We are honored to present the first-place junior and senior division speeches from the 2023 St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival held at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Clifton, NJ. The oratorical festival is an annual nationwide youth ministry of the Department of Religious Education of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America that gives students…
Continue readingAdvice on the Future of Religion in America from a College Class
When the New York Times recently asked readers to tell them why they had left their religion behind some 7,000 readers responded (“Why Do People Lose Their Religion?” June 7, 2023). Clearly there is a lot of painful pent-up feeling about this. But an equally intriguing question is, “Why do people keep their religion?” This…
Continue readingSave Kyiv Theological Academy
Students of Kyiv Theological Academy In 2022, the Russian Federation began full-scale military aggression against Ukraine. There are already many thousands of victims in this terrible war, not only military, but also civilians. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church took the side of the Ukrainian people from the very beginning of the war. Already on February 24,…
Continue readingThe Church Meets in Volos
A Non-Academic’s Impressions of the Second IOTA Mega-Conference
I arrived in Volos a day early so my family could get settled into our Airbnb and immediately felt a certain hesitation about the days ahead. As a priest of the Orthodox Church in America pastoring and preaching in a parochial, domesticated way for 30+ years, I am used to depending on easily accessible basic…
Continue readingInternational Orthodox Theological Association Conference Opens in Volos
On January 11, 2023, the second Mega-Conference of the International Orthodox Theological Association (IOTA) held its formal opening at the Volos Academy for Theological Studies. His Eminence Metropolitan Ignatius (Georgakopoulos) of Demetrias presided over Vespers at the Saints Constantine and Helen Church. In his welcome to the conference participants he said he was grateful that…
Continue readingShould St. Vlad’s Campus Be Relocated, or Stay Where It Is?
by Very Rev. Dr. Michael A. Meerson | български | ქართული | ελληνικά | Română | Српски The Board of Directors of St. Vladimir’s Seminary and, especially, its President, Father Chad Hatfield, must be commended for their constant labor to make the ends meet and thus to maintain the seminary. We must remember, however, that…
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