Priests have relationships with their employers and their organizations that go far beyond those of other professions. Their position is what social scientists call "sticky", meaning that their career decisions have a built-in conservative bias against change. This leads priests to stay in … [Read more...]
Priests MUST Manage Their (Financial) Households Well
For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? (1 Timothy 3:5) The church leader must be "one that governs well his own house." Even those who are without the church have the saying that one who is a good manager of a house will be a good statesman. … [Read more...]
Advice on Chanting for Priests
General Advice for Priests (I think these are important for just about all of us just about all the time): Develop and maintain a good relationship with your choir director, lead chanter (Dyak), and chanters. This involves listening to them and taking their concerns seriously. Remember: they … [Read more...]
Orthopraxis and Theosis – The role of ritual in the training of the mind
Here is the paper I presented (warts and all) at the St. Sophia Institute Conference on Vladimir Lossky's The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. The conference was excellent and recommend such things to all those interested in such things. The paper may be useful to priests and church … [Read more...]
You Can’t Plan for a Funeral
This title is not making a theological statement; of course we can and should prepare for our own funeral. This is about something else. There's a joke that is popular among priests. It goes something like this; Bishop: Father, I need you to come in for an important committee meeting on the … [Read more...]
On the Joy of Service, Well Done
One of the many things I am thankful for in being an Orthodox priest is that the most important thing I do is scripted. As a musician, I was never inclined to jazz (or any kind of improvisation); I found my greatest joy when playing difficult pieces with a group that worked well together. … [Read more...]
On the Problem of Scientific and Spiritual Validation
As a social scientist, I was trained to test models based on their internal and external validity. A good model would explain a significant portion of the variation within the sample data (i.e. have internal validity) AND have applicability beyond that sample (i.e. in the "real world" or on … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- …
- 20
- Next Page »
