Memory Eternal, servant of God Kevin Allen

Kevin Allen and I chatted a bit over the years. We'd discuss current events or formulate questions for upcoming interviews or converse about the state of Orthodoxy in general. He both cared deeply about the Church and was often mystified by the way her leaders acted when Tradition often pointed at a very different way of doing things. He was a very kind and insightful man and I think he did a lot for the Faith in America. We don't need another Kevin Allen. We need another 100 or 1,000 Kevin Allens to fulfill the ministerial role he took up for our Church. That would be a good start, I think, towards putting Orthodoxy on the right track in the New World.

So I join my prayers with the reposed servant of God Kevin that his love for God and His Church flourish in God's Kingdom as it did on earth.

'I also pray to God ceaselessly to turn my heart into a “love vessel” because as Orthodox Christians we do not believe that the afterlife is merely a place where we are sent or go, but an experiential state of being, and love is most important in preparing us for being in God’s all-holy and loving presence.'

Grant rest eternal in blessed repose, O Lord, to Thy servant Kevin, who have has fallen asleep, and make his memory eternal!

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(orthochristian.com) - Kevin Allen, the award-winning host of the Orthodox podcast “The Illumined Heart” on Ancient Faith Radio, reposed in the Lord early this morning according to a post on his Facebook page.

The message reads:

It is with great sadness that today, August 7th at 3:53am, Kevin Allen, our dear and most beloved father, husband, grandfather, brother, godfather, and friend, lost his battle with ALS and fell asleep in the Lord surrounded by family. May his memory be eternal.

A short biography on Ancient Faith Radio shows Kevin’s long journey into the Orthodox Church:

Kevin's personal faith journey began as a Hindu and it was in a Hindu ashram where he had a life changing encounter with Jesus Christ at eighteen. His subsequent quest led him to exploration of Roman Catholicism, and Evangelicalism before discovering and converting to Eastern Orthodoxy in 1994. His ministry goal is to provide Orthodoxy with a voice in the public square as well as to promote the plausibility of Orthodox Christianity to Christian and non-Christian seekers.

From February 2007 to April 2011, Kevin hosted more than 150 episodes of “The Illumined Heart” podcast, delving into topics such as forgiveness, food and faith, music and hymnology in the Church, marriage as a path to holiness, and much more. He also hosted the podcast “Ancient Faith Today” from April 2012 to February 2016.

Kevin was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in May of 2016. Reflecting upon his diagnosis, he writes:

In the Orthodox spiritual tradition, we are encouraged to be ever-mindful of our mortality, not in a depressed or despondent way of course, but so we can prioritize what is most important, as this life is the entry way to eternal life. But when I heard the diagnosis and in the days that followed I realized that I had been thinking of my mortality in a more theoretical way. I had been kicking the ‘mortality can’ down the road and assumed I’d live to an older age. Now it was right there in front of me and I had to face it.

He goes on to describe how he reacted to his diagnosis and how he began to prepare for death, encouraging others with longer terminal illnesses to “look at this as a blessing from God to prepare themselves.”

Through his ministry, Kevin Allen has been a blessing from God to many. May his memory be eternal!