This was great and very helpful, thank you! I used to go out street "preaching" several evenings a week when I was a Reformed Baptist. I was taught to get people fired up so that at least one person would get angry enough to engage and draw in a crowd. I never liked that idea, it seemed to me those who were the most angry were usually the most hurt and it felt extremely uncaring to use them as a pawn so I could draw a larger crowd. It makes for great self promotion videos but seems a horrible way to love your fellow man. Since converting to Orthodoxy, I have taken all of my videos down from RUclips. Lord have mercy!
By the way, I wouldn't know at all that you don't have a mic on for this video if you hadn't have said, so I would definitely leave it up. The audio was perfectly clear.
loving your discouress father Paul. Im interested in reading and learning more.....what days and what time is your bookstore open to come in and check out?
The schedule is often different from day to day. Sundays after liturgy are always good (about 11am), and I’m there from 12-7 nearly every Saturday. Otherwise, just shoot me an email!
Father, I've personally heard from followers of Orthodoxy that evangelism isn't necessary, as theosis is the basis for salvation. And the quality is better than the quantity of followers the church has....How can a newcomer of Orthodoxy from protestantism reconcile this? Thank you.
Well, I would argue that they have a fundamental misunderstanding: While theosis and its pursuit are indeed the basis of salvation, theosis and its pursuit are ALSO the basis of evangelism. We must live what we preach, and the more we live it, the more effective our sharing of the Faith will be. What many Orthodox misunderstand is that, while the Orthodox approach to sharing the Faith does so (hopefully) with far more humility and greater awe for the message than I think most Protestant approaches, it doesn't mean that sharing our Faith is, in and of itself, a Protestant thing. Orthodox Christians are THE original evangelists! This entire series - especially the first two lectures - are meant to address this very misunderstanding.
A good start would be dropping the ethnic/national prefixes from parish names. People see that and assume they won't be welcome because they're not from that background. Unfortunately I have heard of parishes where that was suggested but was shot down as "a slap in the face to the community that founded the parish." That simply doesn't make sense to me. What could be a better way to honour their memory than to build on the foundation they provided to bring more people to the Church? And frankly, a significant influx of converts is the only thing that will allow these parishes to survive the next few decades, as the Greeks/Serbs/etc. are dropping out, particularly since 2020. Unfortunately there are some who want their parishes to be synagogues - "we are the only ones with the truth, this is the only way to salvation, but no we won't share it with you because you're of the wrong ethnicity." There are still some priests (Greeks, I'm looking at you) here in the UK turning away British inquirers for not being Greek. It is far less common than it was in the past, but it does happen. And there are many more, the majority really, that will be moderately welcoming if you turn up and make it clear you want to join, but have an absolute aversion to evangelism of any kind. I see mission projects out in Africa and the Far East, but really we need mission projects here in the UK. Most people here have never heard of Orthodoxy and those that have assume it's a purely ethnic thing. There is huge scope for evangelism here - there is a large demographic, particularly of young people, who are looking for something deeper, looking for meaning, looking for the truth, but completely turned off by the Church of England, Methodists etc.
Кино
This was great and very helpful, thank you! I used to go out street "preaching" several evenings a week when I was a Reformed Baptist. I was taught to get people fired up so that at least one person would get angry enough to engage and draw in a crowd. I never liked that idea, it seemed to me those who were the most angry were usually the most hurt and it felt extremely uncaring to use them as a pawn so I could draw a larger crowd. It makes for great self promotion videos but seems a horrible way to love your fellow man. Since converting to Orthodoxy, I have taken all of my videos down from RUclips. Lord have mercy!
I was also asked by my priest why I want to become orthodox at the beginning of my conversion.
Me too
By the way, I wouldn't know at all that you don't have a mic on for this video if you hadn't have said, so I would definitely leave it up. The audio was perfectly clear.
This was super helpful. Lots of great communication tips, even outside of the realm of Evangelism. Thanks so much, Father. ☦️💜
Praise God! Thank you for this
loving your discouress father Paul. Im interested in reading and learning more.....what days and what time is your bookstore open to come in and check out?
The schedule is often different from day to day. Sundays after liturgy are always good (about 11am), and I’m there from 12-7 nearly every Saturday. Otherwise, just shoot me an email!
@@frpaul thank you
Father, I've personally heard from followers of Orthodoxy that evangelism isn't necessary, as theosis is the basis for salvation. And the quality is better than the quantity of followers the church has....How can a newcomer of Orthodoxy from protestantism reconcile this? Thank you.
Well, I would argue that they have a fundamental misunderstanding: While theosis and its pursuit are indeed the basis of salvation, theosis and its pursuit are ALSO the basis of evangelism. We must live what we preach, and the more we live it, the more effective our sharing of the Faith will be. What many Orthodox misunderstand is that, while the Orthodox approach to sharing the Faith does so (hopefully) with far more humility and greater awe for the message than I think most Protestant approaches, it doesn't mean that sharing our Faith is, in and of itself, a Protestant thing. Orthodox Christians are THE original evangelists! This entire series - especially the first two lectures - are meant to address this very misunderstanding.
@@frpaul Thank you Father, you’ve been a light in the confusion.
A good start would be dropping the ethnic/national prefixes from parish names. People see that and assume they won't be welcome because they're not from that background. Unfortunately I have heard of parishes where that was suggested but was shot down as "a slap in the face to the community that founded the parish." That simply doesn't make sense to me. What could be a better way to honour their memory than to build on the foundation they provided to bring more people to the Church? And frankly, a significant influx of converts is the only thing that will allow these parishes to survive the next few decades, as the Greeks/Serbs/etc. are dropping out, particularly since 2020. Unfortunately there are some who want their parishes to be synagogues - "we are the only ones with the truth, this is the only way to salvation, but no we won't share it with you because you're of the wrong ethnicity." There are still some priests (Greeks, I'm looking at you) here in the UK turning away British inquirers for not being Greek. It is far less common than it was in the past, but it does happen. And there are many more, the majority really, that will be moderately welcoming if you turn up and make it clear you want to join, but have an absolute aversion to evangelism of any kind. I see mission projects out in Africa and the Far East, but really we need mission projects here in the UK. Most people here have never heard of Orthodoxy and those that have assume it's a purely ethnic thing. There is huge scope for evangelism here - there is a large demographic, particularly of young people, who are looking for something deeper, looking for meaning, looking for the truth, but completely turned off by the Church of England, Methodists etc.
Now Peterson is ortho
🩷