Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan Consecrated for Guatemala

It has been announced that this past Wednesday Patriarch Moran Mor Ignatios Zakka (Iwas) of Antioch consecrated a monk as Metropolitan Mor Yacoub (Edward) to serve the growing Syriac Orthodox Church in Guatemala. Axios! More information will be posted as it becomes available.

Conference of Russian Orthodox Hierarchs Abroad Held in London

A conference of Russian Orthodox hierarchs serving outside the canonical territory of the Moscow Patriarchate involving diocesan and auxiliary hierarchs of both dioceses directly under the Patriarchate and under the autonomous Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) as well as Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk has been held in London, England. Hierarchs representing dioceses in North America, Oceania, and Western Europe were present for the conference.

In addition to concelebrating together the gathered hierarchs discussed issues relating to joint pastoral work between the various dioceses (previously separated by the split between the Russian Orthodox Church in the USSR and the ROCOR), 'internal missionary work' relating to the Belorussian/Russian/Ukrainian Diasporas, 'external' missionary work amongst the non-Orthodox peoples of the West, differences in liturgical practice, and variations in how converts are received into the Russian Orthodox Church outside the former USSR.

A summary of the conference, which also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the organization of the patriarchal Russian Orthodox diocese in the United Kingdom, can be found here.

Assyrian Patriarch Plans Visits to Turkey, China

Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV (Khnanya) of Seleucia-Ctesiphon has received invitations to visit both Turkey, where efforts have begun to preserve historic Assyrian churches and monasteries in its southeastern districts, and the People's Republic of China, where discussions are underway to reestablish the Church of the East in the country. (Christians were historically a significant religious minority in the Chinese Empire, and were members of the Church of the East.) More here.

Assyrian Patriarch Meets with Chinese Christians

Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Dinkha IV (Khnanya) of the Church of the East has met in Chicago with the director of Hong Kong's Jingjiao Fellowship to discuss relations between the Assyrian Church and the Fellowship, which was founded to promote awareness of the ancient presence and activity of the Church of the East in China. During the meeting the Fellowship's head presented the Assyrian patriarch with a copy of the first translation of the Assyrian Divine Liturgy into Chinese. More here.

Pope Theodore, Archbishop Jerome Meet in Athens

Pope Theodoros II (Horeftakis) of Alexandria has begun a visit to Athens, meeting with Archbishop Jerome II (Liapis) of Athens to discuss relations between the Alexandrian and Greek Orthodox Churches and to thank him for all of the support provided by the Church of Greece to the missionary and pastoral work of the Orthodox Church in Africa. More (in Greek) here.

St. Juvenaly of Alaska

Joyous feast! С праздником! St. Juvenaly, the Protomartyr of the Americas, was born in the late 1700s in Siberia and trained as an engineer before entering a monastery in St. Petersburg following the death of his wife. Three years after his tonsuring in 1791 he traveled to Alaska to serve as a missionary there. In Alaska the Saint traveled extensively, preaching the Gospel and baptizing many of the local peoples.

It was during one of his missionary journeys, in 1796, that St. Juvenaly came across a hunting party and was murdered by them. Although why the hunting party killed the Saint is unknown, it was later reported to St. Innocent, then Bishop of Sitka, that St. Juvenaly did not try to escape or defend himself, instead begging the band not to attack the newly baptized faithful nearby. Although left for dead, St. Juvenaly rose up and followed his attackers, urging them to repent. After several instances of this happening the hunters hacked St. Juvenaly to pieces to ensure that he would not follow them again.

More on St. Juvenaly's life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Missionary Priest Assigned to Bunia, DRC

The Alexandrian Orthodox Church is sending a missionary priest, Archimandrite Timothy (Ntumba), to oversee the missionary work of its Diocese of Bujumbura in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo's city of Bunia. More (in Greek) here. Bunia was the site of some of the worst atrocities to have taken place in the eastern provinces of the DRC. More on that here.

Haitian Orthodox Appeal for Help

The fledgling Haitian Orthodox Church, a mission of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, is appealing for assistance as Haiti continues to struggle to rebuild from a devastating 2010 earthquake and the Haitian Orthodox parishes and missions work to reestablish destroyed churches and homes. More here.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! Sts. Cyril and Methodius are known as the 'Equals-to-the-Apostles' for their pioneering mission work amongst the Slavs of Moravia, a work which led to the creation of the Cyrillic alphabet and the conversion of all the Slavs scattered throughout Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe to either Orthodoxy or Roman Catholicism. More on their lives and labors can be found here. May their blessings and prayers be with us all!

St. Alexis of Minneapolis

Christ is risen! Joyous feast! St. Alexis Toth of Minneapolis and Wilkes-Barre is one of the better known Orthodox Christian missionaries of the United States, having led a large number of Ruthenians (Carpatho-Rusyns, Carpatho-Russians, et cetera) out of the Ruthenian Catholic Church and into the Russian Orthodox Church in North America. Many of his spiritual descendants today form the cores of the independent American Orthodox Church and the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. More on St. Alexis' life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

Bangalore Metropolitan Calls on Laity to Engage in Missionary Work

Metropolitan Abraham Mar Seraphim of Bangalore has called on the faithful of his diocese to focus on the missionary work essential to the future of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. More here.

Malankara Orthodox Outreach in Bangkok

An outreach of the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church has been organized in Bangkok, Thailand, for the Malankara Orthodox faithful there. The first Divine Liturgy was held on 3 April. Orthodox faithful in Thailand interested in participating in the mission should contact 0065-81891415. More here.

St. Innocent of Sitka

Joyous feast! С праздником! St. Innocent was one of the great lights of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 19th century and certainly an even greater light in Alaskan and American Orthodoxy. An account of his life can be found here. May his blessing and prayers be with us all!

"Avoiding Both Self-Ghettoization and Trinket Evangelism"

Fr. Oliver Herbel has an excellent post on balance in Orthodox life and outreach in North America here. He speaks at one point of Orthodox Christians who grow out their hair, wear all black, and wonder around with long prayer ropes and I couldn't help laughing - partly because I was trending in that direction at one point :-) and partly because I still meet converts in that phase.

When I left Protestantism the question of how to be relevant to the wider culture around me ceased to be a question and the beard and prayer rope were added to my 'look.' I certainly haven't grown in faith since those days, but more and more I'm realizing that the question of relevance isn't irrelevant :-). It can be thought about too much (and result in awesome stuff like crowd surfing during church), but that doesn't mean that we in the world shouldn't take a look in the mirror from time to time and ask ourselves how we are witnesses to others of God's call to communion with Him.

So, there's my half penny on all of this. Fr. Oliver's article is much better and to the point. Enjoy!

Pictured is yours truly being culturally relevant in a kilt - culturally relevant for a friend's wedding that is :-).

Ukrainian Missionary Training Program

The Ukrainian Catholic Church is introducing a training program for Ukrainian Catholic missionaries. More here.

Ugandan Orthodox Priest Appointed to Lead Alexandrian Orthodox Church in South Sudan

My parish priest during my high school days, Archimandrite Innocentios (Byakatonda), was blessed this past Sunday to establish our Alexandrian Orthodox Church in South Sudan. Axios! South Sudan was previously under the rather distant care of the Metropolis of Khartoum and the appointment will, God willing, finally enable Orthodoxy to be planted in a region that has suffered for quite some time. More here.

"Surviving as a Christian"

An interesting interview with a priest working as a missionary amongst the Chukchi of the Russian Far East can be found here.

Quote of the Day: Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk

What happens to a person who enters an Orthodox church for the first time out of curiosity or inner dissatisfaction or in search for the truth? Nobody will touch him at best...at worst a newcomer coming to a church from the street will encounter ordinary rudeness. He would be scolded by the babushka who serves behind the candle box. She would condemn him for making the sign of the cross in a wrong way, for standing at a wrong place, for wearing wrong clothes, et cetera. And after coming to church two or three times, the person will lose any interest in coming back.

Missionary Work in Moscow Continues

Disciples of the martyred Muscovite priest, Fr. Daniel Sysoyev, continue his outreach work amongst immigrants in Russia's capital and largest city as well as in Kazakhstan. Chinese, English, Tajik, Uzbek, and Vietnamese-language publications are already being printed by his former parish, St. Thomas the Apostle's Church, and Kirghiz-language materials are being prepared for publication. More here.

All Saints' Day

I'm fresh back from a weekend pilgrimage to eastern Washington to see my grandmother and to attend the services at Holy Cross Church, where I became a catechumen the summer of 2002. It was a full and tiring weekend, but a good one that, oddly enough given some of the weekend's events, has helped renew my hope for the future.

My weekend aside, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk preached a good sermon on the calling of Orthodox Christians to witness to the Faith through our lives. I thought it especially relevant on this feast of All Saints on to the Roman calendar. His sermon can be found here.