Interesting Interview with Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk

"Metropolitan Hilarion: There are no grounds to expect the Pan-Orthodox Council to run into surprises"


See:
Russian Orthodox Church - Department of External Church Relations

The Veneration of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco: Recollections of a Spiritual Son

This is an excellent recollection of Bishop Peter Lukianov's childhood memories of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco.  I know many have seen this before, but it is worth re-posting.

See Recollections of a Spiritual Son

Reflections on a Spiritual Journey by Metropolitan Jonah Paffhausen

"Metropolitan Jonah graduated from St Vladimir’s Seminary, spent several years in Russia and at Valaam monastery, then returned to the United States. After his tonsure as a monk and ordination to the priesthood, he cared for several small parishes, and was given a blessing to found a monastery in California. The monastery grew, and needed to find a new site to continue to grow. After the move, as before, the monastery saw a constant stream of pilgrims seeking spiritual guidance. It was also becoming known for its publications. Much seemed to depend on Abbot Jonah’s vision.

In the midst of all this, the Diocese of the South needed an auxiliary bishop, and the choice fell on Abbot Jonah, who became Bishop of Fort Worth. Just days afterward, the 15th All American Council met in Pittsburgh, at a critical time for the OCA, and amid much turmoil. The Metropolitan See was vacant, and a new Metropolitan had to be elected. One evening, Bishop Jonah addressed a restive audience about the situation in the church, and as he spoke, the mood changed. And the next morning, the newly ordained Bishop Jonah was elected Primate of the Orthodox Church in America.

“A miracle had somehow quietly taken place. The last had indeed become the first. The abbot of that struggling monastery was elected by the hierarchs, clergy and faithful who had gathered in Pittsburgh to be the Archbishop of Washington and New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada. His Beatitude’s words inspired the Council on that October night and this book presents a few of his thoughts and writings. May they be a blessing to the reader.”

–Bishop Benjamin, from the Foreword

The Orthodox Christian Profiles Series acquaints the reader on an intimate level with Orthodox figures that have shaped the direction of the Orthodox Church in areas of mission, ascetical and liturgical theology, scholarly and pastoral endeavors, and various other professional disciplines. The people featured in the series are mostly our contemporaries and most remain active in shaping the life of the Church today. A few will have fallen asleep in the Lord, but their influence remains strong and worthy of historical record. The mission of this series is to introduce inspirational Orthodox Christian leaders in various ministries and callings that build up the Body of Christ."

See St. Vladimir's Seminary Press

New Orthodox History Journal!

The Journal of American Orthodox Church History is a peer reviewed annual electronic journal published on the Feast of the Dormition (the “falling asleep” of Mary, the Mother of God) by Prairie Parish Press. The Journal of American Orthodox Church History is affiliated with the Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas (http://orthodoxhistory.org). Each issue may be purchased from the Prairie Parish Press website (http://prairieparishpress.com).

Manuscript submissions, editorial correspondence, and advertising inquiries should be addressed to: Rev. Fr. Oliver Herbel at presseditor@zoho.com. All article, translation, and book review submissions must be sent as an email attachment in Microsoft Word. Submissions should be double spaced, in Times New Roman size 12. Block quotes should be single spaced and indented .5” on each side. Chicago Manual Style should be utilized for citations, with citations in size 10 font.

The Journal of American Orthodox Church History does not accept the following: a reprint of a work already published elsewhere (including electronic circularion on a webpage or listserv), a work simultaneously under consideration for publication elsewhere, or an essay that will be published in a book prior to its publication in the Journal of American Orthodox Church History.

Prairie Parish Press and the Society for Orthodox Christian History in the Americas disclaim responsibility for statements (of either fact or opinion) made by individual contributors.

See Journal of American Orthodox History

Copyright © Prairie Parish Press 2011

ISSN 2160-6528

Singing in a Strange Land - New book from Holy Cross Orthodox Press

From Holy Cross Orthodox Press this tile by Elia Boutoutsis examines the struggles around religion and culture in the west. These struggles have been particularly intense for immigrant and diaspora faith communities like the Orthodox communions as they seek to find an appropriate place and voice in the postmodern West. Like their exilic ancestors in faith, they ask at every turn, 'How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?' This book offers an in-depth reflection on such struggles and questions through the lenses of ancient theology, modern psychology, and postmodern, postcolonial theory. And its core contention is a provocative one -- that authentic faithfulness to Orthodox tradition itself demands openness and adaptation in every 'strange land.'

Table of Contents

Archimandrite Alexander Golitzin Nominated as New Bishop of OCA Bulgarian Diocese

Well known scholar, Archimandrite Alexander Golitzin was nominated as the candidate for Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America, at the diocese’s Fifth Congress-Sobor on June 9, 2011. A native of Saint Innocent Church, Tarzana, CA, Father Alexander Golitzin received a BA in English from UC Berkeley and an M. Div. from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. He spent seven years pursuing doctoral studies at Oxford University in England under His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware]. During this time, he also spent two years in Greece, including one year at Simonos Petras Monastery on Mount Athos.  After receiving his D.Phil. in 1980, Father Alexander returned to the US, where he was ordained to the diaconate in January 1982 and to the priesthood two years later. In 1986, he was tonsured to monastic orders. He served OCA missions in northern California and headed the Diocese of the West’s mission committee. In 1989, he took a teaching position at Milwaukee’s Marquette University in the Theology Department, a position which he holds today.

His most recent publications include: New Light from the Holy Mountain (St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 1996); Et introibo ad altare dei: The Mystagogy of Dionysius Areopagita (Thessalonika, 1994); St Symeon the New Theologian on the Mystical Life: The Ethical Discourses (3 vols., St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1995-1997); and Historical Dictionary of the Orthodox Church, with Michael Prokurat and Michael Peterson (Scarecrow Press, 1996). Another volume of essays has appeared, in Romanian translation: Mistagogia: Experienta lui Dumnezeu in Ortodoxie (Sibiu, 1998). Articles and reviews have appeared, or will shortly appear, in the following journals: St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, Lutheran Quarterly, Greek Orthodox Theological Review, St. Nerses Theological Review, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, Studia Patristica, Vigiliae Christianae, Pro Ecclesia, Mystics Quarterly, and The Journal of Early Christian Studies.