www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall suggestions for an Orthodox website?

Hi Everybody,

I'm putting together a website about Orthodoxy. Do any of you have any suggestions about what such a website should present?

The target audience is people who are spiritual but not religious and seeking. The main theme is that Orthodoxy could be the fulfillment of what they have been looking for.

Feel free to PM me if you prefer. Thank you in advance.

-- John

Well, simplified 101 information... Most of the Orthodox websites are great but I'd have to say that some of it is too deep. Probably one with a Q&A section would be nice.

For a start, an introduction to Orthodox spirituality would be nice. "The Orthodox Way" is a great start.

Thank you, Collin; those are good ideas. Anyone else? Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

-- John

Come and visit

http://z8.invisionfree.com/Orthopraxis/index.php?act=site

www.oca.org [oca.org]
www.goarch.org [goarch.org]

Both of the two jurisdictions above have Q&A sections

I think the best website would be one that has links to other Orthodox sites with a review.

However, there should also be reviews of those sites which are not valid representations of Orthodoxy, like Chief Curtain Rod or whatever his name is.

Why do you want to start another Orthodox web site? Do you think there is something lacking in:
http://www.oca.org
http://www.goarch.org
http://www.antiochian.org/

These are all official Orthodox church web sites with a wealth of materials.

This web site provides Patristic andother resources:
http://www.monachos.net/library/Orthodox_Christianity_through_Patristic_and_Monastic_Studies

I recommend
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/
http://www.mospat.ru/
http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/synod/indexeng.htm
and especially http://www.fatheralexander.org/

Alexandr

Well, they're all great resources and I have been using them for a long time. However, the question is more on how you approach your viewers. We'd have to keep in mind that not everyone has the same kind of mental stamina as most of us do (pun intended).

However, we can link to the above-mentioned sites and put a "further reading section", zeroing in to specific links which are related to let's say, the Eucharist. Orthodoxy is very deep and it would be better and helpful if we break down into topics as well.

In short, I suppose a topical and 101-style presentation of information would do much better. We'd have to assume that the audience are 101-ers on Orthodoxy. That much I can think of for now.

So you want the site to be "dumbed down" or "Eastern Orthodoxy for Dummies"?
Personally, I don't think Eastern Orthodoxy can be "dumbed down".
I also wonder about a site that is not connected with the church.
That is the advantage of the other web sites listed.

Elizabeth, Halia and Alexandr: thank you for your suggestions.

However, I agreee with Collin. The website that I have been composing for the last 3 weeks or so will be much shorter and simpler than the websites that were suggested. Also, the material will be much more elementary in some ways.

The reason is two-fold.

First I don't want to overwhelm people. There is, after all, a lot of information in Orthodoxy; but too much too soon can smother budding interest.

Second, my goal is to address a specific group of people --those who are spiritual but not religious and who are seeking-- and to show them a tantalizing glimpse that Orthodoxy might be what they have been looking for.

Collin (and anyone else): can you suggest any topics or anything else that should be included in such a website, given the parameters which I listed?

Be well.

-- John

John, now that the idea of your website is clearer, I have only this to say - I've been hoping for a website of this sort for a long time and I suppose that God has finally answered our prayers. It is a very good start although there will come a time where you will need to reach out to atheists.

As I have suggested earlier, I recommend topics from Bishop Kallistos' "The Orthodox Way" which is beautiful, and not so in-your-face. Another book which can give ideas for topics is "Letters From a Skeptic" by Edward Boyd. Given that its an Evangelical book and that the skeptic was none other than his dad (lapsed Catholic turned agnostic), it should be helpful enough, once things are explained from an Orthodox point of view.

However, what about tailoring the Alpha course and making it into something Orthodox or Eastern? They have some good topics. Putting it from an Eastern point of view would be fabulous.

So as long as the topics can bring inner happiness, and are not too apologetic in nature, I'd say you've succeeded. My two cents though.

Different people come from different experiences. Each one of us knows what we found lacking at one time or another, and our desire to make suggestions to rectify that comes from the soul and is an act of love for others.

I remember a GOA youth worker bulletin that mentioned how a cradle Greek Orthodox teen once commented that she was awestruck by one simple thing in visiting a friend's Evangelical church-- that she had never heard in all her years in her own church: that of the simple act of praying to Christ with your own words, about your own needs, your own concerns and worries, one on one like a friend...She complained about this quite in a quite articulate and mature manner in a letter which she sent to her youth director.

That might sound silly or shocking to alot of us, but that was her personal experience, and through that experience she hoped to make a suggestion for others to bring them closer to the Lord. Since this particular story went out to all youth directors in the country, it seems that she did infact make a difference with her suggestion.

So, God bless you John in your act of love..do it as you have seen fit in your journey, and may God bless it so that others will be edified by it.

Alice, Moderator

I would put your own personal story in it.

I don't think that putting it in a simpler format it dumbing it down. When teaching a first grader math you don't teach them Calculus you begin by teaching them the basics. So it should be with Orthodoxy, for those of us who are not Orthodox the basics are a good place to start from and then branch out and expound upon. When I talk to people about being Byzantine Rite Catholic I begin with the basics and have found in doing so I am able to convey more information than if I began with things that only those who are already B.R.C. would know about or understand. That is not dumbing things down, it is making them easier to learn and then build upon like I stated earlier. Harmon, I encourage you to continue what you have been doing.

Brother John,

Of course, ask the blessing of your Father Confessor for the work of this website.

John, in a garden there many beautiful flowers and rich trees, the air is purifying and all kind of treasures there are. But a person who is situated outside of the garden would need to know of the existence of such a garden, to know where it is the entrance and so on.

Therefore, simple or complex website, build it with the thought at Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Orthodox Church, do for the glory of God.

Once, in my early youth I wandered seeking. I studied buddhism, zen, etc., I studied the works of Mircea Eliade and so on.

I began to discover the rich treasures of the Orthodoxy entering in a spring day the Church Saint Panteleimon and buying the Philokalia no. 11 and Saint Barsanufie's teachings taught me so many.

God bless you!

M+

John, Christ is in our midst!

You'll do fine. Do PM me and see what you've come up with. Perhaps maybe I'll have a clearer idea of what we're missing out.