the hitchhiker’s guide: the journey forward to the ancient roots of our faith

In my previous posting, I had laid a spread of questions on the table regarding the arts and Orthodoxy and my frustration with no contemporaries to look to for guidance, inspiration, and fellowship. These frustrations are accentuated by the idea that there is a fullness of the arts that ought to be created, expressed, and shared with the world, a fullness that just isn’t that prevalent in America. And it’s the idea of that fullness that has put a desire in me to find answers, and God willing, be a part of the awakening of the arts in the Orthodox church in America.

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Written and posted by Michael on March 3, 2008, 2:02 pm.
Filed under: Culture, General Discussion, Orthodoxy

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There has been a topic on my mind over the past several weeks as I’ve started on this journey towards Orthodox Christianity and into a life of theosis — when I become Orthodox, what becomes of my artistic expressions and what is that supposed to look like within the context of being an Orthodox Christian? And I must forewarn you, that there are far more questions in this particular entry than useful reflections or things we can all learn from. Instead, I would hope that it might generate some significant discussion that would ripple into the arts community within Catholic and Orthodox traditions — especially the latter of the two.

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Written and posted by Michael on February 27, 2008, 12:30 am.
Filed under: Culture, Orthodoxy, Transformation

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At the beginning of 2006 I began my studies at a Lutheran seminary in town that was approved to train Methodist pastors. It was a seminary I had attended many, many years before and so I felt very comfortable there. I also enjoyed the fact that they had daily chapel and weekly communion, with a sense of some liturgical heritage. However, the one difficulty with this school was that it was not structured for working adults. Meaning that it was becoming harder and harder for me to find classes that fit into my schedule, since I couldn’t just give up my job to go to school.

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Written and posted by Jamison on February 18, 2008, 11:20 pm.
Filed under: Catholicism, General Discussion, Looking Back, The Journey, Transformation

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Don’t worry, I’ll be continuing my story, I simply wanted to pause for a moment to talk about some of the things that are happening right now in my journey to the Catholic faith.

In the Catholic church, you join by engaging in what are called the Rites of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). Although it’s not required for people who are already baptized, most parishes simply lump both catechumens (those who are not baptized) and candidates (those coming form other traditions) together for ease of instruction. The class runs for about nine months from Fall until Spring, meeting once a week. Every parish develops it’s own RCIA class, so there are no two churches that do it exactly the same way. However, one thing that they all share is various rites that happen throughout the course of the year. So far in our class we’ve had two different rites.

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Written and posted by Jamison on February 15, 2008, 7:54 am.
Filed under: Catholicism, General Discussion

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It seems that every time I walk out of St. George Antioch Orthodox Church — whether on a Sunday morning or at my catechumen class — I come home with more and more books to read. And anyone who knows me well, I don’t exactly finish books in a timely fashion (let alone at all). How I will manage to keep up is but a mystery… fitting as I am pursuing Orthodoxy and they’re all about mystery.

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Written and posted by Michael on February 14, 2008, 4:47 pm.
Filed under: Catechumen, Daily Walk, Orthodoxy, The Journey, Transformation

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In my last post, I left off at the point in my life where I had gotten the furthest from the Lord, and surrounded myself in darkness. However, it was also about this time that a friend of mine had become very concerned for me, and had talked to my sister, who, in turn, talked with my mom. The three of them (and, I’m sure, not a few others) began praying for me.

As it happened, the week before my mother finally confronted me about taking drugs, I was sitting on a bus coming back from a band trip to Disney World, and decided, I still don’t know why, that I didn’t want to be like I was anymore. This allowed me to be honest with my mom when she asked me if I was doing drugs, but also allowed me to say that I had already decided to quit.

I began to be more attentive in church, and even started going to a Wednesday night prayer meeting. Slowly, through this, and through the death of a friend of mine while we were swimming (which caused me to realize I had never spoken to him about Christ and didn’t know where he was), God was drawing me back to Himself. However, I still had some sinful habits that, despite my best efforts, I couldn’t let go of. (more…)

Written and posted by Matt on February 11, 2008, 8:48 am.
Filed under: Communicant, General Discussion, Looking Back, Orthodoxy, Our Roots, The Journey

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When we left the story, I had just started Seminary in 2002. I also took this time to immerse myself in the Evangelical™/Charismatic church that I was attending. Playing on worship team, sitting on staff meetings and doing a small internship. I was very firmly planting myself in the Evangelical™ stream and seeking out where it was that God was calling me to be when I graduated. I was barreling full steam ahead, not really knowing what lay at the end.
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Written and posted by Jamison on February 9, 2008, 3:25 pm.
Filed under: Catholicism, General Discussion, Looking Back, Our Roots

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To begin, I should give some background of who I am and where I’ve been. I was born in Illinois, and at the time my mom baptized me in a Catholic church. However, shortly after that my mom fell away from the faith for a period of time and it wasn’t until I was six years old that I had any other real exposure to a religious setting. When I was 6 my mom sent me off to the local churches Summer Youth program.

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Written and posted by Jamison on February 8, 2008, 11:37 am.
Filed under: General Discussion, Looking Back, Our Roots

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Hello, ya’ll, and, as Jamison said, welcome to my story. Like Jamison, I plan to post my story in parts. I expect I will probably use three parts, though I haven’t outlined everything yet, and I may have to extend to four. Before we get into all the gritty details, I though I’d like to introduce myself.

Online, I go by the handle ‘coderforchrist.’ This gives a small amount of info about me: I am a computer geek, programmer, and a Christian. I’m the youngest of the four here, being (as of this writing) in my mid 20’s, and graduated from college a few years ago with a B.S. in Computer Science. Despite my youth relative to the other authors here, I am the only one of us four who has, currently, completed Catechism and been received into the Church (I was received into the Orthodox Church by Holy Chrismation on May 20, 2007). Having been Orthodox for only less than a year, I often feel like an infant learning to walk. Orthodoxy is not something you do on Sundays; it demands your entire life (as it should). Likewise, our Tradition does not merely govern how we worship in Church (or even merely how we pray at home); it is a way of life. There is so much to learn, but, at the same time, there is also so much help. Why this is appealing to me is something I hope to explore as we continue this blog.

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Written and posted by Matt on February 5, 2008, 11:32 am.
Filed under: Communicant, General Discussion, Looking Back, Orthodoxy, Our Roots, The Journey

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My first Sunday as a catechumen was most certainly a different feeling for me than before when I was attending and admiring from afar. Instead,

Written and posted by Michael on February 4, 2008, 2:07 pm.
Filed under: Catechumen, Looking Back, Orthodoxy, The Journey

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Greetings and welcome to my story. I wanted to take a brief moment to introduce myself, and to set the stage for how I’m going to tell my tale. Each of our stories is unique, but in one particular way, mine is different. Of the four of us writing, I’m the only one who has decided to go Roman Catholic, the rest deciding to commune with the various Orthodox churches. However, even though we’re taking different paths backwards towards ancient faith, we all share the same underlying desire to return to the roots of Christianity and of the Church.
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Written and posted by Jamison on February 4, 2008, 12:20 am.
Filed under: Catholicism, General Discussion, Our Roots

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