Welcome to Our Blog!
Welcome to the first post on the Spiritual Resource blog for the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta. We thankfully live in a time where abundant Orthodox resources exist online. But sifting through them can be daunting. Thus, this effort to find some of the best content, match it to the ecclesial calendar, and then share it at the appropriate time. Our goal is to promote and enhance personal spiritual growth across the Metropolis by sharing videos and podcasts that will help you better understand the history and feasts of the Church, inspire you with stories from the lives of the saints, and fill you with spiritual wisdom that can be used in your daily life. You can read more about how this project began further below but let’s start with our first video.
Metropolitan Alexios on Orthodoxy’s Offering to America
Our first resource is the above video from Pemptousia where His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios speaks about what Orthodoxy has to offer America and how Orthodox Christians can best share our faith. One way is by sharing information about our faith — such as we are doing now. And please do share these posts with friends and family via social media. As the Metropolitan explains, technology is a great tool to use when communicating our faith with others. But he adds that the best way to promote our faith is — much like the early Christians — through our own example. We hope that these weekly posts will in part assist you in this effort.
The Apostles’ Fast
Apart from sharing resources, we will also remind you about important fasts and feast days. Like the Apostles’ Fast which began on Monday, June 12th and will continue until the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul on June 29th. While this fast is not as strict as that of Great Lent, it is nonetheless an extended fasting period of the Church and has been practiced in some form since the time of St. Athanasius and the Apostolic Constitutions. You can learn more about the history of this fast in this article from Mystagogy and in Fr. Thomas Hopko’s podcast on the same subject on Ancient Faith Radio.
Spiritual Growth Resources — Learning and Sharing Our Faith
As mentioned above, this is the first in a weekly series of posts designed to promote and enhance personal spiritual growth across the Metropolis. We’re really excited about this project and believe that you will be too. It all began during the Strategic Planning Session of the Clergy-Laity Assembly in Columbia, South Carolina in 2015. Many wonderful goals and initiatives were developed for our Metropolis during this session, including the plan that led to the creation of this blog. Over the course of two years a team of volunteers evaluated a great number of podcasts and videos in an effort to provide only the best content. Some content comes from familiar sources — videos from the Be the Bee series, the website Pemptousia, Theoria, and Ancient Faith Radio. Some come from resources that are hidden away. And some come from content newly created just for this effort. We have much to share and hope that you continue to follow this blog and find much that will assist you on your spiritual journey.
Next up … What is the Orthodox Church? Stay tuned!
