by Thom Rainer Smaller churches are poised to make a comeback. I’m serious. I see too many signs and indicators to believe otherwise. For certain, I know the bad news. The median size of a church has declined from around 100 to 70 in worship attendance in a decade. That means one-half of … [Read more...]
Rod Dreher: Letter from a Frustrated Priest
In the article excerpted from below, Rod Dreher is writing specifically about the culture of the Roman Catholic Church. Therefore many of the points that he and the priests he quotes make do not apply to the Orthodox Church. However, to the extent that the problem is really about power, then any … [Read more...]
Episode #36: Hit the Ground Running!
How to Hit the Ground Running! Fr. Anthony Perkins Good Guys Wear Black (Ancient Faith Radio) 03 November 2017 In this episode, Fr. Anthony talks with Fr. Theophan Mackey of St. Job of Pochaiv parish in Los Alamos, NM (stjobla.org). He's only been a priest for three years, but he really hit the … [Read more...]
The Ministry of Fr. Nikolay in Ireland: Pastor, Family Man, Programmer
by Sergei Mudrov As I was reading the Hours and the Epistle at one Saturday Liturgy at the Orthodox parish of the Entrance of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple in Drogheda, situated thirty miles north of Dublin in Ireland, I thought, “It would be good to get an academic job in Ireland and … [Read more...]
Which Professions Are Incompatible With The Priesthood?
All dioceses of the Russian Church will soon be receiving the document “Professions compatible and incompatible with the priesthood,” intended for broad discussion, writes the Church’s official site. The draft document was created by order of an inter-council commission dated January 28, 2015. To … [Read more...]
Survey Results: Observations and Advice for New Priests
We are coming up on graduation day for our seminaries, so I fielded a survey to gather the collective wisdom of priests to share with our new graduates and ordinands. These sets of “five things” are offered with thanks to the priests who answered the survey and prayers for all our clergy. It's a … [Read more...]
10 Reasons Bivocational Ministry Matters
By Chuck Lawless “I didn’t come to seminary to be a bivocational minister, to have to get another kind of job,” my student told me. I may not have agreed with my student, but I did understand his thinking. Back then (almost 15 years ago), we weren’t talking much about bivocational … [Read more...]
