Join Fr. Christopher Metropulos in conversation with some of the most compelling voices in Orthodoxy, on the topics that actually matter.
We are proud to announce that this series has been honored with a 2026 Bronze Telly Award for Series – Religion & Spirituality!
Direct & Unapologetic episodes will drop weekly. We encourage you to share these videos with your communities and networks, and join the conversation.
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Direct and Unapologetic: Real Conversations on Orthodoxy That You Need To Hear
About the Series
Join Fr. Christopher Metropulos for a series of candid conversations about topics that matter to Orthodox Christians and seekers. We’re talking about Addiction, Grief, Relationships, Family Conflict, Mental Health as well Spiritual Discipline, Engaging with Contemporary Culture, Conversion, Prayer, Passing on the Faith and a deeper understanding of our Scripture.
Guests include the “Bible Answer Man” Hank Hanegraaff; Orthodox Priests Fr. Samuel Davis, Fr. Nicholas Louh and Fr. Dimitrios Moraitis; Professional Counselor Paula Marchman, Writer and Speaker Frederica Matthewes-Green, Spectrum Films Producer Nick Furis, and “Path to the Priesthood” host Christo Pappademos.
The series is filmed at St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and produced by Spectrum Films, Inc. Subscribe on YouTube to follow this series! We encourage you to share the video and let us know what topics you’d like to see covered in future series.
This program is being made possible through a generous donation from the George and Judy Marcus Family Foundation.
Episodes
Episode 1: Why Faith Looks More Like Training Than Inspiration with Christo Pappademos
Christo Pappademos is an admissions counselor at his alma mater Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, a personal trainer at Equinox and an OCN digital media associate. In faith, just as in fitness, inspiration can get us started, but it doesn’t create lasting transformation. It’s discipline and consistency that keeps us progressing on our faith journey. We also talk about how regularly showing up in Church changes how we understand the Gospel, and how prayer, fasting and silence are not burdens, but useful technologies toward building spiritual strength.
Hank Hanegraaff, known to millions as the Bible Answer Man, spent decades defending Scripture before converting to Orthodox Christianity in 2017. In this conversation, he makes the case that the Bible’s power hasn’t faded, but that most of us have been taught to read it in a way that limits what it can do in our lives. In the Orthodox Church, Scripture isn’t just studied, it’s prayed, sung, and lived within the sacramental life of the Church. The Bible’s central message is the redemption and restoration of humanity, and engaging with it seriously means being formed by it over time, within a community that has been reading it the same way for 2,000 years.
Episode 3: How can we sustain connection to God and each other? | Fr. Nicholas Louh
Modern life is marked by chronic stress, digital overload, and relentless demands that leave little room for spiritual practice. For Orthodox Christians struggling to maintain their faith amid burnout, anxiety, and distraction, the question isn’t whether to prioritize God—it’s how. Hear pastoral wisdom from Fr. Nicholas Louh, Senior Priest at St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church in Jacksonville, Florida, to offer practical, Orthodox Christian strategies for sustaining spiritual connection under pressure.
Episode 4: What Does Orthodox Christianity Demand of Us? | Fr. Samuel Davis
In our individualistic culture, we are trained to treat faith as a personal pursuit. In this episode of Direct and Unapologetic, Fr. Samuel Davis argues that this is precisely what makes genuine Orthodox formation so difficult for many Americans. His message to every person going through the conversion process is the same: you are not saved alone. You need the people around you, and they need you. Fr. Samuel also tells every new inquirer to be careful with Orthodox social media. Real formation happens in community, and through ordinary, unplanned moments that have the potential to draw us closer to God—if we choose well.
Episode 5: Building a Prayer Life—Where to Start and How to Keep Going| Frederica Mathewes-Green
Prayer is one of the most important aspects of Christian life, but many of us don’t feel like we know how to connect in prayer, and struggle to keep up the practice. In this episode of Direct & Unapologetic, Fr. Chris Metropulos sits down with Frederica Mathewes-Green to discuss the how-tos for developing a habit of prayer; how small, manageable prayers throughout the day can be effective in building a constant connection to God; how praying for others actually connects us to our loved ones and communities; and what Orthodox worship offers in comparison to contemporary Christian Worship.
What does it take to choose forgiveness over resentment? | Fr. Dimitri Moraitis
Resentment, unforgiveness, and the instinct to permanently cut people off are everywhere in our culture right now. In this episode of Direct & Unapologetic, Fr. Chris Metropulos sits down with Fr. Dimitrios Moraitis to discuss what’s driving our inability to forgive.
Becoming Orthodox: How Families Pass On the Christian Faith | Frederica Matthewes-Green
How do we become Orthodox Christians? Not just “on paper,” but truly belonging to the faith, understanding it, living it? Frederica Matthewes-Green explains that making new Christians has less to do with education than with environment—the icons on the walls, the rhythm of feasts and name days, and above all the example of adults who practice the Orthodox Christian faith with visible seriousness. We also discuss the parish as a place of much-needed genuine human contact, our obligation to notice when someone next to us is struggling, and how thirty years of daily prayer quietly transformed Frederica’s life and presence.
Why are young men flocking to the Orthodox Church? | Fr. Samuel Davis
Much has been said in recent years about the increase in young male converts to traditional Christianity in general, and the Orthodox Church in particular. Some have responded to this development with excitement, others with trepidation about the “red pill” internet environments some of these young men are coming from, and what that might mean for their presence in the community. In this episode with Fr. Samuel Davis, we take an honest look at why these young men are taking an interest in the Church, and how they can be successfully welcomed and catechized both for their own benefit, and the benefit of the Church community.
Extended Conversations: Jonathan Jackson on All-Encompassing Faith
In this episode of Direct and Unapologetic Extended Conversations, actor, author, and musician Jonathan Jackson talks about how Orthodox Christian faith is not a compartment of life but its animating reality—something that cannot be separated from marriage, parenthood, music, or acting any more than breath can be separated from the body. Drawing on the Orthodox teaching that the Holy Spirit is everywhere present and fills all things, and on his own practice of the Jesus Prayer, Jonathan describes how ceaseless prayer makes a division between sacred and secular not just undesirable but impossible. He reflects on how this integration developed not intellectually but practically, and how it has shaped his approach to creative work in ways that benefit him both spiritually and as an artist.
Extended Conversations: Jonathan Jackson on All-Encompassing Faith
In this episode of Direct and Unapologetic Extended Conversations, actor, author, and musician Jonathan Jackson talks about how faith can serve to both ground and inspire artists, enabling them to do their best work. He also talks about finding revelation in all true works of art, even if they are not explicitly religious.
Relationship Skills for Christian Dating | Learning to Love Well with Paula Marchman
In the Orthodox Church, marriage is a path to salvation, not just a life partnership. However, many couples enter dating and marriage without the necessary skills for either goal. In this episode, Paula Marchman, an Orthodox couples therapist and premarital educator, brings practical tools for dating, communication, and conflict resolution grounded in the theology of Christian marriage.
The work starts before dating even begins with honest reflection and spiritual preparation. Once we’re actively seeking a partner, intentionality and honest conversations, which can be facilitated by programs like Journey of Marriage, give couples space to get to know each other and assess real compatibility before making a commitment. Paula also covers the most common reasons people resist commitment altogether and how to overcome them, as well as what the Church teaches about the proper orientation of our hearts and our partnerships toward God.
Leadership Under Pressure: How FAITH Informs Executive Decision-Making with Fr. Nicholas Louh
To be a successful leader at work, you have to be effective, decisive, and results-oriented…but is it different to be a *Christian* leader? We are called to be Orthodox Christians all the time, even when working in a secular environment. That means viewing every coworker as an image-bearer, leading with humility and accountability, and remembering that wherever you are given authority, you serve as a steward for the true King who has entrusted you with a part of His creation. In this episode, Fr. Nicholas Louh reminds us that God will not bless who we pretend to be. We must bring our faith in Christ into every choice we make, especially as leaders.
Christianity and Contemporary Culture: Engaging the Wider World | Christo Pappademos
Many people today are overwhelmed, distracted, isolated, and anxious. The question for Orthodox Christians is how to reach people who are too caught up in daily life to seek out the peace and community Christ and his Church can offer them. In this episode, Christo Pappademos, a seminary graduate and lifelong Church servant who also works as a fitness professional, talks about what the contemporary world is missing and what Orthodoxy provides. We discuss anxiety as a widespread problem even among successful people who seem to have everything in order, how isolation from God and community contributes to poor mental health, and why a Church that has remained unchanged for 2,000 years may be exactly what people are craving in a world where so much of what surrounds us is artificial or manufactured.
Promotional Materials
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