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Podcast Monday – Three Successful Parishes

In our previous “Podcast Monday,” we listened to Ancient Faith’s Kevin Allen interview Fr. John Ivanoff and Steven Christoforou on the issue of whether or not our churches are “declining” here in America. We considered what it means to be a practicing Orthodox Christian, how the vitality of a parish can be measured, and what we can do as individuals to lead to growth (both physical and spiritual) in our communities.

 

After listening to and pondering Kevin’s interview, I asked myself, “Are there any models for success we can look to? What is ‘working’ for our parishes, and where can these ‘successful parishes’ be found?”

 

Fortunately, Ancient Faith Today was not done exploring this issue.

 

Last week, Kevin continued his discussion with an interview (found here) of the priests of three successful parishes of our Archdiocese: Fr. Lou Christopoulos of St. Catherine in Greenwood Village, CO, Fr. Theodore Dorrance of St. John the Baptist in Portland, OR, and Fr. Evan Armatas of St. Spyridon in Loveland, CO.  

http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/aftoday/three_successful_parishes

 

As you listen, consider:

  1. What is the relationship between “quality” and “quantity” within the body of a parish? What emphases draw “quantity”
  2. What are some qualities that the parishes being discussed all seem to share? What mindset have they adopted, and what are their demographics?
  3. How important of a factor is knowledge of the Faith in the vitality and growth of a parish?
  4. In the interview, it is brought up that “God provides the growth.” What does this mean, and how might it influence our approach to growing our churches?
  5. How might we be leaders in our parishes in addressing faith enrichment, church fellowship, community outreach, as well as other opportunities for growing our communities spiritually and physically?

- Anthony

 

Anthony Ladas is a student at Fordham University and currently an intern for Y2AM.

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