www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall looking for a church

I have been seeking for a church home for awhile, now. I have come to a decision not to remain Catholic, Roman or Eastern. I live in the Scottsdale, AZ, area. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would they be friendly to a former RC? I have already attempted contacts with some local Orthodox churches. I have told them I am a former RC seeking to convert, and I get no response. Are there any evangelical Orthodox churches in this area that would be open to me?

Walter,

I'm sorry you have not been able to find a parish home within the Catholic Church. As to seeking a home within the Orthodox Church, you'll probably need to stick with one parish in order to show the pastor you are sincere about conversion. Since you live in Scottsdale, I'm sure you have been to Assumption Greek Orthodox Church. There is an Antiochian Orthodox Church, St George, on Gold Dust, west of Tatum.

John

BTW, are you still at St Vincent de Paul?

Evangelical Orthodox?

What's that?

Walter, thank you for the explanation.

I think that the Orthodox Church /and the Catholic Church) should be more active in the non-christian countries, specially in Turkey, people need Jesus Christ so much there.

Dear Walt,

The Antiochian Orthodox Church has an "Evangelical Orthodox" group, as you know, and they are quite an excellent bunch.

Father Stephen Walinski of Omaha, Nebraska is a convert from Episcopalianism to the Antiochian Orthodox Church and his parish is Western-Rite.

He is a wonderful man who actively seeks converts to Orthodoxy!

And he is descended from Jewish parents!

Sounds like a man you should communicate with and he could be of immense help and support to you.

He can be found on the Antiochian Orthodox parish listing site.

We corresponded for years until we finally met face to face at the Antiochian Conference in Toronto some years back.

He is a man very dedicated to the Western Liturgical Sarum tradition as well as to Orthodoxy.

Alex

"I have been seeking for a church home for awhile, now. I have come to a decision not to remain Catholic, Roman or Eastern. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would they be friendly to a former RC?"

First, you will have to decide if YOU will be friendly to the faith communities you are investigating. This website is affiliated with an Eastern Catholic Church ... if you didn't already know. Would you seek advice from a rabbi on what he thinks would be the most satisfactory and pleasing mosque to affiliate with? Shouldn't you be checking out the mosque instead? Just wondering.


"I have already attempted contacts with some local Orthodox churches. I have told them I am a former RC seeking to convert, and I get no response."

You have to know why you want to become Orthodox. Do you? A former RC "seeking to convert" looks like a despondent situation. It is no wonder why the Orthodox clergy are not receptive. On a personal note, I would like to know why you have not responded to my advice you were seeking? Please read my personal message/response dated August 12, 2002 6:31 PM. It remains "unread by recipient."


"Are there any evangelical Orthodox churches in this area that would be open to me?"

The "evangelicals" have been incorporated into the mainline Antiochian Orthodox Church. Even their one-time studies program has been shut down, whereas they still offer their St. Stephen's studies program.

Joe

[ 08-22-2002: Message edited by: J Thur ]

Dear Cantor Joe,

Touche!

Alex

[QUOTE]Originally posted by J Thur:

>>>First, you will have to decide if YOU will be friendly to the faith communities you are investigating. This website is affiliated with an Eastern Catholic Church ... if you didn't already know. Would you seek advice from a rabbi on what he thinks would be the most satisfactory and pleasing mosque to affiliate with? Shouldn't you be checking out the mosque instead? Just wondering.<<<

I have no problem with anyone seeking to enter the Orthodox communion, whether Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim or unchurched--provided he is doing it for the right reason, which is that his conscience informs him that the Orthodox Church is the proper Church in which he can work out his salvation with fear and trembling. In that regard, I always tell people who ask me, to make sure that they are converting "to' something, and not merely "from" something else. If they are convinced, then I give them ever possible assistance, for if we truly are ONE Church, then I should help my brother do what is best for him, at all times.

At the same time, I tell them that anyone looking for the "perfect" Church is doomed to wander the earth forever.

>>>You have to know why you want to become Orthodox. Do you? A former RC "seeking to convert" looks like a despondent situation.<<<

This is the salient point. I do not know if Walt knows his own mind yet. Perhaps a period of seeking and observing with, but not in, the Orthodox Church, will help settle that for him.

>>>It is no wonder why the Orthodox clergy are not receptive.<<<

Perhaps they are waiting to see how serious he is? One way to do that is by not encouraging too actively, and letting the spirit move as He wills upon a person. Kyr Kallistos recounts that when he first began investigating Orthodoxy in the 1950s, he was not exactly greeted with cheers. Instead, he was informed that for an Englishman to become Orthodox was a long and difficult spiritual journey. All the roadblocks and impediments were laid out for him. He persisted, because he knew that the Orthodox Church spoke directly to his soul.

>>>The "evangelicals" have been incorporated into the mainline Antiochian Orthodox Church. Even their one-time studies program has been shut down, whereas they still offer their St. Stephen's studies program.<<<

That's news. I thought they still had a couple of parishes on the outside.

"That's news. I thought they still had a couple of parishes on the outside."

Clarification. I meant to speak only on their program of studies. It ended a few years ago when the St. Stephen's program became their sole correspondence/study.

To J Thur:

I do not have a message from you dated: 08/12/02. It is obvious I did not read it, so I must have accidentally deleted it. If you still have it in your SENT MAIL folder, would you re-send it?

Thanks,
Walt

If you are logged in (that is, if your name appears on the top left of the screen with the words "Hello,....") you can then click on the words "my profile" in the upper right of any page to view the private messages people have sent you.

Dear Administrator,

Respectfully, I, as yet, don't have the private messages capability.

As some say, "What am I, the stepmother's son?"

A great weekend to you and yours, Sir!

Alex

Alex,

My apologies to you. Something is wrong with your account that I cannot fix. Maybe you are behind on your monthly kielbasi and pirohy payments and your private messaging service has lapsed?

Actually, I am hoping that the next software upgrade will fix it. If not, I will get the software writers to look at the problem. I just need to find the time to do it!

Admin

Dear Administrator:

Thanks, I was only accessing these messages from my personal e-mail accounts.

Walt

Walt,

You are most welcome. I think the next version of the software will actually have an indication at the top of the screen telling you that you have new private messages.

Admin

"If you are logged in (that is, if your name appears on the top left of the screen with the words "Hello,....") you can then click on the words "my profile" in the upper right of any page to view the private messages people have sent you."

Well, tie up my legs and call me dogie. I didn't know about this function at all. And I just discovered several months-old messages.

Do these messages get forwarded to one's personal e-mail address, or do they just sit there in the "my profile" section?

Blessings.

Who volunteers to get the rope?

Notification and a copy of the private messages can be delivered via e-mail if you choose. There are default choices you make when you register and they can be changed by modifying your profile. To modify your profile click on "my profile" and then "View/Update Profile" and make the appropriate modifications.

HEHEHE

How wonderful - at last here I can tell someone something they did not know - after all these months too.

Dr John - you can get your PMs sent to you by e-mail - after logging in and seeing the greeting, go to my profile and then to update. At the bottom of that you will come to some questions with radio buttons - the last one is the one you want - click on yes and by the wonders of Ethernet and the Bulletin Board all the PMs will come to you by e-mail and stay on your profile as well.

Isn't technology great - leastwise when it works

Angela

Now that Angela has provided the rope are there any volunteers to fulfill Dr. John's request?

oooops I've goofed

My humble apologies to you Mr Administrator.

I appear to have been typing my response as you were posting yours .

oooops - that'll teach me to be so forward

Apologize? Nonsense. Dr. John seems to need to be told things several times before understanding and you have of the utmost assistance!

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Okay, since this seems to be on topic, how do you fdelete old PMs? There's no button to click after choosing the boxes of messages to delete for me.

IC XC NIKA,
-Nik!

Why are things so complicated in the USA?

In other countries people only go to Church and that's all. Priests don't ask people about their religious backgrounds, if you take communion you take it because you belong to that faith, and that's all.

Nik
The following works on my little steam driven iMac so it should on your very up to date eMac

After checking the boxes on the left hand side scroll down to the bottom of the box in which your messages are listed, and there ought to be an elonqated ovoid button saying on it delete checked messages - a double click on that seems to do the trick. :p


Angela

[ 08-22-2002: Message edited by: Our Lady's slave of love ]

[ 08-22-2002: Message edited by: Our Lady's slave of love ]

Remie: "In other countries people only go to Church and that's all. Priests don't ask people about their religious backgrounds, if you take communion you take it because you belong to that faith, and that's all."

With reflection, I think that there is much to be said for what Remie has mentioned. I have always felt it very puzzling, to put it mildly, when hearing of some people's experiences in the communion line, as when the priest asks them questions right at the chalice and in front of everyone. I don't feel it is the time or place for an interrogation and would be most uncomfortable doing this myself - and I never have. I don't think that Our Lord would have operated this way and communion should be a unifying moment, not a time to "separate the sheep from the goats." There is a proper and Christian way to do things and I don't see this as either.

Fr. Joe

Fr Joe,

I recall somewhere that minister of the Eucharist (bishop, presbyter, deacon) can only assume that a person who approaches to receive the Eucharist is in the proper state to do so. To withhold the Eucharist at this point sounds like Jansenism.

As to WWJD: the Gospels relate that Judas received from the Lord's hand and left early. I even recall a sign on a door leading out of a Church, "Judas left early too".

John

Walt,
I left the Ss. Peter & Paul Orthodox parish in Phoenix (OCA) for St. Thomas the Apostle Byzantine Catholic parish in Gilbert this summer. My wife and I were received as members of the Faith in good standing. That will not be the case when or if you try to enter orthodoxy. Classes that lead to chrismation are the norm regardless of jurisdiction (usually taking about a year), and none of them permit non-Orthodox to receive communion prior to chrismation. All Orthodox jurisdictions not in communion with the Papacy regard Catholics of any kind as non-Orthodox, but Catholics do not regard Orthodox in the same light. The closest "match" for Byzantine Catholics is the OCA ethnically and culturally. In the 50 years the OCA has been in Arizona, their membership has only reach 70 to 80, while the Byzantine Catholics have grown dramatically, with 3 parishes, one of which is a pro-cathedral. Please consider the Byzantines (Ruthenians) in midtown Phoenix or Gilbert, or the Ukrainian Catholics in west Phoenix before you venture among the Orthodox, if only because you may discover significant ethnic and language limitations as well as some xenophobia within orthodoxy. The grass may not be as green as you think. If you want me to tell you of various orthodox locations throughout the valley, send me a private message. I'll tell you what I know.

Glory to Jesus Christ!

Thank you Angela,

Are you by any chance using Netscape? I am using Internet Explorer 5.2 on Mac OS X 10.1.5 and that button isn't showing up. God Bless!

IC XC NIKA,
-Nik!
"That Website Guy"

OK Nik ,

I'm not sure if this attempt at a reply will work
Since November I have been using my G3 DV400 iMac OS9.2 on AOL [ nearly used the accurate description which would not go down well here ] Now as I understand it AOH.... uses an old IE version as it's Browser, known as AOL 5 - the most up-to-date version there is for Macs. Here in the UK those on OS X have to use either American Beta version or the 3 month old British Trial Version and they are not totally bug free.. For this reply I have just pulled up IE5. and will try to post through it. Oh the Delete checked messages is there on IE 5 - I have checked. This may/may not work AOH does not like me trying to use Outlook Express through their system

Roll on ADSL !

Sorry for being so off topic - but please note Mr Administrator we are trying to check things out.


Angela

Actually that was a very interesting experience - the font available in the message box was a larger size ! [ oh I am back on AO..... again to edit this. ] and much easier to read - and the box was a slightly different size too. The big snag was that after hitting Post and seeing the dialogue box telling me to hang on "we are returning you to ...." the browser hung - so after hanging on for a while I finally closed the window and Internet Explorer and returned to AO.... and lo and behold - it was there Perhaps the Admin would care to pass the results of this little experiment to the software Gurus for their perusal

[ 08-23-2002: Message edited by: Our Lady's slave of love ]