Discussions of Eastern Christianity, often with a Byzantine flavor. Posts on the Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic, and even the occasional church of the West.
New book "Heaven Help the Single Christian" published
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A hat-tip and suggestion that you read Koinonia's post on this book. Below is a description and promotional video for the book published by Regina Orthodox Press.
Heaven Help the Single Christian
Your (Practical) Guide to Navigating Church as You Search for a Godly Mate
By Thomas Ruthford
As a single Christian, you’re probably amazed and frustrated by how hard it is to find someone who shares the joy you experience in worship. You might try missionary dating – converting through flirting. Or you might succumb to the offer of a matchmaker claiming prophetic knowledge, but you know you’ll end up with a zealot, nerd or “instaspouse” that way.
Thomas Ruthford, after years of striking out at youth conferences, coffee hours and monasteries, has a book to help single Christians through the dating scene with humor and advice. Heaven Help the Single Christian is relationship advice for the serious churchgoer, but it’s not homework. Ruthford offers us thoughts and laughter on Internet dating for Christians, on the joys and perils of dating the sons and daughters of clergy and shows us that modest clothing does not have to be frumpy. Cheer up, you’re not alone. Perfect for young adult study groups.
About the Author
Thomas Eric Ruthford’s journeys took him from Western Washington state, where he grew up, to Ukraine, where he served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer and got an amazing spiritual education from the recovering Orthodox Church there. He also served as the financial officer of Raphael House of San Francisco, a homeless shelter for families run by Orthodox Christians who take it as part of their ministry to live in the shelter themselves.
Ruthford is now married, and lives in the Seattle area, and works as a freelance writer, and enjoys multi-day bicycle trips. He and his wife, Miri, love taking their overeager dog, Jisa, to the park to play.
Endorsements of the Book
"Christian singles get bombarded with bad advice, from all directions, everyday. Thank Heaven for this good-natured, clear, and funny book, by someone who arrived successfully on the other side of a wedding day."
- Frederica Mathewes-Green, Author & Speaker
"It's been said that the way to an Orthodox man's heart is for a gal to walk around with a cookbook under one arm, and a copy of the “Rudder” under the other. Thanks to Mr. Ruthford's disarming book, only one arm's necessary, for gals and guys! Now that one arm's free ..."
This was sent to me and deserves a read. You can read the Calivas article here . We can all agree that we are living in unusual times. However, the nature and extent of the illness that we face, and the proper response of the Church, is a matter of much disagreement. We have seen various responses to the COVID-19 epidemic: calls to close our Churches as infectious vectors, and demands to open them as places of spiritual healing. Directives a) ordering the cessation of sacramental life as part of an effort to “flatten the curve,” and cries for access to the divine grace that flows forth from those very mysteries; b) calling for the restriction of “at-risk persons,” and serious questions about the validity of such controls, c) instructions to liturgists to wear personal protective equipment during the celebration of the divine services and the distribution of the holy Mysteries, and uncertainty about the fitness of such practices. Who has been championing what and on behalf of whom? The ...
Is the male-only priesthood a discipline or essential to the nature of being a priest? Sr. Vassa (again unflinchingly taking up a contentious topic by climbing up the ladder to the highest platform and then jumping into the deep end head first) dives right in and says there is no reason beyond personal preference to not have female clergy. You know, when people ask me about women in priesthood, they say, 'Sister, why can't women be priests?' And I say, 'Women CAN be priests. We don't WANT them to be priests.' Because you see, God can do anything, and the Church, by divine authority, uh, can do anything, but, the Church doesn't want to - and that's a legitimate reason. What I don't like is when we TRY to pretend that there are other reasons for this, because it's legitimate not to want something, and there are reasons not to want this - right? - but, we shouldn't pretent that there's some... reason, that, for example, the maleness...
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