Made to Be a Kingdom

Today Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony talk about the beauty of the Ascension, the First Ecumenical Council, and how both relate to ecclesiology. Enjoy the show!

Today Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue to explore issues in Orthodox Christian ecclesiology using Fr. Harry’s book, Christ’s Amazing Church. For this episode, they focus on the role the Church plays – as Christ Incarnate – in preserving and teaching the Orthodox faith. This is complicated by 1) the importance and of keeping the tradition free of “disorder” (2 Thessalonians 3:6) and “babblings an...

Today Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue their conversation on ecclesiology, riffing on Tim Eldred’s article; “The Lie of Just One More Sunday” at The Authentic Pastor (https://www.theauthenticpastor.com/blog/pastor-burnout-just-one-more-sermon) and how so many in parish leadership (to include priests) fall into and justify sinful and unsustainable patterns of ministry. They make the point that po...

Today, Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony talk about the words "ecclesia" and "church" and how they should and should not be applied. Specifics covered include correcting the conception of the invisible Church; the church as a place vs. the Church as the body of Christ; and what it is that makes a given place/community "Church" or "not-Church." Enjoy the show!

Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue exploring the major topics in "Christ's Amazing Church," looking at how dogma, doctrine, teaching, and theological opinions protect and nourish the Body of Christ. Enjoy the show!

Today Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony start covering the major themes in Fr. Harry's book; "Christ's Amazing Church: A Journey in Orthodox Ecclesiology," focusing on what it means for the Church to be the Body of Christ. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony respond to a listener's question about His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania of blessed memory - may his memory be eternal! This led to a discussion about autocephaly, patriarchates, metropolitanates, eparchies, and parishes. Lord willing, future episodes will explore these and other ecclesial issues using Fr. Harry's book; "Christ's Amazin...

In today's episode, Fr. Harry talks with Fr. Anthony about St. Paul's instruction to the Church in Corinth that "everything be done decently and in good order" (1 Corinthians 14:40), applying it to the challenges that come to decency and order in parish life and describing how good ecclesiology and love deal with those challenges. Enjoy the show!

Each of the Nativity Gospels in the Four Gospels is unique, but rather than being contradictory, Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony encourage us to celebrate the unity of their witness. Enjoy the show!

Segueing from Fr. Harry's observations about worship in the last episode on his pilgrimage on Mt. Athos, Fr. Harry leads us in a discussion of the various positions of prayer (and there's more to it than standing and prostrations). Enjoy the show!

Today Fr. Harry talks with Fr. Anthony about his pilgrimage to Mount Athos, focusing on the transformative possibility given to us by deep liturgical traditions.

After a long hiatus, Fr. Harry talks with Fr. Anthony about how his community is recovering from the hurricanes, the joy of being a pilgrim in Athens, and a summary of the discussions of the meeting of Canonists he was there to attend. It concludes with a discussion about how the need to take even seemingly irrelevant canons (Jewish doctors!?) seriously. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony conclude their series on the expectations of parishioners. They point out the temptations for consumer/business thinking and challenge the use of anything but tithes to maintain the parish. Enjoy the show!

We must understand that anything we do for Church is not doing God a favor. God needs nothing and has no favoritism--He has given the Church for our benefit as a gift for us to properly take care of. Again, Church membership is about one thing and one thing only, and that is building our relationship with God in the Church that He gave us as a gift. We are to give freely and with the attitude that...

Christ told us that where we put our money, there will our hearts be also (Matt. 6.21, Luke 12.34). The spending of money is a religious action (sacrifice), but very often goes to darker purposes. Giving to the local church should be a part of our tithe, which is money owed to God (tithing or biblical stewardship with a proportion of tithing). Likewise, the local church giving to the diocese is al...

One can simply do this by paying attention to the Liturgy, paying attention to the sermon, self-study, attending Bible study, attending class in the hall, reading Scripture, reading books on the Faith, listening to online podcasts or videos on the faith, looking at the information on Christian Education websites, etc. Enjoy the show!

At any time of major sin, of prolonged or addictive sin, Orthodox Christians should partake of the sacred mystery of Repentance (Confession). Beyond this, the Church has put forward the four periods of repentance so that during these periods, or at least once during the year, we confess sacramentally. Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony talk about this and the frequency of and preparation for Communion as p...

Christ said, "love one another as I have loved you." The members of the parish are expected to care for one another and to visit one another in illness or affliction. Also, there is the responsibility to tell the priest and our fellow Church members when things happen that may cause our absence. Today Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony talk about this as part of their series on the duties Orthodox Christia...

Today Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue discussing membership expectations, including the need to live according to what is right and wrong rather than what our feelings or the world suggest. Enjoy the show!

In this episode Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony discuss how expectations, orientation, and clarity are essential to church health and growth. They discuss how some parishes actually panic when they shrink and think that they should have less expectations of parishioners. However, as studies have shown, the opposite is true, and our Lord himself expects us to focus on the one thing needful. Enjoy the sho...

Today Fr. Harry shares his experience as a Canonist and he and Fr. Anthony talk about the joy of living in a parish that gets ecclesiology right. Enjoy the show.

In this episode, Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony repond to a listener's concerns and talk about the "wellbeing of the holy churches of God," technological disruption of traditional institutions, and finding our particular ministries and modes of service. Enjoy the show!

Today Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony use the prayer the bishop prays over the deacon when ordaining him to the priesthood to discern the central duties of the priest. Come to find out, it isn't a perfect match for many of the expectations we have of priests (and that priests have of themselves). Enjoy the show!

Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue their discussion about healthy parishes by focusing on expectations that need to change if a parish is to grow. They use Carey Nieuwof's blog post; "7 Things Every Growing Church Struggle With" to frame their discussion.

Using Acts 6:1-7 as a springboard, Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony talk about the need to be intentional when it comes to organizing parish life. There is a huge temptation on the part of both priests and parishes to set it up around pastoral care. Listen and learn why this model is problematic for everyone involved.