Byzantine, Texas

Part One Part Two

H/T: Met. Savas of Pittsburgh . When the members of the Archdiocesan Byzantine Choir met with His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople on Friday, November 29, the sons of two of the priests in the choir somehow managed to beat him to his seat. Dimitrios S. Panagos was there to capture the moment.

( SFGate ) - Miguel Alvarez had never worked in a senior care home. He had never administered medications. The only reason he took the janitor job at Valley Springs Manor in early October was to save money for Christmas gifts for his children. Yet last week, as the Castro Valley care home plunged into chaos amid a state-ordered closure, Alvarez found himself changing diapers, bathing, spoon-feeding and otherwise comforting more than a dozen seniors who had been abandoned there. "I'm a janitor - I didn't know what I was doing. I just tried the best I could," Alvarez, 33, said Thursday at his home in San Leandro. Alvarez was one of two employees of the care home who stayed when everyone else - including management - left as the state yanked the facility's operating license. On Thursday, he told his story to media members for the first time. He cried as he described a nightmarish scene of confused seniors shouting for help, some becoming weak and "zo...

Chicago, IL ( SOC-NASA ) - Holy Resurrection Serbian Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago has founded the Fellowship of St. John Vladimir to serve the young adult community. This fellowship will have focused instruction on the application of Orthodox Chrisitanity. Meetings begin December 17th and will be held every Thursday at 7pm.

I posted on the opening of this conference and normally I would just append the closing notes to the old post or leave it to those interested to follow-up, but there were some intriguing points made below that deserved a separate post. I found the section on a perceived need to create a critical edition of the Slavonic Bible as a prerequisite to beginning the process of translating a Russian text. November 28, 2013 ( mospat.ru ) – the 7th International Theological Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church on the Modern Bible Studies and the Tradition of the Church convened by the Holy Synod Decision of January 30, 2013, concluded its work at the conference hall of the Department of the External Church Relations in Moscow. The forum was attended by leading bibleists and theologians of the Russian Orthodox Church, secular scholars and specialists from abroad. The first plenary session on November 26 was opened by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. He not...

The Psalter played a formative role in United States history. For example, when the Americans marched against the Redcoats they sang the Psalms. How interesting that the Church's hymnbook gets such little attention outside of Orthodoxy. ( Christian Today ) - A book of Psalms printed in 1640 sold this week for just under $14.2 million on Tuesday, making it the most expensive printed book ever. It is believed to be the first book ever printed in what is now the United States just 20 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. The book is meant to be a faithful translation into English of the original Hebrew psalms and was auctioned at Sotheby's in Manhattan after being put up for sale by Boston's Old South Church. The historic church was the location of Benjamin Franklin's baptism in addition to meetings that led to the formation of the Boston Tea Party. The church decided to sell the incredibly rare Bay Psalm Book in order to raise funds for its minis...

Tonight my family will be doing the beloved Thanksgiving Akathist also often called the 'Glory to God for All Things' Akathist as it gets its name from the words of St. John Chrysostom as he was dying in exile (his last words in fact). The Akathist has been at times ascribed to Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov (a priest who died in a Soviet prison camp in 1940) as it was found in his possession after his death in samizdat form. Metropolitan Tryphon of Turkestan is said to have been the actual author of it around 1934 (shortly before his death). In looking for a version to print out for the children (I like to talk with them a little before services like this so they have some understanding of what they are hearing) I noted there are quite a few versions available online. Here are three: From St. Jonah Orthodox Church in Spring, TX - The most commonly referenced online. St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in McKinney, TX - This is another popular source. Antiochian Ar...

( Wikipedia ) - The Inter-Hours (Greek: Mesoria) are brief services in the Daily Office of the Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Churches. The Inter-Hours are called for during the Lenten seasons of the Church year. They are styled after the Little Hours—First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour, and Ninth Hour—only briefer. The Inter-Hours are called for during the Lesser Fasts (Nativity Fast, and the Apostles' Fast. According to Nikolsky Ustav, they are to be read during Great Lent if the Ladder of Divine Ascent is not read during the Little Hours. Each Inter-Hour follows one of the Little Hours is named for the Hour it follows (i.e., the Inter-Hour of the First Hour, etc.).

( OMHKSEA ) - On Tuesday, November 27, 2013, the Sacred and Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided the formal inclusion in the List of Saints of the Orthodox Church of elder Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia and of venerable Meletios of Lardos. Feast Day of Saint Porphyrios of Kafsokalivia: December 2nd. Feast Day of Saint Meletios of Lardos: February 12th. Elder Porphyrios was born on the 7th of February 1906, in the village of St. John Karystia, near Aliveri, in the province of Evia. His parents were poor but pious farmers. His father’s name was Leonidas Bairaktaris and his mother’s was Eleni, the daughter of Antonios Lambrou. At baptism he was given the name Evangelos. He was the fourth of five children, and the third child of the four that survived. His oldest sister, Vassiliki, passed away when she was a year old. Today, only his youngest sister, who is a nun is still alive. His father had a monastic calling but obviously did not become a monk. He was, however, the ...

( mospat.ru ) - On 26 November 2013, a scholarly theological conference of the Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission on Modern Bible Studies and the Tradition of the Church began its work. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia opened the conference and welcomed the participants. The Presidium of the conference consisted of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, chairman of the Synodal Biblical and Theological Commission and rector of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Theological Institute of Post-Graduate Studies; Metropolitan Antony of Borispol and Brovary, chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and rector of the Kievan theological schools; Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Dr. Yefim Pivovar, rector of the Russian State Humanities University. Metropolitan Hilarion presented the key report; Metropolitan Antony delivered a report on the...

The blog Cyberdesert is reporting the below: Today on the 27th November 2013 the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople recognised Elder Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) of Kavsokalyvia as a saint of the Orthodox Church. Details to follow

( Novinite ) - The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has decided to cancel the first round of the vote for metropolitan bishop of Varna and Veliki Preslav. The decision comes after representatives of both clergy and laity said they have grounds to believe that the election was rigged. The first round vote, which took place last Sunday, elected Bachkovo Monastery abbot Boris and little-known bishop Ignatius as contestants for the second round. Prior statements made by controversial abbot Boris and the virtual inelectibility of bishop Ignatius were among the reasons cited for believing the vote was pre-arranged. The Holy Synod decided that a first-round local vote will be held again December 15 in Varna, while the second-round canonical election will be held a week after. The Varna and Veliki Preslav metropolitan bishop seat became vacated - or "widowed" in Bulgarian Orthodox Christian parlance - after the July mystery drowning death of controversial former...

I have sadly fallen out of the habit of posting parish spotlights when I travel. Hopefully this post is the first in a recaptured tradition of parish visit postings. This weekend I visited Allentown (for gallons of honey of all things) and was able to make trips to two parishes: St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church of Emmaus and Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church (ACROD) in downtown Allentown, PA. The church in better weather The Pokrov parish is smack-dab in the middle of downtown Allentown in a converted synagogue. The night before the weather went from a reasonable thermometric range to something approaching the Arctic wastes so that our arrival in the morning was a hyperborean spectacle. What was more of a spectacle was the parking situation as it took some 15 minutes to find a reasonable place to park. The architecture of the former owners worked quite well with the needs of an Orthodox church - so much so that if the stained glass windows weren't filled with...

( Christianity Today ) - One of the most important tax breaks available to American pastors is unconstitutional. At least, according to a federal judge's assessment of an atheist group's complaint that the IRS's clergy housing allowance—which will save pastors $700 million this year in income taxes—violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb of Wisconsin ruled that the second part of IRS Code Sec. 107, which exempts clergy from paying income taxes on compensation considered a housing allowance, "provides a benefit to religious persons and no one else, even though doing so is not necessary to alleviate a special burden on religious exercise." "The significance of the benefit simply underscores the problem with the law, which is that it violates the well-established principle under the First Amendment that '[a]bsent the most unusual circumstances, one's religion ought not affect one's...

"2Chainz" at the American Music Awards . Spot the... well... indescribable.

Josaphat Kuncevyc was a great proponent of the Unia who was killed by Orthodox believers by being hit with a halberd, shot, and then thrown into a river. Most hagiographies you read of him are as you might expect stridently anti-Orthodox. The treatment of him by Orthodox is no less severe (see here ). Even today his name is used to polemical ends (see here ). All that to say celebrating a Divine Liturgy at the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter on St. Josaphat's feast day is not an innocuous or irenic move. ( RISU ) - The patriarch Sviatoslav (Shevchuk) on 25 November with the special permission of Pope Francis led a solemn Pontifical Divine Liturgy at the altar of the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the laying of the relics of St. Josaphat, martyr for Church unity. Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, almost all the bishops of the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC, Bishop Milan Shashik, Bishop of Mukac...

Today the Church remembers St. John the Compassionate (more commonly called St. John the Merciful). Please also remember in your prayers today the important, salvific work of St. John the Compassionate Mission in Toronto, Canada. If you feel so moved, donations can be made here and volunteers are always welcomed. "The poor are our teachers and Masters, for only they can bestow upon us the Kingdom of Heaven.” - St. John the Compassionate

( AOC-UKIE ) - Further news about the transitional arrangements for the Archdiocese: Archpriest Gregory Hallam was granted an audience by His Beatitude Patriarch JOHN X on 21st November 2013. His Beatitude updated Fr Gregory on the Holy Synod's intentions for the Archdiocese. Firstly, he confirmed that the Archdiocese now exists canonically, and is currently vacant. Secondly, His Beatitude explained that no Patriarchal Vicar had yet been appointed, and there may be no appointment. His Beatitude was updated on the preparations currently being made by the Cathedral and (ex-)Deanery, and it is entirely possible (but by no means certain) that our Archbishop will be elected at the next meeting of the Holy Synod in June 2014. Since this is only a few months away, it may not be necessary to appoint a Patriarchal Vicar. The Patriarch - who remains our bishop in this transitional period - has given the Archdiocese a blessing to invite Metropolitan IGNATIUS of Paris to undertake episc...

John and Ann Betar, of Fairfield, celebrate their 80th anniversary at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church, in Bridgeport, Conn. on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. The couple has been named the "longest married couple" in the U.S. for 2013 by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, a Christian marriage group based in San Bernardino, Calif. The Betars are scheduled to receive a plaque and other gifts from the group at their granddaughter's home in Fairfield on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013. ( AP Photo /The Connecticut Post, BK Angeletti) ( WPXI ) - America's longest-married couple is celebrating their 81st anniversary. "They say the key to their lasting message is understanding and communication. "You've learned to accept one another's ways of life. Agreements, disagreements." John and Ann Betar eloped on Nov. 25, 1932 — fleeing because Ann's father wanted her to marry a man 20 years older than her. She was just 17; John was 21 and lived across the stree...

Moscow, November 21 ( Interfax ) - Rector of St. George Church in Baikonur Archpriest Sergy Bychkov told that astronauts, including foreigners, feel reverence for Orthodoxy. "Everyone is awesome. Catholics try to come to the church and confess before the flight as in any case a person understands that he won't be able to make an emergency stop in the places where he goes to," the priest told BBC Russian Service. According to him, every of them tries to take a blessing, to kiss the cross and asks to be blessed with the holy water. Foreigners confess in Russian, "even if it's not perfect," Father Sergy said. "They can also confess in English. I can't say that I speak very well, but I understand the language and can communicate," he added. It has become a tradition in Baikonur to bless carrier rockets and astronauts before the flight.

( RT ) - Center left MP Yelena Mizulina, known for her pro-life stance and conflicts with leaders of the LGBT community, has suggested amending the constitution emphasizing the exclusive role of the Russian Orthodox Church. Mizulina said at the Friday session of the parliamentary group for the protection of Christian values, that the Russian constitution should include a preamble saying that “Orthodox Christianity is the basis of national and cultural originality of Russia”. The move gained support from other participants in the session who represented the majority caucus of United Russia and the Communist Party caucus. Currently the Constitution describes Russia as a secular state and protects freedom of conscience. Four religions – Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism are sometimes called ‘traditional’ in the mass media and politicians’ statements, but there is no legal basis for that. In 2012 nationalist lawmaker Sergey Baburin also suggested mentioning Christianity in ...

( Vimeo ) - “Lessons in Our Faith” is a series of instructional videos produced by the Diocese of New York and New Jersey (Orthodox Church in America) featuring His Grace, Bishop Michael. In this installment, the topic is THE DIACONATE. Using his popular “7 Questions and 7 Answers” format, Bishop Michael discusses this subject in a concise and direct manner. In eight minutes, the video offers the fundamental teaching about this ordained vocation ... Deacon ... within the life of the Church. The entire "Lessons in Our Faith" series is available here .

I'm reposting this article after it was brought to my attention that this effort is one sponsored by the Albanian Diocese and not by the Greek Archdiocese. My sincere hope is that the currently somewhat patchwork-heavy effort in Spanish-language resources divided amongst the OCA, Antiochians, and now the Albanians will grow increasingly well coordinated and comprehensive. Apologies to Father Rafael Melendez on the diocesan misattribution. ( SS Peter and Paul Cathedral ) - The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese has started a new mission in Red Bank, NJ. A very special aspect of this mission is that it was started in order to bring Orthodoxy to the Hispanic community, as well as others from backgrounds that are not traditionally Orthodox. This is certainly worthy of praise.....much more of this is needed if the Church in America is to grow. The Rector, Fr. Rafael Melendez, sent out this letter to announce the mission: "By the Grace of God and with the blessing of the Greek Orthodox Pa...

( YouTube ) - Ms. Elizabeth Szlek explains that over the course time, treating patients suffering from trauma from an Orthodox Christian approach, she identified a whole category of mental health issues that were not related to trauma at all. With further research, she has recognized a strong link between nutritional deficiencies and mental health issues, leading her to pursue a degree in nutrition as well. Elizabeth shares her experience and study in this poorly-explored area of cross-research at Holy Trinity Seminary.

The Reverend Father Daniel Sysoyev (1974-2009) was a young, married priest of the Church of Russia who was martyred in his church in southern Moscow by a Muslim fanatic during November 2009. More information on his life can be found here . As Sister Prosdoki from the Annunciation Monastery in Ormylia, Halkidiki Peninsula said , "It's high time you prayed not for Father Daniil, but to Father Daniil" Podcast 1: The New Martyr Father Daniel and the Royal Path in the Mission of the Church ( AFR ) - Father Peter spoke to a gathering of clergy and lay people in Athens recently and pointed to the witness of the new martyr of Moscow, the missionary priest Father Daniel Sysoev, as a model for mission work today. Father Daniel walked the "Royal Path" of the Church, avoiding two extremes, that of indifference to the person from the right and indifference to the Truth from the left. Podcast 2: The Missionary Program of the New Martyr Fr. Daniel Sysoev ( AFR )...

( UOC-USA ) - Want to learn more about God’s plan for this world? Want to find out how He has worked through Ukrainian history and culture to bring believers to sainthood and salvation? Then this program is for you! Classes in this three-year program meet one weekend a month throughout the Fall and Winter/Spring semesters and for one week of residency in the Summer. The primary purpose of this program is to provide men and women who have a graduate degree in theology from somewhere other than St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary with an educational experience that will allow them to better serve the parishes and people of the UOC-USA. However, you are all welcome to apply and you do not need to have any previous theological training to benefit! In fact, this program is appropriate for everyone who wants to learn more about the unique history, spirituality, and liturgical traditions of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church! Students who already have an advanced degree in theolo...

( The Morning Offering ) - Standing for worship has been the only acceptable posture for Orthodox Christians from the earliest of times. Through the discipline of standing we act as the faithful servants of the Lord, worshiping before the Throne. We recognize that the temple is not a place of entertainment, where we relax and take in a show, but the very place where we encounter our God. The Holy Apostle Paul tells us, "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith" (I Cor. 16:13); and, "Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth (Ephesians 6:14). Christians should always be spiritually on guard, and even more so then when attending the divine services. When we stand for worship, we subject our bodies to the attention needed to properly and fully worship God with all our body, mind and soul. We offer ourselves to God as His humble servants, giving Him all our attention. When we become fatigued during long services we become living offerings to the very God we wo...

Met. Hilarion is usually good for an engaging speech. He has given another such good address below. It's worth reading both for its comprehensiveness and its insightfulness. ( WCC ) - Address by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, At the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches Busan, the Republic of Korea, 1 November 2013 Your Holinesses and Beatitudes, Your Eminences and Graces, dear brothers and sisters, esteemed delegates of the Assembly, The World Council of Churches has a long and rich history. Set up after the Second World War, the Council responded to the expectations of Christians of various confessions who strove to meet, to get to know each other and to work together. Over the sixty five years since the founding of the WCC, several generations of Christians belonging to religious communities that were cut off from each other have discovered for themselves the faith and...

They were monks and prosphora-bakers in the Monastery of the Kiev Caves. Though illiterate, Spyridon knew the entire Psalter by heart and worked many miracles during his lifetime. He entered into rest in the year 1148. Troparion, Tone 4 While ye made loaves for the Eucharist with your own hands, with your mouths ye offered unceasing psalmody to the Lord as a sacrifice of praise, O blessed Spyridon and honored Nicodemus. Entreat Christ God together in behalf of our souls. Kontakion, Tone 3 That thou mightest reveal thy burning love for the Lord, O wondrous Spyridon, with thy mantle thou didst stop up the mouth of the furnace which was burning mightily; and that thou mightest show forth the well-spring of the waters of the gifts of the Spirit which dwelt within thee, bearing water in thy robe thou didst extinguish the flame of the fire. Wherefore, as thou hast boldness before the Lord, ever pray with the blessed Nicodemus in behalf of us who hymn thee.

( Rome Reports ) - Pope Francis met with Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, the head of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church. It's their second meeting. The first one took place after Pope Francis' first Mass as Pontiff.

( Ekklesia ) - Orthodox and ecumenical scholars presented the Orthodox Handbook on Theological Education and Ecumenism at the World Council of Churches (WCC) 10th Assembly in Busan, Republic of Korea last week. The work was coordinated by an editorial group from the different Orthodox and ecumenical organisations including the WCC and the Conference of European Churches along with a team from Volos Academy in Greece. The Regnum Studies in Global Christianity publication explores the issues related to the understanding and practise of ecumenism that Orthodox churches struggle with, focusing particularly on churches in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. The series publishes studies that will help the global church learn not only from past and present, but also from provocative and prophetic voices for the future. The editors and the publisher particularly hope that the series, which until now has published four major volumes on theological education, as a public spa...

NICOSIA, Cyprus ( 680 News ) – The largest haul of looted, centuries-old church icons, frescoes and mosaics ever repatriated to Cyprus were officially welcomed Tuesday after a nearly four-decade journey. A ceremony marked the return of the 173 items that were stolen from Orthodox and Maronite Christian churches in the Turkish Cypriot northern part Cyprus. The island was ethnically split in 1974 when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of union with Greece. “The Church of Cyprus is joyous that after 40 years, the largest number of stolen treasures is coming back home, to their homeland,” said Archbishop Chrysostomos II, the head of the island’s Orthodox Christian Church. Chrysostomos also thanked retired Pope Benedict XVI for his assistance in the repatriation. The religious treasures will be put on display and undergo restoration at the Byzantine Museum flanking the Archbishopric in the capital Nicosia. Communications Minister Tasos Mitsopoulos said many items were seve...

( Vestnik Kavkaza ) - The independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, partly owned by former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev, published an article by Yelena Milashina headlined "The prince is growing up" devoted to the political situation in Georgia. According to the author, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili's decision to choose Interior Minister Irakli Garibashvili as his successor may be dangerous for the future of the ruling Georgian Dream coalition. Ivanishvili prefered Garibashvili to Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, one of the most influential Georgian politicians, because he doesn't trust professional bureaucrats and would rather see his former employee as the new prime minister (Garibashvili started his career working as a manager in Ivanishvili's company), the author writes. However, Alasania and his supporrtes may not be happy with such a choice. If Alasania's Our Georgia - Free Democrats party leaves the coalition, the position of Geor...

My wife holds a special devotion to St. Nektarios and so he features highly in the prayer life of our family. What many do not know is how persecuted he was throughout his life. It was truly atrocious and a heartbreaking read for anyone who takes the time to do so. The below outlines the circumstances surrounding the much deserved apology from the Patriarchate of Alexandria. From the blog Out of Egypt : On the 15th of September in the year 1998 the Greek Orthodox Church of Alexandria sent out an apology. Here is what they wrote: “The Holy Spirit has enlightened the gathered members of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa, under the leadership of H.B. Petros VII, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and all Africa, more than a century since Saint Nektarios, the great Teacher and Father of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Church was expelled from the Church of Alexandria, to reach the following decision: Taking into account the resolution of the Church to ran...

( YouTube ) November 5, 2013. V.Rev. A. J. Bernstein, co-founder of Jews for Jesus and a long-time Orthodox priest, will present essential concepts of Christianity and how they evolved from Judaism, specifically within the context of Orthodox Christian worship. *our apologies about the extra noise in the video -- there were construction workers in the basement and on the roof working on Phase 2 of the Expansion Project.

This video is worth watching if only because it brings to light how emotionally and morally complicated the organ donation process is. It also shows the singularly wondrous love parents have for their children.

Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov is the rector of the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia Orthodox Church in Mulino, Oregon and also a noted author of such titles as Break the Holy Bread, Master: A Theology of Communion Bread , Imagine That...: Mental Imagery in Roman Catholic and Easter Orthodox Private Devotion , among other works. There Is No Sex in the Church is his latest book and quite an intriguing read. Below is a short interview on this important tome, which is available here . Readers of this interview can use code 2F5G2Z7S at checkout for 10% off. Father, what prompted you to write this book? What other books of yours are in publication? This book is a collection of articles, papers and talks that I have written and given at various times and for various reasons. But the main and the newest piece, titled The Problematics of Orthodox Sexuality , was written as a reflection on some questions raised by young people. When I talk to young people about marriage and human sexua...

( AFR ) - "Coffee with Sister Vassa” is a brief, 10-minute weekly program hosted by Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin, a nun of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and liturgiologist of the University of Vienna in Austria. The program offers an engaging reflection on the Orthodox Church calendar of the current week, including the lives of the saints, scriptural passages, the Orthodox liturgical tradition, and a light dose of humor.

( Patheos - Terry Mattingly ) - It happens all the time: Church leaders stand at podiums and urge members of their flocks to go and share their faith, striving to win new converts. These speeches rarely make news, because they are not unusual. But something very unusual happened earlier this month in Brookline, Mass. “You will surely agree that our mission … is to lead our brothers and sisters — both inside and outside the church — to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” said the featured speaker. “This is becoming more and more difficult because many hesitate to share their faith, fearing they will be considered quaint and bothersome. This is especially the case in America’s colleges and universities where atheism and indifference on matters of faith and religion reign supreme.” This would be ordinary, if not tame language in a gathering held by Campus Crusade for Christ, the Southern Baptist Convention or any Bible Belt megachurch. But this speaker was Metropolitan Methodios, ...