CONFERENCE: Anglicans – Orthodoxy

Regarding this posting (a conference for Anglicans interested in Orthodoxy), here’s the scoop …

DETROIT – In response to numerous enquiries, St. Andrew House Center for Orthodox Christian Studies will host “Faith of Our Fathers: A Colloquium on Orthodoxy for Anglicans” Jan. 29-30 for clergy of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Anglican Church of Canada, and other churches in the worldwide Anglican Communion. While the colloquium is designed for Anglican clergy, it is also open to Anglican laity, and to clergy and laity from other Christian faiths. Seating is limited, however, and priority will be given to Anglicans on a first-come, first-served basis.

The purpose of the colloquium is educational, according to the Most Rev. Nathaniel, Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate of the Orthodox Church in America, and founder and president of St. Andrew House.

“‘Faith of Our Fathers’ will be an opportunity to explain who we Orthodox are to our Anglican brethren, and to show our love and concern for them in their time of trial,” Archbishop Nathaniel said, referring to doctrinal divisions within the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, and among the member churches of the worldwide Anglican Communion. “We hope Orthodoxy might be a salve that can help begin a process of healing,” he said

Including Archbishop Nathaniel, there will be nine principal speakers at the colloquium. They will compare Orthodox and Anglican theology, liturgy and church order, and the seven who are converts from Anglicanism to Orthodoxy will discuss their personal journeys and offer practical advice for Anglican clergy considering Orthodoxy.

Seven of the speakers are Orthodox priests: the Rev. Dr. Heiromonk Calinic Berger, Hermitage, Pa.; the Very Rev. Gregory Mathewes-Green, Linthicum, Md.; the Rev. James Stephen Freeman, Oak Ridge, Tenn.; the Very Rev. William Olnhausen, Cedarburg, Wis.; the Rev. John Parker, Mount Pleasant, S.C.; the Very Rev. Patrick Henry Reardon, Chicago; and the Very Rev. John Reeves, State College, Pa.

The ninth speaker, Frederica Mathewes-Green, wife of Fr. Gregory Mathewes-Green and a nationally known writer, speaker and radio commentator, is an Orthodox layperson.

Except for Archbishop Nathaniel, who is a convert from Roman Catholicism, and Fr. Berger, who is “cradle Orthodox,” all the speakers are converts to Orthodoxy from the Episcopal Church.

The colloquium is expected to attract other Orthodox clergy representing most major Orthodox jurisdictions in North America, including the Most Rev. Job, Archbishop of Chicago and the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America, and other hierarchs.

The colloquium will be held at St. Paul of the Cross Passionist Retreat Center, 23333 Schoolcraft Road, near the intersection of Interstate 96 and Telegraph Road.

The colloquium will begin with registration at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 29 and conclude with a farewell reception at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 30. It will feature a Vespers service on Monday evening at nearby St. Raphael of Brooklyn Orthodox Church in commemoration of the Synaxis of the Ecumenical Teachers and Hierarchs: Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.

The registration fee for the conference is $75 per person. It includes meals and refreshments at retreat center. Reservation of a room, either single or double, for Monday night at the retreat center is $75. The deadline for registration is Monday, Jan. 15.

To obtain further information and register for the colloquium, visit http://www.orthodoxdetroit.com/.

For further assistance, contact the colloquium coordinator, David Adrian, at (248) 322-9226 or david dot adrian at adrianassoc dot com

St. Andrew House Center for Orthodox Christian Studies was founded in 2001. Its mission is to promote the Orthodox Christian faith by word and example through formal instruction, worship and good works. It exists to serve the Orthodox clergy and faithful of metropolitan Detroit and to be a symbol of the unity of the faith.