Baptism : unless it`s personal it`s not real. People often ask why we baptize and chrismate babies before they could possibly know what is going on. As Orthodox Christians, we don’t baptize babies because they believe --- We baptize babies in order that they will believe. God takes the first step as a sign of His love. But there is nothing automatic about being a Christian. There is nothing magic in the sacraments. It is not just belonging to the Church that saves us; it is our personal acceptance of the Spirit of Christ.

Offering our Gifts It is also through the Holy Spirit that we are able to discern our gifts with which we are called to serve the Lord. Each of us is blessed in a different way with different gifts and together we make up the body of Christ on earth.

OFFERING OUR FAITH “It is the Parish, it is the local community which has been, is, and will forever be the central, indispensable agent for offering our Orthodox faith to contemporary America.” -Archbishop Demetrios of America

TENDING TO YOUR MARRIAGE by Rev. Dr. Charles Joanides, LMFT ...do not take your marriage for granted. This is not God’s will. Second, just as your children, family and career need attention, your marriage needs attention. Third, marriages come apart over time, so you need to be attentive to them daily. Fourth, if you discern that distance has creeped into your relationship, do something about it before the gap becomes bigger. Fifth, prayerfully ask God to help you broach the subject with your partner, and then talk to your partner about your concerns. Sixth, if this doesn’t work, consult your priest. Seventh, if your priest cannot help, ask for his help in finding a couple’s specialist. Last, but certainly, not least, do not take your marriage for granted and assume your current problems will disappear....

Read more in
TENDING TO YOUR MARRIAGE
by Fr Charles Joanides

STORIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE CHOSEN TO BECOME ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS BISHOP KALLISTOS WARE
STRANGE YET FAMILIAR: My Journey to the Orthodox Church

I can remember exactly when my personal journey to Orthodoxy began. It happened quite unexpectedly one Saturday afternoon in the summer of 1952, when I was seventeen. I was walking along Buckingham Palace Road, close to Victoria Station in central London, when I passed a nineteenth-century Gothic church, large and somewhat dilapidated, that I had never noticed before. There was no proper notice-board outside it — public relations have never been the strong point of Orthodoxy in the Western world! — but I recall that there was a brass plate which simply said "Russian Church."

As I entered St Philip`s — for that was the name of the church — at first I thought that it was entirely empty. Outside in the street there had been brilliant sunshine, but inside it was cool, cavernous and dark. As my eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, the first thing that caught my attention was an absence. There were no pews, no chairs in neat rows; in front of me stretched a wide and vacant expanse of polished floor.

Then I realized that the church was not altogether empty. Scattered in the nave and aisles there were a few worshipers, most of them elderly. Along the walls there were icons, with flickering lamps in front of them, and at the east end there were burning candles in front of the icon screen. Somewhere out of sight a choir was singing. After a while a deacon came out from the sanctuary and went round the church censing the icons and the people, and I noticed that his brocade vestment was old and slightly torn.

My initial impression of an absence was now replaced, with a sudden rush, by an overwhelming sense of presence. I felt that the church, so far from being empty, was full — full of countless unseen worshipers, surrounding me on every side. Intuitively I realized that we, the visible congregation, were part of a much larger whole, and that as we prayed we were being taken up into an action far greater than ourselves, into an undivided, all-embracing celebration that united time and eternity, things below with things above.

READ MORE OF THIS STORY AND THE STORIES OF OTHERS WHO HAVE EMBRACES THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FAITH -- visit www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/inq_convert.aspx

Bringing Our Friends to Christ We begin by bringing ourselves to Christ. But we never stop there. After we have brought ourselves, we bring others. The greatest gift that any one can bring to another is Christ.
-A. Coniaris

A BENEDICTION "I have this benediction for you," I said. "As you leave this sanctuary, make sure that you are clothed in the vast and awesome love of the Heavenly Father. If you should stumble and fall, it will be that very love that will draw you back to his presence. Be careful to seize every opportunity to reflect God`s love in your words and in your actions toward others. Do not be angry, selfish, or arrogant people, but—in response to his love—let your patience and kindness flow toward those who are weaker and more vulnerable than you. If you are intentional about these things, the blessing of the God of love will be upon you. Remember, we shall stand before him some day and all our thoughts and deeds will be made known. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I bid you farewell." (author unknown)

THE TURNAROUND PARISH "...turnaround ministry is possible and can happen, but only if a declining parish’s priest and parishioners are willing to commit themselves to the effort of turnaround ministry, an effort that will require the entire parish working together as a team to stem the hemorrhaging and make a full comeback to healthy witness and ministry. While moving forward often requires reflective moments of looking back, pure nostalgia for the times that never really were can slowly grind to a halt any efforts to move a declining church forward. Those wishing to move their churches to full health and growth must remember that memory (of the past) must be coupled with vision (of the future) and real mission in order to achieve a holistic approach to real church growth."

Fr. Jonathan Ivanoff
Rector of St. John the Theologian Church in Shirley, New York
and member of the OCA Department of Evangelism.


THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD “Every temple of the Lord is a house of divine Presence and a house of prayer. Every temple is also a house of peace. May the soul of all those who enter into this holy temple to take part in the assembly of God, become itself a house of peace.”

Serve the Lord With Gladness by A Monk of the Eastern Church