by Nikolaos Piperis and Stavros Piperis | ελληνικά We are thankful to hear from two distinguished Greek Americans, Dr. Aristotle Papanikolaou and Dr. George Demacopoulos, who recently published an essay about the injustices African Americans face. The authors encourage us to step into their shoes, and we agree that the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has a…
Continue readingCOVID-19, the Murder of George Floyd, and Continuing the Lockdown
by Theodore Theophilos | ελληνικά These have been unsettling times. I have been forced by the events of the last several months to face up to several disconcerting truths. When the COVID-19 lockdown orders were issued, they had a common element. Churches were not deemed “essential.” Liquor stores, pot distributors, and lottery sales were deemed essential. Commercial…
Continue readingRacism: An Orthodox Perspective
The primary goal of the Orthodox Christian is to struggle toward theosis—deification. The word theosis often conjures up images of a super hero like Thor or a Greek god like Zeus. When St. Athanasius proclaimed that “God became human so that humans can become gods,” he was not envisioning super-human strength, nor was he envisioning…
Continue readingAfrican American Orthodox Christians
In 2016, I began a series of interviews with African American Orthodox Christians in four regions of the United States. An integral component of a wider ethnographic research project (one combining participant observation and digital research) personal narratives offer a necessary depth of insight into an Orthodox community which still remains relatively unfamiliar to many….
Continue readingMy Silent Church
by Katherine Kelaidis Above my desk is a sign I bought years ago in an antique shop in the town where my Yiayia Kay grew up. It says, “No Dogs, No Greeks.” I originally bought it with a fair amount of Millennial irony, too gleeful at the fact that it would preside over a room…
Continue readingMartin Luther King, Jr. and the Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement
by Albert J. Raboteau Martin Luther King, Jr., was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1929, the son of Alberta Williams King and Martin Luther King, Sr., pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. King’s childhood was happy and secure, though all too early he was made aware of the hurts inflicted by racism. Like his father, grandfather, and…
Continue readingArchbishop Iakovos, Martin Luther King Jr., and The Challenge of Selma
The third Monday in the month of January is set aside by Americans to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. King’s witness in life and death continues to call society to see every person as created in the image and likeness of God and worthy of equal treatment under the law. One of…
Continue reading