It is with great sadness that we report the repose of our good friend, and recipient of Share the Faith Ministries, Father Andrew Short. Fr. Andrew was ordained to the Holy Priesthood in 2021 fulfilling the call to pastor St. Anna Mission in Columbia, TN. Fr. Andrew served his mission selflessly and worked long hours to sustain both his own family and that of the mission’s. Because of this, he called upon Share the Faith Ministries to help supplement his work. We at Share the Faith were very grateful to be able to support Fr. Andrew with a thousand dollar a month stipend to ease his burden and help spread the Gospel in Tennessee. In speaking with Fr. Andrew, even in his illness, he remained steadfast in his faith and a bastion in the teachings of Christ. He will be greatly missed. Memory eternal!     Fr. Dn. Christopher Purdef

 

Raised in a simple, blue-collar family on the southeast side of Chicago, Lorraine’s family

dynamics modelled an evangelical faith, strong work ethics, commitment, and community

service.

After high school, she completed a trade education in Computer Processing which led her to the

fast-paced financial world of the Chicago Board of Trade. In 1982, Lorraine would pack up all

she learned about commodity trading and married Gene, a farmer in South Dakota. After

farming and raising livestock for four years, they sold the farm, moved into town, and

established multiple agricultural businesses. Recognizing a need for the farmers and ranchers

of South Dakota, Lorraine and Gene opened a commodity brokerage firm, crop insurance

agency, and insurance consulting practice. They built their companies on quality service and

were recognized at both state and national levels. Managing the wonderful team of

professionals lasted nearly 32 years.

While raising their family in Mitchell, SD they were active community and church members.

They supported a variety of causes to include church plants and board memberships.

As a Mesa, AZ winter visitor, Lorraine was introduced to Saint Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox

Church in 2017 and was illumined in 2019. She uses her administrative skills as a frequent

volunteer and for the last several years has been given the blessing of Archpriest James Coles

of Saint Ignatius to coordinate the many moving parts for a program on the church property to

house and feed unsheltered families through the Family Promise organization. Through these

experiences, she has been a witness to the struggles and accomplishments of this new society.

Lorraine is a loving mother of three children and the crown of age has gifted her five beautiful

grandchildren. Her loving husband of thirty-six years passed in 2018 with their family at his side.

She considers herself blessed to be able to watch her family grow and give back to their

churches, communities, and nation.

Her hobbies include gardening, wood carving, camping, hiking, reading, remodeling, and

projects of any kind.

Below is a word from our SMM Coordinator:

The human heart is in the most need especially of the healing touch of Jesus. Many don’t have in person contact with the fullness of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the form of a local Orthodox Church Parish with a full time Priest or even a Deacon for a reader service. Many Priests and Deacons work unrealistic bi-vocational hours to share the love of Jesus. We can bring relief. To learn more and possibly donate or to apply for relief as a Clergy, go to www.ocmamerica.us … or click the button below to donate…

St. Jacob of Alaska started with a Moleben served on the Feast Day of St. Jacob Netsvetov, July 26/August 8, 2021, in venue space at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. Archpriest Gregory Joyce of St. Vladimir Russian Orthodox Church in Ann Arbor served as the first rector and appointed Deacon Jesse Rimshas of Sts. Sergius and Herman of Valaam in Houghton, Michigan as the Mission Coordinator.

St. Jacob’s mission has always been labor of love for its founding members. Fr. Jesse and his family drove two hours from his home in L’Anse with icons, music stands, and other church supplies, and the community set up and tore down the Mission in a conference room on weekends. Vespers and Divine Liturgy were served about every six weeks by a visiting priest from Traverse City or Houghton, and other weekends the community would hold Reader’s Vespers and Typikas. They held lunch at a local coffee shop that allowed them to plug in Crock Pots and dine at a room upstairs as long they ordered a carafe of coffee.

In March of 2022 the mission leased 5,000 square feet of space on the main level of an old middle school in Ishpeming, Michigan, about 20 minutes from Northern Michigan University in Marquette. The community has made this space their own. Fr. Jesse and his fifteen-year-son Anthony designed and built a portable wooden iconostasis.

On July 12/June 29, 2022, Archbishop Peter ordained Deacon Jesse to the Holy Priesthood and tonsured parishioner George Hunt, who is currently the mission’s sole seminarian, a reader. Fr. Jesse was appointed Rector on the community’s second anniversary, August 8/July 26, 2023. St. Jacob’s currently serves as Marquette County’s only full-time Orthodox Church, and parishioners drive as far as ninety miles for Divine Liturgies. The community is very active and has a full schedule of services.

Fr. Jesse’s goal is to facilitate growth in the community not only in numbers, but also in dedication and ability. Through the Grace of God, St. Jacob anticipates receiving three more converts to the Orthodox Faith this Lazarus Saturday, bringing the total to nine since July, 2022. The mission has its own budding iconographer whom Fr. Jesse plans to help attend formal training this summer. Parishioners read liturgically, sing in the choir, serve in the Altar, and serve in other ways. And Lord willing, the community’s seminarian, Reader George, will complete his education and be ordained to the Holy Deaconate this summer.

St. Jacob’s is a warm and growing community with many needs, including liturgical supplies, money for liturgical and musical training conferences, and vestments. But the community’s greatest need is a permanent home. It’s difficult to attract attention on the
main level of a former middle school. But old Protestant churches often come up for sale in Marquette County, and it’s only a matter of time before a suitable building is found. With this long-term goal in mind, the community has started saving toward a
permanent building, with the prayer that God might “establish . . . this holy house, even unto the consummation of the age” (Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great).

“Enlighten me through prayers and fasting” [Forgiveness Vespers].

Within the context of Great Lent and our ascetical effort during this season, commonly called fasting, I would like to raise the issue of not only fasting from certain foods and drink—the most basic aspect of asceticism because of our sheer dependence on food and drink—but also of “fasting” from the amount of time we spend daily before a variety of screens:  television, computer, tablets, movie, smart phones, etc.This raises the issue of “Orthodoxy and technology,” a fascinating issue and one that should generate a good deal of theological/spiritual reflection when we think for a moment of our overwhelming dependency in the contemporary world on technology. We may be able to live without technology, but we would hardly be able to function without it. However, my goal is much more modest, as I will explain momentarily.Without entering into a philosophical/theological discussion about technology, we can at least state that Orthodoxy is in no way anti-technological. Although some Orthodox bishops, priests, and monastics may awaken visions of the Amish, there is no real similarity in worldview when it comes to technology. You may just contact any one of those Orthodox persons through their computers and smart phones—but not the Amish! Or you would be impressed by the web sites and overall computer sophistication of both Orthodox seminaries and monasteries. This is to state the obvious.The Church has never moved to suppress technology or, for that matter, any progress in all of the sciences. This is a crucial aspect of our human capacity to think and create, setting us apart from the rest of the animal world. Yet, one more issue unavoidably related to this is that of the abuse of technology, when it is severed from any clear moral and ethical restraint. Our thinkers and theologians are struggling to keep up with the exponential and seemingly daily moral/ethical challenges that arise out of the obsessive desire to keep pushing forward the frontier of technological progress.Avoiding these “heavier” issues in this reflection, I would just like to address the more modest issue of our fasting during Great Lent—or, of expanding our understanding of fasting to now include the time spent before our various screens as already mentioned above. It is, after all, Great Lent. Some modest changes in lifestyle or the environments that we create in our homes is an important factor in the overall lenten effort.With the ubiquitous screen, the questions arise: Outside of our professional obligations and responsibilities, just how attracted, attached, obsessed or, as extreme as this may sound, “addicted” are we to them? How much of that precious commodity of time do we spend in front of screens that could at best be described as distraction, amusement, entertainment, “killing time,” etc.? Can we break through the cycles of surfing, shopping, game-playing, facebooking and blogging that devour huge amounts of our time? And can we show some restraint for the sake of relationships and more serious pursuits which I hope would attract us during Great Lent especially?To formulate the challenge before us, I would like to turn to an essay written by one of the members of the parish I serve named Emily.  She recently wrote an essay titled “Less is More.” The opening paragraph shows that we are of the same mind in formulating the issues before us:

“In the modern world, nearly every direction one turns, surrounding people appear preoccupied by their own little worlds of music, video games, social networking, or the internet. They appear oblivious to anyone or anything, save the technologies that hold their undivided attention. Nearly gone are the days where families would gather together to read, create, play, or converse with each other. The turn of the century bears witness to a rapid-paced world which observes a degeneration in communication and relationships among individuals. Though many remain unaware, this shift brings with it startling changes, affecting present and future generations alike.”

Well-stated and to the point! And something to think about in a season of restraint and re-prioritizing. Emily mentions reading, playing, creating and conversing. Are our families and friendships suffering deficiencies in those time-honored activities that are based on mental agility, socializing skills and the deepening of loving relationships? Is it dinner and then off to the screen? Have we mastered the “art of distraction?”

If so, can we possibly be surprised if we find it difficult to pray effectively—that is, with some concentration and focus? There is a possible alternative approach: Superfluous time spent before the screen can now be redirected and spent renewing those activities that are either intellectually stimulating (a good book or creative project) or conducive to personal interaction (game playing); or, on a deeper level, “face-to-face” communion (conversing)? Emily writes further:

“Because people do not communicate in person, words and meanings can get misconstrued all too easily. One cannot observe facial expressions or hear tones of voice through the internet, both of which allow the listener to garner a well-rounded impression of what the speaker intends to express…. Nothing compares to quality time given to a person, where one really listens and focuses on getting to know his friends. Human beings are so complex that one cannot get to know anyone very deeply in a diminutive span of time.”

Can you imagine a Facebook entry that states, “In observing Great Lent, this site will be inactive until April 16, the day I celebrate the Resurrection of Christ?!”

What about the screen of the smart phone? This is a wonderful tool for communication that has even been “life-saving,” as we all know of some such stories. You may have to be a modern-day Luddite to argue against the positive use of the cell/smart phone. The important call, the encouraging call, the “where-in-the-world is my child?” call, even the “emergency” call are not what needs to occupy us at the moment.

But here also other questions arise: Beyond all of that, has the smart phone become an extension of our very being? Does it seem to be permanently glued to our ears and/or attached to our hands? Are we lost without it? Do we call and chat in order to… call and chat? (What happened to the spiritual gift of silence?) After all, just a few years ago, we did live without cell or smart phones.

There are styles, colors, sizes, and an endless array of features that turn the smart phone into either a status symbol or a toy—primarily for adults, of course. (Though, at what age now are children equipped with their own phones?). Texting and twittering are producing a certain type of “illiteracy” that is making a wince-creating wreck of the English language, as in “I luv U.” Grammar, spelling, and compound sentences are treated as intrusive. The menus are astonishing for their complexity. The internet is now on your smart phone! And it is also a ready-made camera: Quick! There’s little Johnny running in the years…. How adorable!

Is it possible or even meaningful to show any restraint when living in an age of the screen? If not, then we may be facing the following downward trajectory that can quickly spiral out of control: Attractions become attachments; attachments become obsessions; and obsessions become addictions. Or, as the holy Fathers teach, we become the playthings of our “passions.” We are no longer in control, but under control of our impulses.

As asceticism is not puritanism, so restraint is not repression. All of our ascetical lenten efforts are ultimately directed to our freedom and liberation—to some degree at least—from the myriad dependencies that occupy our bodies and souls. To fast from meat but then to sit in front of the computer for hours surfing, shopping, game-playing, facebooking and blogging somehow points to a disconnect with the overall goal of Great Lent as a “school of repentance” or “journey toward Pascha.”

Professionally and vocationally, we may be living in the age of the screen. I know that I am. I enjoy and try and make something positive of a “cyberspace ministry,” in fact. The irony of writing this meditation on the computer and then launching it out into cyberspace so you will have one more thing to read is not lost on me.

But the challenge remains to retain a degree of freedom from the technological web that can bind us so tightly. Redirecting a lot of our energy—and time!—to prayer, almsgiving and fasting, the reading of the Scriptures and the lenten liturgical services of the Church can create in us the joy of liberation from those very bonds.

Challenges and choices abound!  And this is a crucial aspect of our human capacity to think and create, setting us apart from the rest of the animal world.

About the Author: Father Steven Kostoff is rector of Christ the Savior-Holy Spirit Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also a member of the adjunct faculty of the theology department at Xavier University in Cincinnati, where he has taught various courses on Orthodox theology.

Below is a word from our Social Media Coordinator:

The human heart is in the most need especially of the healing touch of Jesus. Many don’t have in person contact with the fullness of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the form of a local Orthodox Church Parish with a full time Priest or even a Deacon for a reader service. Many Priests and Deacons work unrealistic bi-vocational hours to share the love of Jesus. We can bring relief. To learn more and possibly donate or to apply for relief as a Clergy, go to www.ocmamerica.us … or simply click the link below to donate…

Northern Michigan is in great need of the Church. For those already Orthodox, the closest churches regularly holding services are either near Marquette (St. Jacob of Alaska) or Traverse City (Archangel Gabriel and St Sebastian), which could mean having to drive as long as 3 hours one way to get there. This is a great struggle, especially for those with families. For those who may be interested in Orthodoxy, this means that the Church primarily remains a curiosity for them, as taking that first step into being integrated into the community is simply too far removed.

Founded in July 2023 with the blessing of Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America and the help of Fr. Micah Chisholm (rector of St. Sebastian Orthodox Christian Mission Church) and Fr Gregory Joyce (rector of St Vladimir Orthodox Church), St Ambrose Orthodox Mission aims to bring the Church to these communities living near the Straits area of the Northern mitten and Eastern Upper Peninsula.

Fr Dmitri felt called to serve this community as he grew up in a small family that lived hours away from the nearest church and remembers how spiritually taxing it can be to feel so isolated. He began attending St Vladimir Orthodox Church in Ann Arbor regularly while a student at the University of Michigan. In 2018, he began a PhD in Applied Physics at University of Michigan, but soon also felt called to the clergy. He was tonsured in 2021 and ordained to the priesthood in August 2023. Graduate school is a time typically marked with tight schedules and tighter budgets, and it’s common for PhD students to isolate themselves from activities not related to their work. Fr Dmitri was already an oddity by marrying, but having kids was even more unusual.

The reality is, a graduate student salary wasn’t meant to be the primary source of a family’s income, especially near Ann Arbor, one of the most expensive areas to live in Michigan. Add to that a new mission that needs a variety of basic items, supplies, and importantly, clergy and choir. The priest and choir director (Fr Dmitri and Matushka Katherine) need to travel to the Straits Area (a 4 hour drive each way) to serve the Liturgy monthly at minimum.

Despite these challenges, St Ambrose Mission typically has 15-20 communicants at Liturgy. On Sundays when a priest is not present, Typika is served to provide spiritual consistency for the families living in the area. Services are held primarily in English, but Church Slavonic, Greek, and Latin are used both to reflect the attendees and as a point of outreach to the Roman Catholic population in the area. Many inquirers have visited, and the first catechumen was made at the beginning of Great Lent 2024. For more information about St Ambrose Mission, please see our website here or Facebook page here.

Website link: stambroseorthodox.org
Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/people/St-Ambrose-Orthodox-Mission/61554490736696/