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.

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.