurisdictions: Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, ROCOR, OCA and the Antiochian Archdiocese.

Hopefully if and when you're ready, you can find a parish in one of these Orthodox jurisdictions. Or, if there are enough like-minded people in your current parish who aren't "home" you can make the journey together.

Fr. Sandy was most kind in this regard. He once counselled a friend of mine to look into the Antiochians because this person wasn't at home in the AMiA.

This was kindly and pastoral of him, even though he's an AMiA Bishop.

If people aren't home, they just aren't and its better to get them home. Bishop
Sandy understood this in the case of my friend. My friend didn't convert because he is still too "Reformed" in his theology. But my friend and his wife are still unstable in their church affiliation, the last time I checked.

Orthodoxy is all about Godly and Spiritual Stability

I hope the length of this reponse wasn't a problem and I look forward to further discussions with you.

Feel free to ask more questions.

The Peace of the Lord be with You!

Columba Silouan

Dear Columba,

The length of the response is not a problem, the problem is that I am not literate enough in church history and understanding to adequately articulate all that I am feeling and know by faith.

I read Father Stephen's blog regularly, it is very good. It has proven very helpful to me already.

I grew up UMC, went into the AoG, but was never a regular speaker of tongues either. I don't hold anyone suspect that does, it just has never manifested in me in a meaningful. way. I felt out of sync because of that, so eventually left.

I went into the SBC for a time, but the legalism and easy believism killed my heart, I hung on for awhile but eventually left. I am ashamed to say that I went out into the world, I knew Jesus was real and true, but felt I had either sinned too badly (?) or was past saving, so I cashed in my inheritance and went on a trip.

I've come back, but this time things are different. I discover that I do not believe the classical Reformed doctrines, that I meet Christ in the Eucharist, and that I don't believe the sensational doctrines such as pre-trib Rapture, etc. The more I learn, the more I realize that I do not fit in a traditional Reformed setting. Hence my exploration of the AMiA.

I've read Schaeffer, and he started me thinking as well. I am now reading as much as I can of the ante-nicene fathers, and a History of Christian Thought by Paul Tillich (I know he's anathema, but it's a good history so far).. I've attended an OCA church, St. Innocent's, back home near my parents home. It was very nice, although I attended at Christmas and the intensity was a little more than I was ready for at the time. But I will go back next time I am home.

I can't take the purpose driven stuff, and need a thoughtful, reflective faith. If there was an Orthodox church nearby I would darken the door and inquire, but for now AMiA is as orthodox as I can get.

I will give you a more proper introduction later, but you may get a taste of me here at www.tcrossroads.blogspot.com. I write for myself, looking for my way, no one hardly ever reads it other than me.

But then it is about a journey.

Peace, Jim

Dear Jim

"I went into the SBC for a time, but the legalism and easy believism killed my heart, I hung on for awhile but eventually left. I am ashamed to say that I went out into the world, I knew Jesus was real and true, but felt I had either sinned too badly (?) or was past saving, so I cashed in my inheritance and went on a trip."

Now this is an issue I can really relate to as well.

At Biola, I, too, went through a phase / flirtation with packing it in spiritually. I grew up in a really dysfunctional home and some other things had gone wrong in my life as well. I remember sayng to God "If You let one more bad thing happen to me, I'm done."

That's not the smartest thing to say to God.

I also thought to myself: If this stuff isn't true, I really need to start seeking my own happiness and success. That last was also a very bad idea.

God seemed to send stern discipline as a result of these bad attitudes: I developed a bone-marrow disorder that required a bone-marrow transplant. After I recovered from that one and after I made it back to Biola the final time before I finally left, I ran headlong into some Arminian Pentecostalists who were big on Bible verses like Hebrews 6:1-6: "It is impossible for those who have been once enlightened, who have tasted of the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to be renewed again to repentance."

This verse haunted me for many long years afterwards. In some ways this verse and the examples of Biblical people like Cain, Esau, King Saul and Judas has caused me more spiritual anguish than all the false doctrines I've believed down through the years.

A number of things in Orthodoxy have helped me with this. First is the example of one of my patron saints, Saint Silouan the Athonite.

Saint Silouan had a terrible 15 Year experience with Spiritual Dryness / Despair that was finally overcome when Jesus revealed to him "Keep thy mind in hell and despair not."

Fr. Evan recently responded to my question about this topic with this: We can make things impossible for ourselves, but nothing is impossible with God. Finally a little known secret about Orthodoxy is a belief shared by many of the Monks: "Dare we hope for the salvation of all?"

The Orthodox Church emphatically does not teach that everyone will be saved, however, in Orthodoxy, people can be prayed out of hell and there is a hope that perhaps a majority of people may be saved as opposed to a small minority.

This kind of reminds me of the C.S. Lewis book The Great Divorce, where some of the "ghosts" crawled out of hell literally for miles and miles and escaped it. I still struggle with this one, however, and your prayers in this area would be greatly appreciated. If you are suprised by that last aspect of EO I mentioned, you might ask Fr. Freeman about it. I would be very interested in his answer. As a convert, himself, I wonder what his take on this is.

Christ is in our midst!

Columba Silouan

Dear Columba,

I must say that we have walked parallel paths, the scriptures from Hebrews being ones that had begun to torment me in the AoG, and frankly had even after I walked away.

I had been enlightened, and knew the truth, I was just not letting it live through me.

My understanding about being unsaveable now is different from when I was younger, I see God's grace as being larger than I ever gave Him credit for it being. And the acts of the Spirit in prompting us toward godliness in a practical sense is so much more a real part of this life, we are not left alone. God has not left me alone, that I know.

Your emails have been extremely helpful and encouraging to me, simply by knowing that someone else has been on the same journey, and has been turning in the same way at these similar signposts. Mine journey is not well thought out, but it is more intuitive, things that do or do not line up with truth as I have experienced it have turned me this direction.

Being Reformed, the two biggest hang-ups I had were icons and Mary.

I think that what you said about icons is my current attitude and understanding about them, and to me that has in theory become a non-issue. I can accept that, understand it, but it may take some getting used to. As some may say, it may be an aquired taste.

Issues surrounding Mary are really my last major stumbling block to being "in communion" with EO. And I am afraid that these vestiges of rabid protestantism might be harder to root out, although nothing is impossible with God.

I will be reading some on this soon, and will want to talk to you about it as well. I like your sensibility and approach to these things, but then you have also come to this place from a similar direction, so you do understand my concerns and "hangups". LOL!

Is your real name Columba (I think not !?)?, but is that what I should call you? It does not matter to me, friend, whatever you prefer. My friends genrally just call me Jim. Peace!

Dear brother Jim, My real name is -------------.

In Orthodoxy, it is tradition to be given a new name upon entering The Church. You might recall those verses in Revelation that mention God giving us a new name. Like you, I am ashamed over things in my past. I've failed a lot and really want my life in Orthodoxy to be a clean break from the past.

I chose Saint Columba as my first Patron Saint because he sinned greatly out of Anger and Pride before he repented and became "The Missionary to Scotland." There is a verse that states "Anger does not bring about the righteous life that God Desires."

Of course, I chose Saint Silouan as my second Patron Saint because of his struggle with Despair. And in Orthodoxy, there is a sense that our Patron Saints are introduced to us more than being chosen by us. I can testify to this as well. It seemed to me that God directed me to these two patrons, and being in the Western Rite, it is super that I have one Saint from each tradition in the church. Saint Silouan the Russian Orthodox Monk, and Saint Columba / Columcille the Irish monk.

I ask both these Saints and Fathers to pray for me on a regular basis.

Now, about the Holy Theotokos: Getting used to the idea of asking her prayers for me was a bit of an adjustment. But because The Church taught the importance of this, I submitted to her teachings. Mary, after all, is my adopted mother, since I am the adopted brother of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My own mother is a great person, but as in all relationships down here, I've experienced dissapointment in that relationship. So I look to Mother Mary to make up for those deficits.

The comforting difference between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism about Mary is the following: In Orthodoxy, there is a school of thought that says that although Mary was a very devout and holy person from the beginning, she was a sinner in need of a savior like the rest of us. However, when she said "Yes" to God about bearing The Christ, God at that point cleansed her from all sin from that point forward.

Mary's YES to God is our example. Saint Mary is called The Champion Leader of Christians and it is precisely because of her YES that she is called this. She is our supreme example to follow, next to the Lord Jesus Christ. And not believing in the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, she becomes more accessible and more truly human to me.

I realized before my conversion that with Mary's attitude towards God, if He had requested that she be a Virgin throughout her life to safeguard the identity of Jesus as the Incarnate Word, she most definately would have said YES to that as well. So I no longer have theological problems with Mary as The Holy God Bearer and as Ever Virgin.

Getting used to requesting her intercessions and aid was something gained with practice.

Hope this helps,

Columba Silouan.

Dear Columba,

A new name, what a wonderful gift. That is truly the mark of a new beginning.
I know that God has a name for me, I've heard him say so in the past. It has not yet been revealed, however. Perhaps one day.

I am sure that there are many things surrounding Jesus' birth, life, and death that would yet surprise us if we knew them all. So the possibility of Mary being ever-virgin, and living a sinless life do not surprise me at all.

I can relate to despair.

May God illumine and guide me.

Forgive me if you've already told me this, but what are you doing now? Are you in seminary? I am by trade a Forester, but spend my days more at the computer than in the forest ;>)

Good afternoon, Jim.

My current job is at the western sales center of a building products company where I've worked for ten years. I am a Support Staff Assistant.

I have applied for a Copy Writer position at a local ministry here in town. I've been told I'm a strong candidate and to expect a second interview.

I still have an interest in the Priesthood. We'll see about that in time.

Blessings,

C. S.

Personal Motivation for this Project

2007-04-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

Normally, a person might think that someone who wishes to promote the establishment of an Orthodox Mission must himself be a Postulant for Holy Orders or someone interested in becoming a Deacon or Priest.

In my case, I sure would love that to happen someday, but at present I don't feel "together enough" or worthy enough to be a Priest.

Nevertheless, I love The Church and the things of The Church.

So I've decided to be a tentmaker because I enjoy it so much.

I don't know if God will ever call me to the Holy Priesthood. He would have to do a lot of work in me first and I would really have to be aware of such grace in my life. To barge ahead without God's clear leading would be presumptious and spiritually dangerous. I "will have to know that I know" if it is ever to happen. Right now, I just don't know, and that's not good enough.

But Orthodox lay people can help get Orthodox Missions going. If we depend on priests and deacons to do everything, we're going to be dissappointed. They have their hands full.

I recently listed this project on the Ransomed Hearts website of John Eldredge. This is my dream, and Ransomed Hearts as a ministry encourages people to dream.

Pray for me, dear readers. I wish to become more and more like Christ. I have a very long way to go, but I have the help of the Orthodox Church to get there. This kind of help is the best and surest kind. I just need to cooperate with it.

Blessings,

Columba Silouan

Reaching Heterodox Christians (and non-believers too).

2007-04-04T20:30:00.000-07:00

In this post, I'm going to try to create a rough sketch on how being a vibrant Orthodox Community might work.

As you may know if you know anything about Saint Marks Orthodox Church, our parish is predominately made up of converts to Orthodoxy.

Now in my personal experience, I see no reason why those of us in the Western Rite can't find ways to bridge the cultural gap that still exists between Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism. And bridging this gap can reach "The Lost" as well as the "semi-saved."

Here's how to do this:

Right up front, it must be remembered that there will be no importing of the current trends found in contemporary evangelicalism or charismatic / pentecostalism into the Divine Liturgy. Don't even think about it, it isn't going to happen.

However . . .

You can build a parish with the goal of establishing a "Community Center" / Christian school in mind. You can also imitate much of the structure found in Protestant circles when it comes to small group Bible studies, cell groups, vacation bible school, sunday school, retreats, book studies and mid-week "singspirations."

All of these things are part of the culture we as Orthodox Christians are trying to influence.

For example, potential converts to Holy Orthodoxy, if they are devotees of "praise music" and "worship bands" are going to be turned off and turned away if there is absolutely no place for such music in the life of the Orthodox Community they might possibly join.

So instead of making promises to them we absolutely cannot keep ("Don't worry, we might set up a contemporary service for you") we can provide a place where they can use the talents and interests they currently have. The way this is done is to allow them to sing and perform "praise music" in their small groups, at a church retreat where the Divine Liturgy is NOT being conducted, at a teen SOYO meeting, or at an Orthodox Community Center once a particular parish has had a chance to establish one.

Of course all such music has to be filtered through Holy Orthodoxy to determine what meets the doctrinal test and what doesn't.

Small Groups is another form to examine here: I can envision an Orthodox Small Group studying the works of popular Evangelical authors while filtering everything said through an Orthodox perspective.

The works of John Eldredge are a prime example: JE touches on many Orthodox themes while not fully understanding the depth of what he is touching on.

Larry Crabb's recent book Shattered Dreams is also an excellent example of work done by an evangelical that is moving in an Orthodox direction.

We as Orthodox need to learn to "spoil the Egyptians" and easily move within Evangelical circles and culture while retaining our Orthodoxy intact.

We have much we can teach our seperated brothers and sisters, and the holiest among them have much to teach and inspire us to do and be.

We can be sure of where The Church is, we cannot be sure of where The Church isn't. Closing ourselves off from all Heterodox fellowship and influence is a big mistake, in my opinion.

Using some of these forms can create a vibrant and caring Orthodox community that can actually speak to the felt needs of the Unchurched. Evangelicals and Charismatics are generally better at reaching the lost for Christ than the Orthodox. We need to remember that "people need The Lord" of Orthodoxy! Our deep view of the Holy Trinity is NEEDED today. There are many in our culture who have become jaded and hardened by the easy believism "gospel" that is so common today.

Orthodoxy is a pure stream of undiluted and undistorted Christianity that can truly lead people to the Risen Christ and not to a close counterfeit void of life and power.

"We have found the True Faith, worshipping the Undivided Trinity, for the Trinity has saved us!"

Sincerely,

Columcille Silouan

Heterodoxy is Hazardous

2007-04-04T19:55:00.000-07:00

One goal of Eastern Orthodox Christianity is surely to convert as many Heterodox Christians as possible.

Why? Because being a Heterodox Christian can be hazardous to a person's spiritual health, not to mention agonizing!

Take the case of the worldwide Anglican Communion as only one example. The Episcopal Church (TEC) has been counselled by the Tanzania meeting of the Anglican Primates to repent from ordaining actively gay Bishops and performing same-sex blessings by September the 30th or face a reduced status in the Anglican Communion.

The Bishops of TEC have said for the most part, that they will defy the Communique. Grace and Saint Stephens Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs is undergoing a split between those loyal to conservative and "orthodox" rector Don Armstrong and around 100 parishoners (including most of the choir) who went down the street to Shrove Chapel to stay in the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Colorado.

Again the strange dichotomy of many an Epicopal parish might be in place here: Speaking from experience as a former Episcopalian myself, one of the most frustrating things about the current Episcopal scene in the United States is the strange fact that many of the "orthodox" Episcopalians and Anglicans lean towards the charismatic and evangelical end of the religious spectrum and as such, they favor more upbeat and contempary music and liturgies.

The Liberals, on the other hand, tend to be more "traditional" in church culture and end up favoring the best church music, the best traditional "high church" forms, and the oldest Episcopal cultural norms. They may hold to beliefs that deny the faith, but no-one can beat them when it comes to their style of worship.

So the choice facing many an Episcopalian / Anglican today in the U.S. is attending a parish that is a rough equivelant to a "Vineyard Christian Fellowship" or a "Calvary Chapel" with Sacraments or a mid to high church parish long on style but empty of orthodox content. Some choice. This is why our family ultimately became Orthodox.

We had a brief detour in the LCMS for about a year-an-a-half at a "Confessional Lutheran" church, but I, for one, was never a true Lutheran and couldn't ultimately accept the Lutheran Confessions. I just wasn't a Protestant anymore.

Back to Grace and Saint Stephens: As of this writing, it is unclear who will maintain control of the nearly 100-year old church building. Will this beautiful orthodox building be controlled by the liberals who don't believe what the architecture displays "written in stone" and stained glass or will the "orthodox" faithful find a way to keep the building and avoid another The Church nightclub being established?

And this battle over church property is being played out all over the United States. A person only need look at what is happening in the Diocese of Virginia to see other battles in progress.

And you're no safer if you're a Presbyterian! In the supposedly "conservative and orthodox" Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Colorado, a church in Greenwood Village is struggling to stave off a "purpose driven" takeover of what was supposed to be THE TRADITIONAL PARISH in the greater Denver area.

Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church is being torn up by those who want to take the church in the direction of many "mega-churches" and those who wish to maintain traditional worship and presbyterian polity. The "Purpose Driven" movement has been doing what ECUSA-style liberals could never get away with in the more "conservative" evangelical denominations such as the EPC and the Southern Baptist Convention: Undermining traditional churches and replacing them with "contemporary" purpose-driven hedonistic wastelands.

Truly the only safe place to be if you are a traditional Christian is the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is because the way we worship is as absolute as the Nicene Creed and the Sacred Scriptures. Even the Roman Catholic Church in the United States is a limited option at best. Most RC parishes are heavily influenced by Vatican Two.

In my next posting, I will explore how an Orthodox Parish can accomodate some of the culture and tastes of Heterodox Christians in the life of the community while maintaining strict standards during the Divine Liturgy. In Orthodoxy, altering the Divine Liturgy in any way is an absolute non-starter!

Have a blessed and Holy Pascha!

Columcille Silouan

One Million People in 2011

2007-04-04T19:36:00.000-07:00

For my second post I wish to briefly mention an article in the Parker Chronicle that appeared in the March 30th edition.

In that article it was predicted that by 2011 there will be ONE MILLION people living within 15 miles of downtown Parker. ONE MILLION!!

If you live near Parker and ever read The Chronicle, you can easily find all the types of churches listed. You have Roman Catholic Churches, Episcopal Churches, Presbyterian Churches, Baptist Churches, Lutheran Churches, a United Methodist Church, A Morman Church and a Kingdom Hall (Jehovah's Witnesses) church.

In the entire town of Parker, there is not one Eastern Orthodox Church of ANY jurisdiction.

If Parker is going to have a population of ONE MILLION people by 2011, the absence of an Orthodox Church is simply a scandal.

I, for one, would love to attend an Orthodox parish within ten minutes of my home on the border of Parker.

Orthodox Churches have many, many services. Being married with young children limits my ability to attend some of the major services that take place during the week.

My parish, Saint Mark's, is a great place. But it is located in Denver. The parish cannot be considered to be local to where I live.

A goal of the Orthodox should be to have a parish in every major suburb of every major city. I believe this should be a Western Rite goal as well.

With the crackup of the Episcopal Church going on, the Western Rite of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese and ROCOR has an opportunity like never before to collect all the disaffected Episcopalians out there before they go to the Convocation of Anglicans in North America and the Anglican Mission in America.

Let's not kid ourselves, folks! If we don't make a strong move, we will miss out on many potential converts to Holy Orthodoxy.

As a former Anglican, I can say that I've found a true home in Western Rite Orthodoxy. There is peace and life here. It is refreshing to be worshipping as the old time Anglicans worshipped without worrying where my church is going to be in the next ten years.

The Orthodox Christian Church will be where it's always been. Preserving the Faith once delivered to the saints.

Stay tuned for further posts. The next post will cover the topic of how to reach the current Christian sub-culture with Orthodoxy. There is a way to do this without compromising the essentials of the faith.

Columcille Silouan

One Step in a Long Journey

2007-03-15T20:14:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Orthodox Parker Blogspot. The purpose of this blog is to promote the eventual planting of a Western Rite Orthodox Church in the Parker, Colorado area. This church would serve Parker, unincorporated Englewood, Franktown, Elisabeth and Castle Rock.

Various Eastern Orthodox subjects will be covered in this blog, along with the progress of the Orthodox Mission in Parker.

My Orthodox name is Colmcille Siluoan, after Saints Colmcille (Columba) and Saint Siluoan the Athonite. My home parish is Saint Marks Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church, located in Denver, Colorado.

I have a wife, a four-year-old son, and a 20-month-old daughter. I live on the northern border of Parker in unincorporated Englewood in the South Creek subdivision. When I was a child, my father and mother had a ranch in Parker. When they divorced, we were forced to leave the ranch. But I've always considered Parker to be my true home in this world.

The first step in planting an Orthodox mission is, of course, to begin a home Bible Study. This has already happened. The study is covering the books of 1st and 2nd Corinthians and the Study Guide is by Orthodox Priest Fr. Lawrence R. Farley. The title of the book is Straight from the Heart. Attendance has been sporadic, but we have at least one regular attender, a catechuman at Saint Marks.

The Bible Study resumes after Great Lent.

I'm currently reading the excellent book The Enlargement of the Heart, by Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou. Some other recent Christian books I've read are the works of John Eldredge (The Sacred Romance, Wild at Heart, The Journey of Desire, and Waking the Dead), The book Shattered Dreams by Dr. Larry Crabb, and The End of the Church by Dr. Ephraim Radner.

As far as fictional books go, I love the books by Stephen Lawhead: The Pendragon Cycle, Byzantium, The Silver Hand, etc. I also am a devote of science fiction.

I'm a sports fan as well, and my favorite sports are NHL Hockey and NLL Lacrosse. GO AVALANCHE and MAMMOTH!!

My fondest dream is to see a thriving Orthodox parish take root in Parker. I hope this parish can become a true "Fellowship of the Heart" as John Eldredge has mentioned in his books.

Just because a parish is Orthodox it doesn't automaticaly preclude heartfelt and fervent piety. Orthodox don't have to be "The Frozen Chosen" of this world. My patron saint, Fr. Silouan, was one of the most warm-hearted saints who has graced The Church. There is every reason to emulate his piety and not run from such an example.

Of course, any Orthodox Parish will be traditional in worship style. This is part of the deposit of faith and is completely unavoidable. If you want Christian contemporary music in the life of an Orthodox parish, it will have to be during the week and in your small group or bible study group or at a teen Soyo gathering. You simply will never see "praise" choruses at The Divine Liturgy. It's not gonna happen, nor should it.

I'm a proponent of the Orthodox "Western Rite." The Eastern Rite is very deep and very beautiful, but for many from western church backgrounds, joining an Eastern Rite parish means giving up a lot of things, especially hymns known since childhood.

At a Western Rite parish, you have your choice of the Liturgy of Saint Gregory, which mirrors the Roman Catholic liturgy, or the Liturgy of Saint Tikhon, which is similar to Anglican worship.

At a Western Orthodox Church, the music during the service will range from Anglican Plainchant, Gregorian Chant, Anthems and Great Hymns of the Faith. At Saint Marks, for example, we've sung hymns composed by John and Charles Wesley and Isaac Watts. There is one word for the music at Saint Marks: Glorious!

A Western Rite mission can especially appeal to people from the following backgrounds: Anglican, Episcopal, Methodist, Lutheran and Catholic. It is also hoped that the mission will reach unchurched people by becoming a community of love patterned after the love of the Blessed Trinity.

Setting up this blog is one step in a long journey. This endeavor will go a long way towards proving that you don't have to be a Bishop, Priest or Deacon to facilitate the planting of an Orthodox church. The Church needs more laymen to help spread the blessings of Holy Orthodoxy.

Stay tuned as I continue to post to this new blog.

Christ is in our midst!

Colmcille Silouan