JULY 2019

LGBTQI Listening Tour: An Open Letter to Our Bishops in the USA and Canada

On Sodomy

A Special Kind of Orthodox Clergy Directory

The Patriarchal Saga that Keeps on Giving

From the Fathers: The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like…Two Men in Bed Together?

Open Letter Delivered to the Bishops

Response to Our Open Letter by Archbishop Mark (Maymon)

St. Seraphim of Sarov: Patron Saint of Russia’s Nuclear Arsenal

Unanswered Letter to an OCA Bishop (or, Where Are the Pastors?)

Importance of Church-State Cooperation in the European Context Read More

Recently Giacomo Sanfilippo reached out to us at the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) with an offer of help. He expressed to RAICES that a central focus of Orthodoxy in Dialogue has been to advocate and care for the hungry, the homeless, the stranger, and the foreigner.

This is where our missions align. 

RAICES began in 1986 as a small immigration legal services provider in South Texas, but has grown to include not only legal services but social and community services, as well as advocacy programs to meet the needs of immigrant populations. RAICES means Roots in Spanish, and our story is rooted in the fight for immigrant justice. We believe that through legal services, social programs, and advocacy we can all not only find common ground but create thriving and diverse communities where everyone can prosper. Read More

This is the second article in our Anglican Church and Same-Sex Marriage series. See our Invitation to Dialogue if you would like to add your voice on this important topic which crosses ecclesial and denominational borders. You need not be Anglican to participate.

Anglican Church of Canada says no to same-sex marriage (CTV)
Anglican Church of Canada rejects same-sex marriage amendment (Globe and Mail)
Southwestern Ontario Anglican Diocese to allow same-sex marriage (CBC)
Pastoral Guidelines for Same-Sex Marriages (Anglican Diocese of Toronto)

Confused by these headlines? Who wouldn’t be? How can “yes” and “no” be said at the same time, by the same church, in the same week? Are marriages of LGBT+ Christians accepted or rejected in the Anglican Church of Canada?

My intention is not to attempt a theological analysis of same-sex marriage, but rather to ensure that readers of Orthodoxy in Dialogue are aware of the process of discernment that engaged Anglicans behind the headlines, and to provide some commentary on the shape that Anglican pastoral and spiritual practice will take going forward. Read More

English-speaking Orthodox faithful in the United States who have wanted to learn the liturgical arts of the Orthodox Church — music, iconography, vestments, architecture and furnishings design, etc. — have historically had limited opportunities to study with knowledgeable teachers. Some have had the opportunity to go overseas to countries such as Greece and Russia to study, but this approach poses many barriers — cost, time, and language, just to begin with. Self-study has been a solution for others, but the quality of available reference materials in English has been unreliable, and the dangers with this approach have included incomplete grounding in fundamentals and lack of live feedback.

In recent years, however, many American Orthodox Christians who have had the opportunity to study the liturgical arts have embraced the responsibility to pass on what they have learned. Not only that, but some church leaders have recognized the need for establishing organized educational initiatives so that such teachers may teach, and those who want to learn can do so without needing to fly across the ocean. Read More