The Survey Says…

Friends of Preachers Institute, thank you for participating in our online poll regarding a Doctor of Ministry degree in Orthodox Homiletics. During April and May, we asked you, our readers, what you would like to see in an advanced professional degree in Orthodox homiletics.

The specific question was:

What would you like to see in a Doctoral program in Orthodox Homiletics?

All in all, there were 194 respondents. Each could vote for as many selections as they wished.

Here are the results:

119 votes             Affordability: $50-100 (USD)/ month

115 votes             A Study of the Sermons of the Patristic Fathers

102 votes             Training in the Orthodox Tradition of communication, from classical rhetoric to new media

100 votes             A program that will bring my skill in preaching to a level approaching ‘expert’ in knowledge of preaching, communication, and its history

93 votes               I’d prefer a Ph.D. program – an academic degree, not a professional one

78 votes               Something I can do while working in my parish, with occasional seminars

62 votes               A practical program, honing sermon prep and deliver skills in many venues

58 votes               A program which offers a variety of venues; street preaching and evangelism, liturgical preaching, writing, posting on social media, blogging, etc.

24 votes               A historical study – primarily

22 votes               Something different – to get me out of my comfort zone

These are telling results, and we appreciate your input.

Sadly, not all Orthodox clergy are interested in improving their skill or advancing their education in homiletics, but for those of you who are, the Preachers Institute is preparing to serve your needs, and offer more for you, the preacher in the trenches of parish work, laboring prayerfully to rightly define the word of Truth, and proclaim the Gospel of Christ.

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During the month of June, I’ll be taking a short break from the work at the Preachers Institute.

I have been most appreciative of your input, comments, suggestions and offerings during this past year. You have helped make the Preachers Institute better and better each week, and I thank you for that!

There are some articles which will be posted, but generally the pace of publication will lessen as I take some time away from the laptop, and the office – it’s my vacation. During this month I also celebrate the anniversary of my marriage to the lovely She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed, and the anniversary of my ordination to the Holy Priesthood.

June is a very good month.

I ask your prayers for refreshment during this month, and assure you that when I return in July, we will pick up with our normal schedule of publishing the best, most helpful material for Orthodox preachers.

Please remember me in your holy prayers.

Fr. John

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By Kleo Mavridis

Members of the “International Congregation of Agia Sophia” will make a pilgrimage to Agia Sofia in Istanbul in order to conduct divine liturgy on September 17, the day the Orthodox Church celebrates the holy feast day of Sophia, Faith, Hope and Love.

During a press conference in Thessaloniki, the President of the International Congregation, Chris Spirou, said that the Prime Minister of Turkey, Tayyip Erdo?an, has already been informed in writing.

“The purpose of our Congregation’s visit is to conduct Holy Liturgy Services in the the Great Church of Christianity, the Symbol of the Orthodox Christian Faith”,

was written in the letter. After he was asked, whether the Greek Department of Foreign Affairs has been notified about this, Mr. Spirou said that it isn’t a political issue and that

“no government has the right to interfere with religion and to appoint religious leaders”.

The “International Congregation of Agia Sophia” was founded in 2005 and is a USA-based non-profit organization. Its purpose is to restore the Agia Sophia as a place of worship.

The organisation’s thousands of members worldwide include followers of other religions and denominations.

Source

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TAKE THE POLL!

When we were in the early stages of discussing the mission and goals of the Preachers Institute, one that stuck out was the opportunity for advanced, intensive study of homiletics among Orthodox clergy.

We decided early on that the professional degree (D. Min.), not an academic degree (such as a Ph.D. or a Th. D) would best fulfill our vision, as it was the  preacher on-the-ground, in the parish preaching that wanted more opportunities to advance his study and practice of homiletics where it counted most – in the local Church.

And indeed, a year since we launched Preachers Institute, we have over 10,000 unique visitors to our site monthly. Material is copied from PI daily!

In order to better facilitate the planning and implementation of such a degree, we’re asking each of you to take the poll in the sidebar. Choose as many as you like to answer, just be as honest as you can.

The poll will end on May 15th at midnight.

Please do not hesitate to

Share your opinions via the online poll;
Share your ideas and needs, if they don’t fit into the options listed;
Pass this to others, who can likewise, take this poll and help us.

Thanks for helping us out by registering your opinion on this poll.

We have much more coming this year from Preachers Institute. Stay tuned, as they say.

And, as always, pray for us.

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The newly ordained priest Barnabas

Today, at the Annunciation Cathedral in Atlanta, Fr. Dcn. Barnabas is being elevated to the Holy Priesthood. Axios!

Fr. Barnabas is a gifted (and well formed) preacher, and we will be seeing and hearing more from him once he recovers somewhat from his oppressive schedule. Fr. Barnabas is not only a friend, he is one of us – a member of the Preachers Institute, and student at Holy Cross Theological School in Brookline, MA. At the recent Art of Speaking Workshop (you can see the Review here), he was one of the four presenters.

To the entire Powell family – congratulations and many, blessed years to you all!

More information about Fr. Barnabas.

Fr. Barnabas (Charles) Powell is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Having been raised in a small Pentecostal church as a boy, Fr. Dcn. Barnabas grew to love the church, enjoy the music, and eventually came to be the youth pastor of his home church.

Fr. Barnabas attended Toccoa Falls College, an Evangelical Protestant school in North East Georgia, and received his theology degree there in 1988. He then went on to establish a new church in the Atlanta area that was an Evangelical congregation with Charismatic distinctives. While pastoring, Barnabas also was heavily involved with Evangelical Christian media.

He served Dr. Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries as Promotions and Public Relations coordinator, and also served as the Affiliates manager for Leading The Way Ministries with Dr. Michael Youssef.

He pastored for several years and saw the congregation grow from two families to over 200 in the space of a few years. During this time, Barnabas became interested in the history of the Church, and began a reading program that would eventually lead him to enter the Orthodox Christian Church. Several of the families that had been with him during his pastorate entered the Orthodox Christian Church together with Barnabas in November of 2001.

Fr. Barnabas joined the staff of Orthodox Christian Network, the producers of Come Receive The Light, in April of 2003, and now serves the media outreach as the director of development. Orthodox Christian Network is the SCOBA Agency commissioned to create and sustain a national media outreach for the Orthodox Christian Churches in the U.S.

In 2007 Fr. Barnabas was given the blessing of Metropolitan Alexios of Atlanta to enter Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and he and his wife and daughter moved to Boston to pursue his Master of Divinity in preparation for ordained ministry in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, if God wills. He is currently finishing his senior year at Holy Cross while also serving as adjunct professor for Public Speaking/Communications at Hellenic College.

Of special interest to us, He also assists in the graduate school in teaching the Preaching course for senior seminarians.

Fr. Barnabas is married to Presvytera Connie (Demas) Powell and they have one daughter, Alexandra.

As I wrote in my review of the Art of Speaking Workshop, he’s a southern gentleman with a fire in his belly for the Gospel, and a clear vision of the future of the Orthodox Church in the USA.

He also writes the blog, Sober Joy. The article below is taken from his blog, and is a small example of his excellent work.

Axios! Priest Barnabas! Congratulations, and many, blessed years to you.

Here is an article from Fr. Barnabas’ blog, for your reading enjoyment. As for me, I never get tired of reading his writing!

“DRESS UP” ORTHODOXY

Monday, June 30, 2008

Dear Readers (both of you! )

Below is a response I recently wrote to an announcement about “two new Orthodox parishes” being established in the Baltimore area. It turns out that these are two Old Catholic groups wanting to advertise themselves as “Orthodox.”

The reality of our current situation here in America is that of religious “entrepreneurial” chaos. In other words, every man can do what is “right in his own eyes.” I prefer the chaos over government control, but that means that each of us must be diligent in knowing and living the fullness of the Faith. No automatic pilot allowed!

Here’s my response. I offer it to you for your critique, response, and correction:

Fr. XXXX, please forgive me, but I spent (I won’t say “wasted” but I want to) almost 10 years of my life playing “dress up” Orthodoxy in a group that desired the ancient faith without all that messy hard work of actually being in organic communion within the Orthodox Church.

I don’t say that is what’s happening here. How could I know? But I do know that any real and lasting work any of us do will have to be eventually brought to the Church in communion if it is ever going to be “fruit that remains.” This “we are going to do Orthodoxy right” mentality is absolutely a dead end. If you and your Old Catholic group have charisms and talents, bring them to the Church. Perhaps the Church can put them to use, but more than likely it will be as it has been for me, a time when my own foolish notions of my gifts and abilities will be put to the test in the fire of the hard work of communion within the Church.

I also don’t mean to engage in any lengthy discussion of the merits of this or that vision of communion and bringing America to Orthodoxy. I simply wish to share my own regrets for waiting so long to enter into the hard work of communion within the Orthodox Church. The fruit that this work has produced in my own life is worth much more than any of the perceived “gains” I thought I had outside of the organic and canonical communion within the Church. Please know that ever fear I had about the Orthodox Church was well founded.

There are many within the Church who see it as nothing more than a place to preserve yia yia’s recipes and a few colorful costumes and dance steps, or some ultimately futile attempt to pretend they don’t live where they live now. There are many within the Church, especially here in America, who are so narrow minded that you could put out both eyes with one bb! There are far too many who know so little about their faith that they resort to silly nationalistic (and sometimes racist) motivations for preserving the ancient traditions of the faith. The sad and overwhelmingly obvious results of these weaknesses is that these motivations will not preserve anything these folks want to preserve. These weak motivations are, after all, too small to preserve the timeless beauty of the Faith, and too irrelevant to keep any of the “old world” alive. All of these fears are well founded and certainly insist on an “eyes wide open” approach to entering the Church.

But in spite of these very real weaknesses, there is simply no substitute for the hard work of dealing with these shortcomings, especially with all the benefits that come.

Because, for every narrow-minded person I have encountered in the Orthodox Church, I have encountered a hundred sincere, faithful, and loving believers who, through patience, compassion, and love have guided me to a fuller understanding of the Faith. I have seen my initial impressions of some of the ethno-centric baggage of the Church as being too short sighted myself. I have found some of these cultural expressions (certainly not all) to be worthy bearers of deeper truths that have been helpful to me in deepening my own piety and faith. I have watched as so-called “cradle” Orthodox, grasping the deep healing given to them by the Faith, raise their children as committed believers and I’ve watched as so-called “converts” finally see the power of humility in living out a sense of gratitude for those who preserved the faith so they could receive it. I have watched as young men and women come to understand that if they first dwell deeply on the “sublime theology” of Orthodoxy, their children will want to keep alive those special cultural markers that allow them to display their Orthodox faith in a healthy and welcoming way. Their children want to learn the “language” not because of some foolish and shallow nationalism, but because that “language” best captures the precious nuances of the Faith they have come to love and has so transformed their lives. It has been worth the work.

My journey isn’t over, anymore than I’m sure yours is as well. Here at seminary I am learning more than I ever dreamed, and much of that education is occurring not in a classroom but in the daily living with so many different people from so many different places. I have found my worst fears and my greatest hopes both confirmed in my canonical communion within the Church,

and I wouldn’t go back to my “dress up” days for anything!

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to all our faithful readers, members, lurkers and writers!

On this day, the day of our Lord’s birth, we here at the Preachers Institute want to wish you all a very merry, safe, and spiritually fruitful Nativity celebration, and to assure you all of our prayers, particularly on this festive Holy day. This is a great feast, the feast of the Incarnation – the central theological doctrine of the Christian faith.

If the Eternal, unseen, invisible God can become today a little child, then, indeed, anything is possible! Spread the Word! Let no man or creature suffer ignorance of this joy!

Speak to all with joy and love and keep the feast with gladness.

God is with us!

On this Christmas day, we wish you and your loved ones every good thing, every perfect gift from above. May God grant you your heart’s desire.

Preachers Institute will be celebrating the “12 Days of Christmas” by offering daily patristic sermons on Theophany/Epiphany until Jan. 6th. In the meantime, be safe, and have a blessed Nativity!

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

– Fr. John

and your friends at Preachers Institute

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Today is the 40th day! Your marathon journey has come to an end! Axios!

I want to thank everyone for participating. I’ve been reading your blogs, and I must say, I’m impressed with your work and the incredible labor that went into it. We will repeat this exercise next year, starting (once again) on Nov. 15th.

In the meantime, I want to especially congratulation some especially distinguished and new bloggers:

Fr. Matthew Thurman, of St. Luke’s Mission in Solon, OH, and his blog “30 Days.”

Fr. David Eynon of Annunciation Church in Decatur, IL, and his blog “Shine Within Our Hearts.”

Fr. Seraphim Holland of St. Nicholas Church in McKinney, TX, and his blog “Redeeming the Time.”

Finally, Fr. Athanasios Haros, of  Transfiguration Church, Florence, SC, who is the author of the “Be Transfigured” blog. He blogged every single day of our 40 Day Challenge. Fr. Athanasios also blogged on the New Testament Challenge, not an easy thing to do with a full pastoral schedule, let alone to blog on. Frankly, it was a herculean feat!

I want to thank our most experienced bloggers, Fr. James Coles and Fr. Peter Michael Preble, who are very experienced and outstanding bloggers. You added some great inspiration, not only to blogging, but to preaching. More than once I have ‘borrowed’ material from your blogs for my sermons.

In fact, I’ve done that with all our bloggers. Thank you for helping me preach with more excellence.

Most of all, congratulations to all! See you next Nativity Fast!

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Archbishop Job was an honest homilist, and this was the source of his preaching power. Like the late Bishop Innocent of Anchorage, Archbishop Job honestly and directly addressed the problems he faced in the Church.He spoke with love and passion for the Gospel of Christ, and with love for his beloved flock. This is one of his most inspiring sermons, given on Holy Monday, April 17, 2006.

His Eminence JOB, Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest

Delivered at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Chicago, Illinois

1. The Completion of Great Lent

Great Lent is now over.  The school of repentance is closed but the ‘text book’, the Lenten Triodion, remains open and opportunities for repentance are still available to us – even for “those who have delayed until the eleventh hour’ (St. John Chrysostom).

2. The Holiest of Days

We have entered into the holiest of days where time is sanctified and we experience true reality through the liturgical life of the Church.  Great and Holy Week began Friday evening and two feasts, the Raising of Lazarus and the Entrance into Jerusalem are combined into one.  The joy manifested in the entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem is now fleeting.  Now we have entered into the time of Passion – Icon of Life – where darkness, sorrow, defeat, despair and death are all tempered by the light, joy, triumph, hope and life promised through Our Lord’s Resurrection.

3. Many Great Lents, many Great and Holy Weeks, many Paschas

It is indeed mind boggling to think how many millions of faithful have observed the Feast of Feasts; how many souls have been saved; how many lost?  And to be sure there has never been a time in the history of the Church – from Pentecost to our present day – without troubles besieging Her both from within and without.  The Church is not even exempt from trouble and difficulties when acting officially.  Indeed we can find many cases in our history as best exemplified by a synod that deposed St. John Chrysostom, a synod that endorsed and accepted iconoclasm, a synod that agreed to the selling out of Orthodoxy at the Council of Florence, a synod – Your Holy Synod – who shirked responsibility, allowed itself to be lulled into complacency, and let you down for so many years, and who have led the Church into this time of crisis.

4. Why Here?  Why Now?  Shouldn’t We Just Pray?  Holy Week: In invitation to Contemplate Reality

There may be those among you who are thinking, “Why is he bringing this up now?  We have more important things to meditate on, to pray about – the Passion of Our Lord.  Why doesn’t he just leave it alone?  Didn’t His Beatitude, in His archpastoral letter read last week, say to do just that?”

Yes!  In fact, Metropolitan HERMAN wrote:

It is time for this turmoil in our parishes, in our dioceses and throughout the Church to cease and desist, especially as we approach Holy Week.  We must lay aside these earthly cares and re-focus our spiritual lives on… “the one thing that is needed…that good part which will not be taken away.”  (Luke 10:42)

Unfortunately, I am afraid that I see it another way.  With respect to His Beatitude, I must express disagreement.  Let us look at these days which we had behind and before us and see if they don’t give us a clue as to where our minds should be:

- After the triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, Jesus cleansed the temple, not a politically correct thing to do.

- Today’s Gospel deals with the unfruitful fig tree.

- Tomorrow’s with the condemnation of the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees

- Today, we hear the frightening words of The Lord, “therefore I say to you, the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and   given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.”

- Tomorrow we will hear:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the Kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers.  Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. (Matthew 23)

The Church at this time invites us to contemplate and confront these realities – painful and disturbing as they are, and not avoid them.

5. The Readings of Holy Week: A Lesson and Directive for us Today

Can we read these Gospel lessons and not be immediately reminded of the current state of our Orthodox Church in America?  The Fig Tree: beautiful to look at, inviting and with the promise of good fruit.  With the same mind let us think of our All-American Councils or pilgrimages to St. Tikhon’s where hierarchs, resplendent in gorgeous vestments put up a great façade so as to “Keep up with the Joneses” of other jurisdictions and to try to impress all with a proud and chest pounding roar of “we are autocephalous”.  Who are try trying to fool?

And so we must ask: where is the fruit?

One of my brother hierarchs wrote, “We don’t need accountability; we don’t need transparency; all we need is Christ?”  To me this sounds so pious, so convenient, so easy.  God protect us from such empty words!!

6. A Reality of Dysfunction

As lay people, as clergy, as dioceses, as hierarchs, as Holy Synod we must deal with REALITY – OUR reality, as unpleasant or even tragic as it is.  We must not “lay aside these earthly cares” at this time, but rather we must deal with them and recognize the dysfunction in our midst – a dysfunctional Synod, a dysfunctional Central Church Administration, a dysfunctional Metropolitan Council, dysfunctional dioceses and parishes, and dysfunctions in our own Diocesan Church.  Only after we recognize and admit these dysfunctions can there be RESPONSIBILITY, REPENTANCE, and FORGIVENESS.  Otherwise, if we remain as the barren fig tree, we may hear the words:

Woe to you, Orthodox Christians of today, hypocrites: for you bind the Book of Gospels in covers of gold and silver and jewels, but you fail to live by its teachings.

Woe to you, Orthodox Christians of today, hypocrites: for you give lip service to the precepts of the Church, and place your trust in the wisdom of this world.

Woe to you, Orthodox Christians of today, hypocrites: for you travel land and sea to win one convert, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Woe to you, Orthodox Christians of today, hypocrites: for you hold to a semblance of faith but deny its power.

7. Intolerabilities

We must look at our poor Church and confess that it is intolerable:

-  that division in the Holy Synod, acute as never before seen, should not be addressed and remedied.

-  that the Holy Synod not address the anger, frustration, depression and cynicism among the clergy and informed lay people and assume pro-active leadership.

-  that the vision and enthusiasm, empowered by the gift of autocephaly 36 years ago, has faded into obscurity.

-   that words like humility, forgiveness, repentance, obedience should be used as “pious platitudes” reducing them to empty words.

-  that one person or group of persons – be they lay people, priests or hierarchs – should have unlimited power.

-  that the influence that our Church and many of her leaders once had among Orthodox and non-Orthodox in North America and abroad is lost or greatly reduced.

-  that our Orthodox ecclesiology, as we are experiencing now, is being put to such a cruel test.

- that one single dollar obtained from one of our faithful ones for a specific purpose, be utilized for another – regardless of excuse.

8. Discussion, Solidarity, Oneness of Mind, Dedication

This crisis has brought the best and the worst out of people in all levels of Church life.  In my opinion it has brought the best out of the faithful in the Diocese of the Midwest as witnessed by discussion, solidarity, oneness of mind and dedication.  We do not need pointing fingers or blame casters.  We must all assume our share of the responsibility for not being as faithful as we should and for not praying unceasingly as Paul the Apostle exhorts us to do.

I most of all am responsible and humbly ask your forgiveness.  Things are being done – drastic measures have been taken.  And so now we are able to follow The Lord in His Passion, having faced and accepted reality, as unpleasant and traumatic as it is.

Now I can quote His Beatitude:

Again, I ask for your understanding and forgiveness, and your prayers for [our first hierarch] for … our Holy Synod, for our clergy and for all our faithful.  The time has come for us to unite our efforts to restore peace and harmony in our Church.  If we are to become the co-workers with Christ that we are called to be, we must place our focus on our Savior.  His Saving mission, and our shared participation in that saving mission.  We must direct our energies to the work to which each of us has been called: our own salvation and the salvation of those around us … May Our Lord help us and strengthen us and bless our every good effort.

To Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is going to His voluntary Passion for us, be all glory, now and ever and unto ages of ages…

AMEN!

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Archbishop Job wrote his ‘Joyful Epistle’ on Dec. 3, 2008, and it reflects his deep understanding and pastoral concern for the Church of Christ, and particularly for those who served the Church.

The Orthodox Church in America turned an important corner, with its face to the future, largely in part to the actions and prayers of Archbishop Job himself.

A JOYFUL EPISTLE

to the venerable Clergy, Monastics and Faithful of the Diocese of the Midwest

“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 4:2)

My Beloved in the Lord,

Glory to Jesus Christ!

It is the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day, and after a joyful and peaceful Divine Liturgy my thoughts, in a stress-free, joyous sense of calm, run to pondering on the drama of the last few weeks emanating from an extraordinary 15th All American Council. In what I have termed “a joyful epistle,” in contrast to others of a sorrowful nature that I have written, I will attempt to share with you my newly-found “joyous sense of calm,” as well as my own experience and observations of that remarkable week in Pittsburgh.

The weeks preceding the All American Council were stressful, yet, happily, diocesan life went on nicely, with several parochial celebrations. It is no secret that I approached Pittsburgh with anxiety and apprehension, even more correctly, with dread and trepidation. I was told that my countenance betrayed my feelings during the first two days of the Council. The unexpected death of our Archpriest Stephen Karaffa – may his memory be eternal – added sorrow and dismay. His ‘singing away’ began at the Council and the prayers of hundreds from parishes across the continent brought comfort and hope.

I had approached Pittsburgh trusting in God’s mercy and determined that I would be obedient to His will no matter what. I had never desired for myself the office of Metropolitan. Because of my sinfulness, faults and failings I considered, and still consider myself to be entirely unworthy and inadequate. Yet, if on the first ballot the votes for my unworthiness achieved the 2/3 majority, I was prepared to accept this as an indication of God’s will for me, expressed through the People of God, and acquiesce to God’s providence.

On Tuesday evening I intently listened to the beautiful words of our newest and youngest bishop, His Grace, Bishop JONAH. I had met him in Boston when he was a seminarian at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, and then taking courses at Holy Cross School of Theology. I found him to be intelligent, personable, committed. Although our encounters were few, I enjoyed conversing with him and had wanted to get to know him better. Then we lost contact, although I had observed from afar and admired his zeal for monasticism and missionary outreach, often under unfavorable conditions. Now as a bishop he still demonstrates his personable and humble demeanor, but added to those qualities were eloquence and spiritual insight, articulated in a way that held his audience spellbound. Before Vladyka JONAH had finished addressing the crisis of the Orthodox Church in America by preaching the Gospel of Christ, I began thanking God for raising up a true and worthy Shepherd to lead His Church sojourning in North America. Everything had changed and I rejoiced. The balloting on the next day only served to confirm my perceptions. Here was a hierarch, the only hierarch that was completely unscathed by the scandal, without “baggage” so to speak. We now had the opportunity for a clear break with the deficiencies of the past. I was humbled and grateful to be nominated as one of the two candidates presented to the Holy Synod for the canonical election, but I had no doubt as to whom must be elected. The People of God were showing us the way! I remain firmly convinced that God’s will was accomplished. Glory to God for all things! And to His Beatitude, Metropolitan JONAH, AXIOS!

My brothers and sisters, it has been a long and tedious three years – years of dismay, anxiety, bewilderment, frustration and despair. From its onset I have always prayed that my motives in doing what I was moved to do would remain pure. In the words of the Psalmist, echoed by the Holy Apostle Paul in his second epistle to the Corinthians:

“I believed; therefore I spoke. We also believe and therefore speak…” (II Corinthians 4:13)

Those words were always before me. In my letter of 28 November 2005, when I first asked the now infamous question, I also stated, “I do not claim to be a good man, but I like to think that I am an honest man.” Since then, through the crisis I have been described by people in various ways, some favorable, some derisive. I will always be grateful for the prayerful and moral support that you and so many others outside our Diocesan Church have provided for me.

Please do not think that I am implying that the crisis is over; it is not over. But I believe that we are now out of the dark tunnel, having been led by the Lord into the light where we may more clearly identify and deal with the sins and betrayals in order fully to restore honesty, righteousness, integrity and trust.

My friends, in one of his messages, his Beatitude stated (and I paraphrase) that by this scandal we, the Orthodox Church in America, have been broken into little pieces, and it is now our job to put these pieces back together again, the result of which will be even more beautiful than before. In once again setting aright the brokenness, we may also restore our Orthodox theology and the ecclesiology that it inspires to guide the Church now and in the future.

In the words of Father Alexander Schmemann of blessed memory:

“Theology is no longer the conscience and consciousness of the Church, her reflection on herself and on her problems. It has ceased to be pastoral in the sense of providing the Church with essential and saving norms; and it has also ceased to be mystical in the sense of communicating to the people of God the knowledge of God which is the very content of life eternal. A theology alienated from the Church, and a Church alienated from theology; such is the first dimension of today’s crisis.”

I am please to quote a friend of mine from New England, David Barrett, who in a recent reflection wrote:

“This newest (consecrated ten days earlier!) and youngest (age forty-nine) of bishops moved the hearts of the assembled representatives, clergy and lay, of the Body of Christ. Furthermore, by acknowledging the truth of the matter while simultaneously referring all to the Scriptures and the dogmas of our Faith, he brought together again the Church and her theology; he mended that brokenness and alienation of theology and Church! In short, he spoke with “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). He brought a new atmosphere and a new perspective to our life in the Church. More accurately, he restored the authentic perspective of our Holy Tradition”

My sisters and brothers, may it remain so! It has been said and written that ultimately I was the happiest person in Pittsburgh following the election – well, if not the happiest, at least one of the happiest, not so much because I was deferred from an awesome responsibility, but because I was convinced that the right man was chosen for the right position and I was blessed to remain in the right place for now as bishop of the Diocese of the Midwest. In my estimation our Diocese has already contributed much to the well being of the church, but there is still much to be done, especially in terms of the restoration of trust and confidence in leadership. There is much work to be done in our own Diocesan Church: bolstering our declining parishes; assisting our missions and furthering our missionary outreach; encouraging and sustaining our diocesan seminarians, who thankfully grow in number with every passing year; nurturing our youth and youth-related programs; promoting education on every level; and responsibly taking care ourselves of every local, diocesan need and concern, confident that there is once again a proper understanding of and respect for diocesan integrity, a vital expression of our ecclesiology. And this is much more easily accomplished working with a sympathetic and helpful Central Church Administration.

Yes, there is much to do as we restore trust and confidence. We must “continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.” Our new Primate has articulated for us his vision as to how this is to be accomplished – that which has always been the way of the Church:

“How do we establish trust? There’s only one way. It’s to choose to love. It is the only way. There are no organizational methods, no kinds of business practices we can invoke, no corporate ideologies, none of that.

“If we are Christians we have the choice: Do we enter into the love of Jesus Christ for one another – including our hierarchs, including our priest, including those who have failed us miserably, including those whom we judge and criticize, all to our own damnation?

“We have to choose to love, we have to choose to forgive; and this is the only way, if we are Christians.”

My beloved in the Lord, each of us has much work to do, God’s work – love and forgiveness. Once again I express my love for all of you, and once again I beg your forgiveness as one who has often failed you miserably.

I conclude with these words of St. Paul:

“Therefore do not lose heart… for our light affliction, which is for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory…for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (II Corinthians 4:17,18)

With much love in Christ, I remain

Your unworthy hierarch and friend,

?Job

Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest

© 2009, Preachers Institute. All rights reserved. On republishing this, please provide a link to the original post.

Out of the depths have I cried to you, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice. (Psalm 129:1)

To the Reverend and Esteemed Clergy of the Diocese of the Midwest

My Beloved in the Lord,

Glory to Jesus Christ!

I address this letter to you my co-workers in the Vineyard of the lord – The Diocese of the Midwest – and my friends and brothers in Christ, during this Feast of Pentecost, when we most especially and fervently pray that the Holy Spirit will “come and abide in us and cleanse us from every impurity…”

Using the words of the holy Apostle Paul,

“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your communion in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very good thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…”(Philippians 1:2-6)

I make these words my own, and I offer them in utmost sincerity.

In my letter of 28 November 2005, to His Beatitude, Metropolitan HERMAN, I stated, “ I do not claim to be a good man, but I like to think that I am an honest man.” This crisis in our Orthodox Church in America has made me painfully aware of the fact that I cannot claim to be a good man. Yet, from the beginning of this struggle, which for us in the Midwest began nearly two years ago when our Diocesan Council dared to request transparency and fiscal accountability from the Central Church Administration prior to the Toronto All American Council, I have prayed, again and again, that my motives remain pure and objective. That remains my prayer to this day.

Permit me to share with you a sad but sobering story. On Holy Saturday evening, as I was preparing to leave my apartment for Holy Trinity Cathedral to help celebrate the Feast of Feasts, I put on a beautiful ivory Panagia which I had worn on every Pascha night since it was given to me many years ago by an old friend. I looked in the mirror and then, with great sadness, I took it off, placed it in its box, and chose another. I could not wear it, not out of any spirit of self-righteousness, but because I question whether or not it was a genuine gift or something other than that. Fifty-some days later I still don’t know if I am simply playing the fool. But the beautiful panagia remains in its box. I cannot wear it again until I make restitution to the Church for its approximate worth as well as for other “gifts” that I have received. You see my friends, that I am baring my soul to you. Forgive me. I realize that critics will label this letter as “melodramatic” or “obsequious.” When I wrote a very personal letter to each of you a few years ago, it was labeled, I am told, “Sappy” by the former chancellor. It wasn’t. It was genuine, heartfelt and sincere. But we know that these qualities have not been held in high esteem for many years in “Syosset.”

God knows, and all of you know, that this crisis has taken its toll on all of us, affecting some more than others. There have been ups and downs, glimmers of hope followed by utter devastation. To read the chronology of the crisis is, in the words of one commentator, like reading “ a bad novel.” We have witnessed transfers, rescissions of transfers, rescissions of rescissions, suspensions, reversal of suspensions, disregard for decisions of the Synod and Metropolitan Council, and now Byzantine intrigue and controversy concerning due process in an ecclesiastical Court (as though this were the first Church court convened in the 37 year history of the Orthodox Church in America!)

On May 4, 2007, I placed a call to Metropolitan HERMAN, seeking direction for the Special Commission, since I had arranged for a conference call with the Commission members for later that evening. I also informed His Beatitude of our approaching Diocesan Council meeting which would render a decision on the “Palatine Resolution.” I told him of our parishes that are already withholding assessments. He inquired as to their reasons for doing this and I told him that it appears that nothing is being done by the Central Church Administration because there is no communication. I then asked for his help and his guidance. I received nothing except that one of our attorneys would contact me. A few hours later I receive the devastating letter about the suspension of the the Special Commission (which has since been made public.) I had shared it only with the Commission members, our Deans and the Diocesan Council members.

For the record, in spite of the impression that the Commission is “dead” I assure you that it is not! Its members remain frustrated, defeated and demoralized, for much time is being wasted. But we are determined to continue our work as endorsed and directed by both the Metropolitan Council and Holy Synod. And our work must include genuine investigation followed by thorough reporting. I ask your prayers that our work be permitted to go unhindered.

I reported all of this to the Diocesan Council at its meeting on May 9, which was for me an inspiration. The various opinions about the Palatine Resolution were exchanged in an open, honest and respectful way. In a nutshell, as they say, some spoke in favor of withholding as a Diocese the assessments to the Central Church Administration. I found myself agreeing with them. Others spoke against withholding. I found myself agreeing with them, too. A vote was taken. The resolution was defeated. More discussion followed. The arguments were convincing, but because of the “gray area” in question, no one, I believe, was entirely convinced. The vote was rescinded and “part two” of the meeting was scheduled for June 26. I regard this as the more responsible approach to a difficult situation. I left the meeting energized and encouraged, but unfortunately this was short lived.

In the short time since Pascha, serious and tragic mistakes have been made, the suspension of the Special Commission being, in my judgment, one of the worst. My friends, we have a crisis of leadership. I had stated that I stood in support of the Metropolitan in this crisis. I should have clarified this and should have stated that I support the positive decisions that he has made – and there certainly have been some. But there have been far more poor decisions, made unilaterally, without consultation and communication, which, as we see have had devastating results. At the Diocesan Council meeting I described myself as being “ at the end of my rope.” Now I find myself in a worse state of mind. I ponder on such things as “Desperate situations require desperate measures.” I am persuaded that I am not alone, because I have heard that there are those who were against the Palatine Resolution who have now changed their positions. Fathers and Brothers, souls are at stake! We cannot forget that.

A few days ago, I read a comment by someone on the ocanews.org website. It concluded with, “God, save us from our bishops!” and I confess that I cried. Never would I have imagined that such a statement could be made. Now it appears that it is held by many. God help us!

By next week, I will announce a special day of prayer and fasting for our Church. A service of prayer will be made available to be celebrated in all our churches. Meanwhile, let us continue to strive for truth and righteousness. Let us continue to work together to make our Diocese of the Midwest the best that it can be. Let us remember the good things and rejoice in them.

Once again I state, “ I thank my God for every remembrance of you…”

Always relying on your support, and asking your prayers for my unworthiness, I remain

Faithfully yours in Christ,

+JOB
Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest

© 2009, Preachers Institute. All rights reserved. On republishing this, please provide a link to the original post.