Healing Your Spirit, Healing Your Body: the Mystery of Holy Unction

What does it mean to be healthy from the Orthodox perspective?  How do we perceive sickness of the body? In what way are we soul- sick and how can we be made well? How are health of the soul and health of the body intertwined? This class invites us to look at wellness and healing from the approach of the Holy Unction Service and encourages us to understand more fully James’s admonition, "if any of you be sick, let him be anointed with oil."

Experiencing the Word of God

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be  complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3: 14-17

Immersing ourselves in the Word of God is a vital part of Orthodox spiritual life.  How do we equip ourselves "for every good work" in our scripture habits? How do we approach our reading?  How do we sort through the myriad of biblical interpretations that have led to the many denominations that surround us? What do Orthodox believe about the Bible? With the help of Father Kallistos Ware, St. Symeon the New Theologian, his eminence Archbishop Demetrios and the Author Himself, this class will examine how, as Orthodox, we approach the Holy Scripture, how we  can incorporate it in our walk and how we can live out the Gospel.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be  complete, equipped for every good work   (2 Timothy 3: 14-17)Immersing ourselves in the Word of God is a vital part of Orthodox spiritual life.  How do we equip ourselves "for every good work" in our scripture habits? How do we approach our reading?  How do we sort through the myriad of biblical interpretations that have led to the many denominations that surround us? What do Orthodox believe about the Bible? With the help of Father Kallistos Ware, St. Symeon the New Theologian, his eminence Archbishop Demetrios and the Author Himself, this class will examine how, as Orthodox, we approach the Holy Scripture, how we  can incorporate it in our walk and how we can live out the Gospel.

Partakers of the Divine Nature: What is Theosis?

Orthodox Christians regard salvation as a process of deepening identification with God’s presence in our lives.  Orthodox practice encourages us to regard our soul as a vital aspect of ourselves, as whole human beings, to be cared for, developed, and listened to. By becoming in tune with our spirit, and by balancing the aspects of our being: soul, spirit, and body, we are able to maintain harmony with the Holy Spirit as the guide of our lives.  We are created to be united intimately with Christ. How can we establish an intimate relationship with Christ so as to hear Him speaking with our spirit? How, while immersed in our secular worlds, can we develop this intimacy?  This lecture explores these questions and the Orthodox concept of salvation.

Building the Body of Christ

The Church is not a building but the people of God who accept the invitation to join His family through the sacramental participation in His very real, very current, Life. Oftentimes, God sees fit to bless a family with growth in numbers. When a family grows in numbers, it usually considers whether or not there is room in its present facilities. If its present facilities do not meet its needs, an addition is one option, as is a different house altogether.  It is reasonable for a church to plan ahead and be sensitive to the growing needs of the church family.

For a church to be expanding in a Godly manner, it must explore and discover that its motive is to be used by God to build up the body of Christ, to disciple the Orthodox to the Glory of God, to heal the lost, to strengthen families. When we build a Church facility, we create sacred space in which we consistently come before God as a people to share in prayer, in communion with one another, and in the significant turning points of our lives. We mark and invoke God’s presence at life’s major thresholds:   baptism, marriage, death, unction and recommitment to God. When we do so, God lifts our efforts to enrich us more than we can imagine.

The purpose of this talk is to inspire us and to assist us in clarifying our purpose as a physically expanding Church in Christ.

The Church is not a building but the people of God who accept the invitation to join His family through the sacramental participation in His very real, very current, Life. Oftentimes, God sees fit to bless a family with growth in numbers. When a family grows in numbers, it usually considers whether or not there is room in its present facilities. If its present facilities do not meet its needs, an addition is one option, as is a different house altogether.  It is reasonable for a church to plan ahead and be sensitive to the growing needs of the church family.For a church to be expanding in a Godly manner, it must explore and discover that its motive is to be used by God to build up the body of Christ, to disciple the Orthodox to the Glory of God, to heal the lost, to strengthen families. When we build a Church facility, we create sacred space in which we consistently come before God as a people to share in prayer, in communion with one another, and in the significant turning points of our lives. We mark and invoke God’s presence at life’s major thresholds:   baptism, marriage, death, unction and recommitment to God. When we do so, God lifts our efforts to enrich us more than we can imagine.The purpose of this talk is to inspire us and to assist us in clarifying our purpose as a physically expanding Church in Christ.

Life-giving Liturgy

This class discusses our Orthodox Liturgy from the perspective of its root in ancient Temple and Synagogue worship.  The early Apostolic Church, considered a sect of Judaism, established its tradition of worship from the way that God had instructed the nation of Israel to mimic heavenly worship. Today, we often approach liturgy with an attitude of "sameness," and question its relevance to Christian modern living. We live in a culture where worship and entertainment are co-mingled and in which quality experience is often equated with feel-good and novel approaches. How can we experience the presence of the heavenly kingdom during our liturgy? How do we become sensitized to our soul and participate with the unseen world ushered in during Orthodox liturgical worship? In this workshop we will discuss ways to use mind, heart, body, and soul to more fully access the true spiritual and communal happenings during liturgical worship.