Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco
An OCN staff member discovered a wonderful article (with photographs!) about Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco on the website of a church in Kennewick, WA, of which this saint is the patron. Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco Orthodox Church is a mission, but it already has...
The Implications of Christians Forcing Christianity on Others
On the surface of the recent decision by the Supreme Court, it may seem SCOTUS has decided that when it comes to birth control, this is something that you need to buy on your own and it is not the responsibility of the employer to provide this through a federally...
Liberty and Technocracy: JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and an Orthodox Fourth of July
July 4 on the Old Calendar would mark the feast of the Royal Martyrs of Russia, the last Orthodox emperor and his family, slain on the Fourth of July. That coincidence brings up the meaning of Orthodox ideas of government in relation to what C.S. Lewis decried as modern technocracy,...
Four Reasons Why Early Christianity Grew So Quickly
The rapid growth of the early Christian church is a source of perennial fascination. As Rodney Stark, a sociologist of religion who has written extensively on the topic, put it: “ How did a tiny and obscure messianic movement from the edge of the Roman Empire dislodge classical paganism and...
Ecumenical Patriarch’s Speech: Christian Love Can Solve World’s Problems
Greeting message to 21st Anniversary Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy General Assembly From His All Holiness The Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew Delivered by His Eminence Metropolitan Emmanuel of France Moscow, 26 June 2014 Dear Friends, On behalf of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, we congratulate you on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of...
Faith vs Knowledge: Part 1
Why is it so challenging sometimes to have faith? What does worldly knowledge have to do with our lack of faith? Let’s find out! Stay tuned for the first of two podcasts about Faith vs. Knowledge with St. Isaac the Syrian and Veronica Hughes on “Pearls of Great Price.” ______________________________________________...
Daily Star: Patriarchs Call on Region’s Christians to Hold Onto Their Lands
The Lebanon Daily Star reports that Patriarchs of Eastern churches in the region are calling on Christians to hold onto their lands in Iraq and Syria, despite the violent and dangerous conditions in those countries. Patriarchs call on region’s Christians to hold on to their lands by Antoine Amrieh| The...
The Church at the Bottom of the World
A recent article by David Coleman is bringing some attention to one of the few places you can celebrate the Orthodox Divine Liturgy surrounded by penguins. Where’s that you ask? Here’s the short version: Trinity Church is a small but very beautiful Russian Orthodox Church on King George Island in...
The Present Moment
I sit in a room with seven babies who require intense attention, one of whom is my son. At times, this feels like a very long family car trip because there isn’t much to do but sit and watch. But unlike a car trip, there is no crying, singing, or...
