Rumor has it that this episode is about gossip. But like I told someone else . . . don't tell anyone!

After talking a bit more about narcissism in the priesthood (and a brief word from a sponsor), Fr. Anthony uses some insights from comparative politics to help explain some of the divisions that plague some communities and why things often get blown out of proportion.

On St. Michael's Day of 2012, the parish of St. Michael the Archangel (UOC-USA) in Woonsocket, RI suffered tremendous damage from a fire. In this podcast, Fr. Anthony, the priest of St. Michael's at that time, shares hard-earned advice on preparing for, dealing with, and recovering from parish disasters. The most important advice? Keep the One Thing Needful top on the list of priorities at every step of the process.

A priest friend of mine likes to say, "We may not have many, but we have them all!" In this episode, I describe some the of the things that make it hard for priests and laity to see eye-to-eye and try to make the case that it really is okay not to like everything about your priests or parishes in order to love, serve, and support them. (Please note that I am NOT defending pathological or abusive parishioners and priests; we deal with those rare situations in other episodes). Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony ones again shares the idea of the pattern of the Logos as the mechanism of evangelism. This is the first part of a talk he gave at the 2018 Lenten Retreat in Bethlehem PA hosted by the Ukrainian Orthodox League (UOC-USA) and The American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony uses metaphors to help us understand what healthy parishes should and shouldn't look like. This is the second part of a talk he gave at the 2018 Lenten Retreat in Bethlehem PA hosted by the Ukrainian Orthodox League (UOC-USA) and The American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America. Enjoy the show!

Parish cultures vary. Some of this variation is wonderful, but what about toxic parish cultures? Fr. Anthony and Fr. Gregory Jensen talk about how priests can cultivate healthy cultures, warning signs that they are doing it wrong, and whether/when it is acceptable and even good for parishioners to find another parish.

Fr. Anthony and Fr. Harry Linsinbigler (canonist for the UOC-USA) talk about recent blessings at the parish Fr. Harry serves (Protection of the Theotokos in Dover, FL), variations on the sacrament of confession, and the ontology of the priesthood. Listen and find out how relics and myrrh-streaming icons can help a parish's culture, what the differences are between the different prayers of absolution, and whether the priest is just a fill-in for when the bishop can't be at the parish. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony interviews Fr. John Peck (http://frjohnpeck.com) about the joys and challenges of North American missionary work and ways that those called to it can get themselves and their families ready for it and the many challenges it - and life - can bring. We talk about the need to get out of debt and how important it is to have an awesome, loving, and mutually supportive relationship with your wife. Enjoy the show!

In this episode AFR blogger and podcaster Fr. Stephen De Young talks with Fr. Anthony about parish Bible study, why it is so fun and awesome, why some priests and parishioners are hesitant about it, and ways to draw people in and make the effort sustainable. Fr. Stephen posts his parish Bible study notes here and the recordings here; Fr. Anthony posts his notes here and the recordings here. Enjoy the show!

In this interview, Fr. Anthony and Dn. Michael Abrahamson talk about the relationship between a healthy parish culture, worship done well (to the glory of God), and evangelism. Along the way, they talk about funerals, the organic development of local worship melodies, and the simple joy of shared service. Enjoy the show!

In this episode, Fr. Anthony talks with Subdeacon John (Robert) Cummings, the Manager of Staff Training and Development at Red Oak Recovery in Waynesville, PA, about opioid addiction, what works in recovery, and how the lessons of effective recovery can be re-learned and enculturated by our parishes. Along the way, they spar about the correct pronunciation of Appalachia (Fr. Anthony used the pronunciation of his ancestral homeland of northern Appalachia; Sdn. John that of his southern part), Enjoy the show!

In this episode, Fr. Anthony talks with priest, professor, and canonist, Fr. Harry Linsinbigler, about his new books (“In Every Church” and “Orthodox Ecclesiology”) and why it’s important to get ecclesiology right. This is the audio of a YouTube livestream interview. The followup interviews on ecclesiology and the coronavirus and ecclesiology and Ukrainian autocephaly are available on YouTube and at OrthoAnalytika.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony talks with the COVID-stricken Fr. Harry Linsinbigler about parish life and the implications of recent survey results from Gallup (on further declines in American church membership) and Pew (on American religion and the COVID). Enjoy the show!

In this episode, Fr. Anthony talks with Dn. Michael about three ideal types of parish music; choir, kliros, and congregational. They discuss their attributes, what is required to sustain them, and the way each brings glory to God in its own way. Enjoy the show!

We celebrate the Presentation of Christ forty days after His birth, in the Temple in Jerusalem. The Theotokos and St. Joseph bring the young Savior there in compliance with the Old Testament law, making the offering of a poor family, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the old man St. Simeon proclaims that this Child is the salvation “of all peoples, a light to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel.” The aged prophetess St. Anna also recognizes Him as the fulfillment of God’s promises.

John the Baptist was unspotted from the world due to the spiritual strength he gained from a life of asceticism and prayer, and he called people to follow him in preparing the way of the Lord as they bore “fruits worthy of repentance” and treated other people with the care appropriate to the children of God.

We must mindfully take the steps necessary to follow the Theotokos in becoming holy living temples of the Lord. That is the only way to celebrate this feast and to prepare to celebrate Christmas with integrity.

In the remaining days before Christmas, let us embrace the radically disorienting calling to hope in nothing and no one other than the God-Man Who is born to heal and fulfill all who bear the divine image and likeness.

Those who have put on Christ in baptism and who receive the Communion of His Body and Blood must become epiphanies of His fulfillment of the human person in God’s image and likeness. As we prepare to celebrate Theophany, let us gain the spiritual clarity to behold the glory of Christ’s baptism by straightening the crooked areas of our lives.

If we are ever tempted to think that the Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are antiquated niceties for those removed from the cares of daily life, we must think again. They are absolute necessities for us to live faithfully in our world of corruption. They are not practices focused on individual spiritual gratification, but how we find the strength to offer ourselves for the blessing of our neighbors and the salvation of the world.

Like the rich man, many want a spiritual pat on the pack for continuing down whatever passion-driven path they have followed so far.

Most people today surely do not think of the weeks before Christmas as a time of preparation for being loosed from bondage to the corrupting forces of sin and death. More commonly, we use this time of year to strengthen our addiction to the love of money, possessions, food, drink, and other worldly pleasures.

As we continue to prepare to welcome Christ at His Nativity, we must keep our focus on becoming like those who first received Him with joy. That includes the Theotokos, whose Entrance into the Temple, where she prepared to become His Living Temple, we celebrated last week. That includes unlikely characters like the Persian astrologers or wise men, certainly Gentiles, who traveled such a long distance to worship Him. What better news could there have been than that the Prince of Peace was coming “to preach good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord”? (Lk. 4:18-19) As we sing during these weeks of Advent, “Dance for joy, O earth, on hearing the gladsome tidings; with the Angels and the shepherds now glorify Him Who is willing to be gazed on as a young Child Who before the ages is God.”

Fr. John Parker reflects on his appearance on the new live call-in program entitled Faith Encouraged Live with Fr. Barnabas Powell. This is the first of two podcasts where he talks about effectively reaching out as a parish.

This week, as we approach Great Lent, Dr. Edith Humphrey helps us prepare our minds by focusing upon godly humility, as seen in Job, in the model laid out for Timothy by St. Paul, and in the well-known parable of the Publican and the Pharisee.

We reflect back upon the Psalm “By the Waters of Babylon,” heard by many of us in the past three weeks, as a preparation for Great Lent. Its troublesome final verse is read with the help of other portions of Scripture, St. John Chrysostom, Cassiodorus and others, so that we can understand why the psalm retains a valuable place in our worship together.

This is a recording of a presentation Fr. Ted gave at the annual clergy retreat.

Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos talks about the importance of looking only at our own sin as we enter into the Triodion in preparation for the Great Fast.

On this encore program from 2008, Kevin speaks with Fr. Jonathon Ivanoff, Secretary of the Department of Evangelization of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) about the "life cycle" of parishes and how to know whether your parish is thriving, dying or dead on the vine -- and what can be done about it!

In this edition Kevin Allen speaks with priest, missionary, author and an adjunct lecturer at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and Hellenic College, Fr Luke Veronis, about the challenges he faced when he came home from the mission field to take over a moribund Orthodox parish that had a revolving door of former priests. This is an inspiring and instructive story that will be an encouragement to all!

What can be learned from the Orthodox Mission to Alaska? How should the spirit of the early Church in the Roman empire inspire the life of a new parish? Saint Vladimir’s Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield offered insights and practical advice on mission planting at Holy Theophany Russian Orthodox Church in Bergen, Norway on December 6, 2019. The talk was organized in part by St. Vladimir's Alumnus Fr. Theodor Svane (’15) and the parish Fr. Theodore serves, Annunciation of the Holy Virgin Mary Orthodox Mission Parish, also in Bergen.

Addressing members of the Orthodox Inter-Seminary Movement (OISM), St. Vladimir's Seminary President Fr. Chad Hatfield offer some thoughts for future ordained and lay leaders who will be serving in an "aggresively anti-Christian" world. His insights and suggestions for further reading will be of interest to the seminarian and non-seminarian alike.

Dn. Mark explains exactly what needs to be done when preparing a body for burial.

The New Testament epistles as well as the Divine Liturgy constantly encourage us to be of one mind because we are members of the Body of Christ and of one another. Fr Tom used today's epistle reading as an opportunity to encourage his parishioners to develop oneness with each other in order to achieve parish goals. (Seventh Sunday after Pentecost)

On Meatfare Sunday we commemorate the Last Judgment, when Christ returns to His creation to judge the world and redeem His people. Fr Thomas reminds us that our fasting is related to the Judgment. As we fast to prepare for Pascha, the Lord's resurrection is the first sign of our resurrection and the coming Judgment.

The celebration of Palm Sunday is juxtaposed against the dark events that we experience in the life of Christ during Holy Week. Fr Thomas reminds us that our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem is an example of having the "peace from above" even if you're marching to the Cross.

The Parable of the Talents is a rich but difficult story, calling everyone who has been given gifts in God's vineyard to the responsibility of growth. On the Sunday of their parish's annual meeting, Fr Thomas delivers a pointed and challenging message to his congregation, reminding them that no one is exempt from accountability in matters concerning church life, since we are all individually members of the one body of Christ.

On the Sunday after Theophany, the reading from the Apostle teaches us that there is a close relationship between Christ's filling all of creation with Himself and the gifts that He bestows on us. Fr Thomas reminds us that those gifts need to be discerned and exercised to continue the work of renewal in the world and in our parishes.

We are to point to Christ and not ourselves as we prepare the way for others to receive Him; we decrease that Christ might be glorified in and through us.

Fr. Christopher speaks about the modern Saint, Mother Maria of Paris.

Dr. Rossi interviews the parish priest at St. Justin Martyr Orthodox Church in Jacksonville about parish life, outreach, and evangelism.

Dr. Rossi talks with graduate student and old friend Danielle Xanthos about the ministry and martyrdom of Mother Maria of Paris.

Bobby Maddex interviews Daria Petrykowski of the Orthodox Church in America about the upcoming parish ministries conference, which will be held July 10-13, 2013, at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. Click here for more information about the conference and to register.