Church Merger

Posted on by Fr. Peter
I have written before on these pages about the Church situation here in the Village. The bottom line is we have three Orthodox Churches in a town that can barely support one. So we have begun, once again, talks on merging the three churches. So my question is how do you merge a Greek, Albanian, Romanian Church into something that can work? Okay I know we pray and rely on God and those are great suggestions but I need some practical advice on how to lead, or dare I say shepherd, this little exercise!

The three churches have existed for about 100 years. Not all of them of course we are the youngest of the three. And we all have property, ethnic identity, traditions, oh and least I forget lamb recipes for our picnics. We all celebrate liturgy a little different and we all have songs that we like to sing. We share the Orthodox faith, but the three churches are very different. This is sort of like the Brady Bunch or Yours Mine and Ours!

Last night we had a Parish Council meeting and we were discussing the plan. As it is laid out right now two of the three churches will have a joint parish council meeting in February to discuss weather or not we wish to merge into one parish. Then we will appoint a commission of say three or four people from each church to answer questions such as property, diocese, clergy, and oh yes the lamb recipe. We are setting a three to five year plan for all of this so nothing will happen tomorrow and we all need to be patient. Or as patient as we can be under these circumstances.

On Sunday I passed out a survey and asked questions about the good points and the not so good points, I am avoiding using the term bad, of this merger plan and most were very positive and all had to do with unity and the survival of the Orthodox Faith in the Village. If we stay the way we are we will cease to exist in less than five years. For example the average age in my parish is 62 and not getting any younger. So here we are trying to make something happen. With much prayer we will seek God blessing in all of this.

Amy Grant & Vince Gill

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Last night I attended my second concert. Second concert of my entire life by the way. The first one was Randy Travis about a million years ago.

Last night was Vince Gill & Amy Grant with a concert of Christmas music. What a fantastic evening it was and really put me in the Christmas spirit. There was some question as to weather the concert would happen or not because of the ice storm we had overnight but all was well. The place was not filled and I am wondering if they just did not sell the tickets or if people just stayed home for fear of ice and the cold.

Anyway thanks to WESO for the tickets it was a great night.

Catch Up

Posted on by Fr. Peter
It is hard to believe that it is Thursday already where has the week gone? Right now I am preparing for my Live Radio Program Father Peter Live that will air today at 12 noon on the local radio station WESO 970am. This will be my second show and I have two guests coming in for this week. I am surprised at how much work there is just to produce a one hour program. Now I know why most of these show have a producer but we have a very small budget, actually no budget, so I do it all myself.

After the live program I will return here to the rectory and record my show Shepherd of Souls. This week I have an interview with Fr. Nicholas Apostola on the Orthodox View of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I will not give anymore details so you will have to listen.

This week has been a busy one and I am fighting a cold again so prayers would be appreciated.

Last Saturday night I met a group of 20 somethings at a local watering hole for another round of Theology on Tap. This was a great night of meeting with a different age group in their own surroundings. We need to do more of this and take the Gospel to where they are and meet them where they are. We had a great discussion and after I process more of my thoughts I will write something more about it.

Sunday was the celebration of the Feast of St. Nicholas at our Sister parish here in Southbridge. I have written about the situation here in Southbridge before. We are a town of about 12,000 people and have three Orthodox Churches in this little town. Well we hope to rectify this starting very soon. We have agreed to meet to begin a discussion about merging two of the three parishes. please pray for us as we continue this very important work.

Tonight I continue my adult religious education program on the theme of Orthodox Spirituality. If you are a listener to Shepherd of Souls in iTunes you got the extra episode this week with my lecture. I plan to do the same this week so stay tuned. If you do not subscribe please take a moment to go on over to iTunes and search for the show.

Parton Saints of 2009

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Well it is that time of year when The Pious Sodality of Church Ladies chooses your patron saint for the year 2009. Mine is listed below. If you wish to have your own patron for the year go on over to the site and leave a comment. Remember to check back to get your saint.
St Philip the Deacon
Commemorated on October 11th

Pray for deacons

The proposal was acceptable to the whole community, so they chose Stephen, a man filled with faith and the holy Spirit, also Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas of Antioch, a convert to Judaism. [Acts 6, 5]

Apolytikion in the Third Tone
O Holy Apostle Philip, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Since thou wast enlightened by the Holy Spirit, thou enlightenest the earth and all its fullness with the beams of thy wise teachings and miracles, Apostle Philip, thou sacred initiate.

Memory Eternal

Posted on by Fr. Peter
His Holiness Patriarch Alexiy II, a conservative who led a revival of Russia’s Orthodox Church and opposed Catholic missionary activities in Russia and Ukraine, died on Friday, a church spokesman said. He was 79.

A spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church said Alexiy, who headed the powerful church for 18 years, died at his residence in Peredelkino outside Moscow.

The Church never commented on Alexiy’s health and did not immediately disclose a cause of death. But diplomats in Moscow had said he was suffering from cancer.

In a sign of his importance, Russian state television immediately ran a film showing highlights from Alexiy’s life, accompanied by the sound of tolling church bells.

“This is an irreplaceable loss for all Russian Orthodox people, wherever they live,” said Sergei Mironov, speaker of the upper house of parliament.

Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia since 1990, the Estonian-born Alexiy was a powerful and influential figure with close links to the Kremlin.

He oversaw a major religious revival in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, with hundreds of new churches built across the country, monasteries reopened and seminaries filling with new priests.

Russia’s Orthodox Church is by far the biggest of the churches in the Eastern Orthodox communion and is the majority religion in Russia.

During his 2000-2008 presidency, Vladimir Putin, a former KGB spy under communism, was often seen with Alexiy attending major religious ceremonies and President Dmitry Medvedev has continued the tradition.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said he was “so shocked that it is very hard for me to find words on the spot”, Interfax news agency reported. “I respected him deeply”.

Medvedev, who was on an official visit to India, was expected to make a statement shortly.

Deeply conservative

An unapolegetic conservative, Alexiy was outspoken in his defence of traditional Russian values and was critical of the Catholic church for what he said was its efforts to win converts among Russian Orthodox believers.

He stood in the way of a visit to Russia by the Polish-born leader of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II.

Both churches said they were open in principle to an historic meeting between the Russian Patriarch and Pope Benedict, who was elected in 2005. But despite several rounds of dialogue between bishops from both churches, Alexiy felt the obstacles were too great.

“Problems remain on the agenda for our bilateral relations with the Roman Catholic Church which demand real solutions,” Alexiy said in a speech in June to the Council of Bishops.

“Among them is the question of missionary activity of Catholics in traditionally Orthodox Russian lands”.

In a first reaction from the Catholic Church to Alexiy’s death, Bishop Brian Farrel, secretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, said:

“Patriarch Alexiy had to lead the Church in a period of great transformation. He knew how to carry out this task with a great sense of responsibility and love for Russian tradition.”

Father Peter Live

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Well gang the first show is complete and I can tell you I am glad it is over. Talk about stress! Any of you who have done live radio before will know what I mean. Not only was I the host but I was the engineer as well running the board and all of the commercials. But I had a blast! Thanks to all who called.

We could not get the live stream to work but we are going to try again maybe next week so stay tuned for that. If you are interested, I recorded this weeks show and I will put a link at the end of this post. The show is an hour long so plan for it. Thanks for listening.

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