Church Schools and the Future of Orthodoxy 

America needs Orthodox Classical Schools !!

Please pray for my family, as I am a public school teacher. My older children were mostly homeschooled by my husband or myself, but after my husband got fibromyalgia, we invested in my education, I got a higher paying degree in education, and went back into teaching in the public schools. God placed me in a place with Christian leadership and staff whose focus was the good of children and teaching their hearts, but now the district is considering on closing down our school. Not only that, but I see my middle and younger children starting to be influenced by the godlessness which seems to be increasing in what was once a more conservative area. The Christian schools here are out of our budget, my husband's and my health is declining, and we still have a large family to care for. We are not Orthodox but Baptist because that is what my husband wants , but I try to bring my growing Orthodox mindset into the family as I feel is right. I have looked for college jobs but I still have a heart for children as well. Please pray that the Lord will open a path for us where I can teach children and or beginning teachers in a godly way and my own children can be nurtured in holiness as well. Pray for my husband as he leads our family as well. I am blessed by your videos Father.

Listening to this is inspirational and exciting. May God grant America Orthodox schools.

We started a hybrid school (half school, half homeschool cooperative) at our parish and it has been going strong for 14 years with over 200 students. People who love God need to remove from their mind all thought of multi-million-dollar buildings and teachers who have college degrees and just do it. As Catholics, we knew that the First, Second and Third Plenary Councils of Baltimore stated that every parish should have a school and it should be free. Sadly, our hybrid is not free, but it is very affordable, and no one is ever turned away. Today, most Catholic schools are only for the wealthy.. How sad!

This year, I took my 7yr old out of public school and placed him into a private Christian Academy. It's really making a huge difference in his academics, behavior, attitude and more

Our Church of England and Catholic faith school was the first to teach my daughter that anyone could change sex as fact. We now homeschool.

St John of Kronstadt Orthodox Academy is opening in Brisbane , Australia next year . It will be Australia’s first Orthodox Classical School . Here in Australia we are inspired by the renewal in Classical Christian education that is occurring in America. Orthodox families ought to research the renewal in classical education. Many of the leaders in the renewal in America are Orthodox - Andrew Kern from the CiRCE Institute, Christopher Perrin from Classical Academic Press, Adrian Freas from Beautiful Teaching in Dallas , Texas etc

Near End Times there's going to be a Remnant of Apostolic Churches & believers, may Jesus Christ Save us & Holy Mary Pray for Us , Saint Joseph pray for us & Saints Peter & Paul pray for us, God bless 🗝️🗝️🙏 One holy Catholic & Apostolic Church. Please pray for me also thank you God bless.

St. Tikhon of Moscow pray for us! A great hero of the Orthodox Church in America.

I always anticipate quality from you, Father Josiah. Did not expect a subject like this to be so remarkably presented as you did. EXCELLENT words from saints.. May these schools truly come to be. ☦☦☦☦

Wonderful analysis. May our young ones learn how to defend their faith. The Great Commission is to our youth as well. Go! May God help the adults set a good example of defending the Truth.

"Of all holy works, the education of children is the most holy". st. Theophan the recluse

~We certainly need a LOT of prayer in this regard.~ Many Orthodox put their Children in daycare & public schools while the mothers work, including priest's wives, not to mention the worldly clothing allowed in O Churches, while immodest dress on women is forbidden at most monasteries. Quite a lack of discernment, and priests say nothing. The Children (& many parents) find Church boring because they are untaught and have no clue what Church is for or what is happening at Liturgy. Many talk and are disruptive, and . . . it is most sad! I'm sure God is grieved.

Thankyou,Fr Josiah for this video I cannot express enough the importance of church schools for many reasons.as a parent I would like to say I have failed God and my children I am English Cypriot and did not know how to teach the Orthodox faith as I thought it was to heavy for kids so I kept things really simple .parents need support and guidance unfortunately my eldest son is Protestant and my other son is an atheist .how I wish I could have planted the seeds of the faith in them from an early age again I say parents need support on this .please pray for me and my sons and their families.😢

Convert some of the monastery and convent to schools.

Thankful for my kid's local Orthodox school. Our family is lucky. ☦️🥳💞

"Children should see their parents leading an intense interior life " is the most important thing. Holy John of Kronstadt, pray to God to guide our Church in producing this help to parents.

If I were an American I would buy all the audio materials produced by father Josiah. The price is too low for America. But it is too high for the Ukraine which has become one of the poorest countries in the world since 2022. Nonetheless, I have bought some of them. And I plan to buy them all with the lapse of time. You are lucky Christians because you have the opportunity to listen to such wonderful lectures by father Josiah. This is a gift from God for you.

I like these podcasts

Indeed, cold hearts re-lighting. Most sadly, having "fun" and being totally occupied with Children in earthly extra-curricular activities & taking vacations takes priority in many lives, rather than teaching godliness and contentment, how to contribute in the home and Church, etc.; then everyone is too sick to come to church more than they attend! ~O Lord, have mercy.

There was a man at Balboa Park recently with a simple sign. I am here to listen. People would stop and talk with him. I would like to try that at UCR.

I can’t agree more! America needs Orthodox schools where our children can learn not only reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also the Orthodox faith. All we need is for more families to come together and this can happen. Pray for this!

I don’t have a family yet, but find this video very helpful and edifying for any future life.

Even though I am traditional Catholic, and not Orthodox, I find it very sad that I see no Orthodox schools anywhere near me in any of the states that I have lived in. It really seems like they don't exist. I believe in a Catholic school for every Catholic child, but sadly that doesn't exist anymore. It nearly existed prior to Vatican II. Now the modern Catholic schools are expensive . The traditional Catholic school attached to my parish is very difficult to get into. We have tried. One of my daughters attended school there for two years. She was a gifted student. My oldest daughter was dismissed after a month for ADD. My 6 year old daughter at the time was dismissed after 2 weeks for having ADHD and being generally immature. She was a first grader. First graders are generally immature. I have tried to get my daughter back into my parish school, as she is a straight A student in private school, but they won't take her because she has anxiety problems and some symptoms of possible Asperger's Syndrome. She is a brilliant student, but that isn't enough for them. We need more church schools in general. I myself might even send my kids to an Orthodox school if one were ever available. The public schools in the United States are especially bad in Democrat run states like Minnesota. My school district helped co-sponsor a "gender affirming" clinic for toddlers and preschoolers. It's really sick.

Come to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania or Houston, Texas. There are Orthodox Christian K-12 schools which are incredible!

I will speak of my own experience here in Britain. The Church of England owns a huge number of primary schools, they used to also own many of the high schools but made a deal with the government to hand those over, though I doubt how much of a difference that made. There is very very limited sign of church involvement, parents feel there is because they only look at atheistics, we have crosses on the walls and Church of England in the name, the reality is that the faith is more dead than in a secular school, why, because children who grow up in such a school think they know Christianity and never let it near their heart or head later in life. The school might have crosses but it has no place for the Cross, they don't teach children about Christianity, they teach more of pagan faiths and more zealously, my experience was children not knowing that Christmas had anything to do with Christ, bible's being left unread in corners and secularisms being preached to defenceless minds, climate change, racial and class prejudice. The reality is that the school is run and staffed by atheists, atheists even who might call themselves Christian and then say God was a woman or the CoE racist for it's englishness. A priest I spoke to lamented the state of things and wondered if he should bother to the work of being a school governor when the school ignores him utterly to pursue evil ends. But unfortunately it is worse than that, due to the curriculum schools are held to the standards of the prevailing secular faith, they are made to affirm evil and teach degeneracy. Yes this now includes primary school, I can't say some of what they teach, it being too explicit for youtube, but it is mandatory and schools have inspections and will be shut if they don't go along with it. This is why my advice always is to home educate, some of the older generation think that private schools are better, the reality is that they are not, good reputation largely is academic and parents never ask so don't know the real experience of students. In my own line of study I have run into a lot of people with first hand experience with Catholic schools in this country, if they are anything to go by such schools are only a level better by paying lip service to their purpose for being separate from the whole. These people had faithful parents, sometimes even a faithful teacher, but the school gave them up to the world and they were lost to it. My advice in the UK is that natives need to learn from the gypsies, if you aren't on record they can't police you, simply avoid the institutions as they are hostile. My advice abroad to to look carefully at legislation and decide whether the school will do more damage then good (over here at least the pool of available teachers is abysmal, they are probably below average in intelligence, and finding one of faith is abnormal even if all of them will pretend they have some to get a job). It is incredibly important that the faith be alive and rigorous, that the young are guided correctly and with care to the detail and cultivation. For context just over a century ago English education was first class and most teachers were laymen if not priests. The primary focus of the Church of England was education and it showed in the quality of person and strength of faith in people of the time.

I forgot to say may God bless you Fr and your blessed work may our good Lord bless your family and flock also.

Amen father! Pray for the faithful and our children in Sweden as it is exceedingly difficult to start private schools here, especially religious ones. Pray that we find grace and strength to play our part in this crucial aspect of our mission in Christ

Amin!

Yes!!!

Yes

What a revolution/revival this would spark in the states, if Orthodox schools would make a comeback.

We need Orthodox schools

🙏🙏🙏

When will be the next Kosmas Orthodox Education conference?

Are you reading these quotes from a particular book or just your notes? I'm Orthodox and a teacher so if it's a book I'd love to know about it. Thank you for your encouragement as always.

The question is whether Justice or Empathy comes first. It's hard to deal with tarantulas and other such types.

St Kosmas the Aetolian

This is basically impossible for me. Norways state is extremely hostile to private schools. I might have to move.

Are we called to let our light shine to the secular world or called to hide our light from the world? I think we need more orthodox kids in public schools! Isolationism is an idea I cannot find in the Bible. Jesus sent the disciples into the world, he didn’t send them into a closet where they hide and pray.

Amin to that we need more schools Father i pray and contemplate how to have many orthodox schools ideally one with every parish🙏❤️🙏

*This*

American's need to up hold the 15 cannon of the second synod of the Holy Father Saint Fotios as things in general are going down hill from politics/social and unfortunately an abandoned flock from the Church.

Unfortunately in my country (Brazil) homeschooling is not legal and opening a school is an extremely regulated process and plus we orthodox are very few and scattered. I’ve been a teacher, coordinator and now work with technology in education and I would love to invest my skills on an orthodox school and also have my kids study at one.

The rampant materialistic and sexual degeneracy makes me rage especially when I want both sons and daughters. Public schools in America train degeneracy nothing more. Absolutely disgusting

If a boy needs to be force to work in the altar there is something fundamentally wrong in the family.

that😎

My only concern with this is the horror stories I have heard coming out of catholic schools. There is a half-joke that the only catholics who stay catholic are those who don't go to catholic schools, because of their infamous, if not outright stereotypical, strictness sans agape. I've heard stories as silly as this: A male student gets scolded for having long hair, like Christ in His depictions, because it was against the stringent dress code. Christ Himself as depicted in catholic iconography would not pass the dress code of that catholic school. If there are to be orthodox schools, loveless busybodies must not be allowed any positions of authority within them. Harpies and shrews must repent and forget themselves, or never be hired at all.

Can we have Orthodox schools in America as Jews do?

Any Orthodox property that may need free security, I'm very interested for Catechumenship ☦️

What can a man do, Father, when he wants to do this with his children but his wife refuses?

This sounds so nice however, Orthodoxy has been in the U.S. since the 1700’s and I stumbled on to it in 1999 and have yet to see a huge support from parents or clergy for orthodox educational schools. I had come from the Mennonite tradition and probably 85% of those children attend private Mennonite schools. No need to mention Amish. And there are hundreds of Protestant Christian schools. There was once a strong Catholic school presence. So what is up with the Orthodox. I was home schooling at mt time of entering the Orthodox faith and on many levels met with a negative or simply unsupportive attitude. There are many home schooling Orthodox because no support from parishes to start an Orthodox Christian school. So this lays heavily on the clergy and the diocese leaders.

Does anyone here know if any Christian /Orthodox schools in England?

Just for some clarification Father. Are you saying that Christians should not receive a secular education in general, or that they should receive a secular education (Mathematics, History, Langauge, Science) from a Christian School?

When you say "Christian" schools are you talking about Orthodox school? I live in Australia and am stitching my kids to a Christian school (no Orthodox schools here that I know of) only catholic or protestant...... sigh.....don't know where to send them😢

:( Father, Have not some near illiterate priests been canonized? Though I'm sure the living saint would've discerned those who were not illiterate but truly holy fathers.

My good man no one is looking towards the russian orthodoxy anywhere in the orthodox world .Dont fall into the trap of thinking more is better .Even russsians themselves long in the past were looking for guidance in the european east.You're down the wrong path. Russia as a nation has harmed orthodoxy more than can you imagine.in fact that;s majorly all they have done.Any recent example comes to mind?

thats in Putins hands.. Now stop larping and atone for the global south as a western settler