Great conversation. As a convert myself, and now having been in the Church for about 10 years, I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the warmth and welcome a new comer receives can often have a greater impact on their likelihood of becoming Orthodox than the theology they're exposed to. Grappling with the theology can take time (for some of us a very, very long time), but if a person doesn't feel genuinely welcomed, they often won't make it the amount of time necessary to come to terms with the Faith itself. If I may humbly offer an encouragement - get out of your comfort zone and go say hello!
I’m an introvert, it was soooo hard for me to walk i to an Orthodox Church. The first week I met two really nice people, the next week one of them wasn’t there and the other only said hello and walked off.. nobody else spoke to me. I’m not the type to strike up conversation. It’s hard for me to make friends. The second time i didn’t go to the coffee social after. I’m going again this weekend because the Priest is having an Orthodox 101 class after social hour. Pray for me to make it through that….
I agree. I am an EO catechumen and have seen in Protestantism, RC, and EO people that come there for the spectacle. I’ve also seen many that have few bad experiences and assume that the faith as a whole is bad. No, you had a bad experience with people. Don’t see things through a bad lense. Try to see the faith itself and not priest, bishop, or partitioners that hurt you. Best advice that I had as a young Christian was, “keep your eyes on Jesus Christ “
I visited Jordanville this past November and saw Fr. Theodore from afar. Didn't get to speak with him but he came to mind quite a few times whenever I thought/think about my time at the monastery. I was happy to get to hear him speak here. Sometimes you feel close to people you've never met/spoken to. Life is interesting that way.
I was raised a Ukrainian Greek Catholic, a church (baptized and chrismated) which I would argue has an "Orthodox soul". In consultation with an Orthodox priest I was told that to join the Orthodox Church I would only need to go to confession (I'm guessing that it might be a longer confession to renounce the Pope and some Catholic dogmas that honestly I am not particularly attached to). I've been considering it for years, but some of the politics of the Moscow patriarchate vs the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. As you might imagine, given the current war, I am not a fan of the Moscow patriarchate. That being said, I currently attend a Latin rite church (no UGKCs near me) and see some really big differences between the latin rite and eastern rite. As a consequence I pray from an Orthodox prayer book and read a lot of Orthodox literature and feel much more at home (beyond just "at home", it's sort of in my bones) with the Orthodox world view. I worry about Protestant converts bringing a "Protestant worldview" into the Orthodox Church. I can imagine that it would take a long time to convert from Protestant to Orthodox.
48:51 Today makes my second Sunday going to a Greek Orthodox Church and everyone both today and last week have been nothing but the utmost nicest people and welcoming and accepting people I’ve ever met. Even the Father was extremely welcoming and he genuinely seemed happy and excited me and my wife and kids were there and were eager and ready to learn and eventually convert into Orthodoxy from Protestantism.
I lost my brother to suicide 10 years ago. I was angry at God and fell into a depraved life. Never be angry at God for losing a loved one. It's not worth losing your soul over.
You are correct! He was martyred on Nov. 19, 2009 by a Muslim fanatic who took an oath upon himself. Soon afterwards, a militant Islamic group based in the North Caucasus took credit for the murder of Fr. Daniel.
Well, that made me feel very small lol. Off to buy catechism books for this wildly uneducated subdeacon. I hope I can get back to Jordanville someday. Only been once a few years back. Stayed for two weeks. Immediately felt like I was at home. Usually when I go somewhere I'm ready to leave after a couple weeks. Not there, though. Didn't want to leave. Meant to go back for a much longer stay. God willing some day. Please pray for Subdeacon Kosmas!
• Lectures on the Christian Sacraments: St. Cyril of Alexandria • Catechetical Discourse - A Handbook for Catechists: St. Gregory of Nyssa • The Catechism of St. Peter Mogila: Fundamental Teachings of the Orthodox Christian Faith • The Longer Catechism of the Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church: St. Philaret of Moscow • The Greek Orthodox Catechism (Rare): C. N. Callinicos • Our Orthodox Christian Faith: Athanasios S. Frangopoulos • The Orthodox Faith, Worship, and Life: Hieromonk Gregorios • The Law of God: Fr. Daniel Sysoev • The Law of God: Fr. Seraphim Slobodskoy • How to Live a Holy Life: Metropolitan Gregory (Postnikov) • The Struggle for Virtue: Asceticism in a Modern Secular Society: Archbishop Averky (Taushev) • The New Martyrs of Russia: Fr Michael Polsky
Excellent video and information. Father's insight is invaluable. The question of cathecism is very important. Looking forward to newer discussions on this great channel! IC XC NIKA ☦️ ♥️
Every time my husband and I have met with Fr. Theodore, he has given us so much great information. We wished he had a podcast to reach us with his vast knowledge more regularly. We were so happily surprised to see him here.
Hi, can you restate the baptism topic.. his explanation of Rebaptism didn't clarify the issue of those who were previously baptized in other churches, including Protestant, Mormon, etc.. Can you break it down further?
Kae Lou, he addressed it all. You must've missed it. He said we don't rebaptize & don't believe in rebaptizing anyone. There is no such thing as rebaptism. There is only one baptism by the Church into the Church. Baptism into Christ's Body, the Orthodox Church, can be done only by the Orthodox Church. Outside the Orthodox Church, there is no baptism. Given that there is no baptism outside the Church, there can be no such thing as rebaptism. So, Papalists, Protestants, Mormons who come to the Orthodox Church are not previously baptized, as there are no Mysteries/Sacraments (& therefore no baptism) outside the Orthodox Church. He said, in ROCOR, everyone is received by baptism [which is done by triple immersion in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, per our Lord's commandment. Baptism is a Greek word that means immersion]. Corrective baptism is an entirely different matter because it is for Orthodox, who were received into the Orthodox Church by chrismation & who are seeking baptism to correct the way they were received--they should have been received into the Church by baptism, but were not, & so they seek to correct that & receive the grace of baptism into Christ, with all the baptismal prayers, which they, sadly, did not receive.