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Interview with Fr. Cassian Dunlop of Eustis FL

Fr. Cassian was an Anglican priest before converting to Holy Orthodoxy. He serves a Western Rite Antiochian parish in Eustis Fl (near Orlando). His parish has been growing in high school students, college students, and young families after years of dependency on “snowbirds”.

In this interview with Share the Faith Chairman Lee Kopulos, Fr. Cassian gives us some surprising information on how the Western communion Host developed, and why so many people are finding their way to the Orthodox Church. For more information about Fr. Cassian, please visit his Share the Faith information page here.

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Effective Ideas about Greeting Visitors to Orthodox Parishes

The advice below works equally well for new missions and even older churches needing a new start. This is all based upon our 38 years of experience using greeter teams at the front door of the Church. I am now advising over 20 GOA churches of the Detroit Metropolis’, as a member of their Evangelism and Outreach Committee, on how to greet a newcomer. At my St. Luke Church to this day, we have 6 sets of 2 Greeters each rotating each Sunday.

Lee Kopulos

Chairman, Share the Faith

For more on good missionary practices,  see our previous blog post The Important Factors in Mission Founding


Effective Ideas about the Greeting                  

Info for the Greeters on Being Hospitable

As all of you know, our primary job is to offer the guest hospitality.  This means the guest is to feel welcomed, relaxed and “at home.”

The reality is that the Church is people.

Be aware of these important features of the “Welcome”:

  • First time guests show up early – 15 minutes before Liturgy starts. Never seen this fail in 38+ years of service!  Therefore, all Greeters must be in the Narthex at least 15 minutes early.
  •  Upon entry always greet with that Great Smile
  • If the newcomers are not Orthodox just seat them mid-way and tell them to watch and listen to the hymns. No Liturgy Book is necessary. Of course, if they are Orthodox give them a Liturgy Book.
  • If the newcomer asks why candles are being lit or why icons are kissed/venerated? You should answer simply: candles are lit because Christ is the light of the world; icons represent saints and are reflections of who we are to be like and / or a biblical event of Christ’s saving grace.
  • Point out where the bathrooms are located or a coat can be hung.
  • Invite them to Fellowship Hall after Liturgy;
  • If the guests have children, be sure to inform them of Church School and where the rooms can be found.  Churches with great, not just good, children’s programs have a leg up when it comes to church growth and retention. If your parish doesn’t have a program, seriously consider one.
  • Make sure to ask about cell phones – keep muted or off.

Most Importantly:

  • Your parish should have a Church Brochure as a handout -Summarizing church name and short history with vital information such as address/phone; website; hours of service; Priest’s background; lay ministries and other significant functions serving the local the community.
  • Ancient Faith Media has a few very fine colorful handouts as well – Use them too for they briefly give excellent descriptions of our Faith and Church History from the time of Christ. These are:
    • A Timeline of Church History
    • Welcome!
    • What on Earth is the Orthodox Church?
  • Ask the guest to fill-out an “Info Card” for pickup later and for a Priest’s Welcome after Liturgy.
  • Do not use any kind of “insider language” with the newcomers! Most guests have never heard the terms:  prokeimenon, tone, gospel, epistle, introit, invocation, doxology or homily to name a few.  Even doing one’s cross is something very new for many visitors.  Many visitors may not even know the Lord’s Prayer.
  • Consider posting a video or a guide for first time visitors to watch / read on the Church website prior to their visit. This is an example.
  • Be aware that the Orthodox Church is quite a different worship experience. Most Americans have never seen people kissing icons, lighting candles, or the use of incense in worship.  We have been deemed somewhat “weird” at first.  While we are liturgically different from all other faiths, we offer the love of Christ in a very real sense.
  • Evangelical Protestants are attracted to Orthodoxy for a more spiritual worship experience and/or our set pattern of worship experience from the time of Christ and His Apostles, but most will have little understanding at first.
  • Many Orthodox Churches have dropped the use of thee’s and thou’s in worship. They have recognized that Elizabethan English is not our modern language. If you are using archaic language forms, consider updating them.

Religious Facts

The religious situation in America has changed much over the past decades. These facts will help you better understand the backgrounds of guests in your parish.

  • 80% of churches in America have 100 or fewer people.
  • According to a 2007 Gallup Poll, fewer people believe in God than at any time in the last 10 years (86% down from 92%)
  • On the other hand, more believe in the devil than before (70% up from 56%).
  • A Pew Study on religions in America in 2014 found those who call themselves Christian (ages 18 & older) dropped by 8% from 78.4% to 70.6%. The fastest growing population segment is the “none’s” those who do not identify with any church or religion. “None’s” rose from 16% to 22.8%!
  • Nearly ½ of all Orthodox Christians drop out once they become adults. The Greek Archdiocese has lost 38% of its membership since 2014! (250,000 families to 159,000)
  • 98% of all churches have plateaued or are in decline. However, St. Luke is going against this trend since we are growing year to year about 5%.

Focus On Hospitality

 Hospitality to strangers is translated from the Greek word philosxenias. It is derived from philos (love of friend or family) and xenos (stranger).

Our Bible has many quotes on being hospitable.  Did you know the monks in the desert rated hospitality as the most important Christian behavior even over prayer!

Here is what the Bible says about hospitality:

  • Hebrews 13:2 “Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”
  • Romans 12:13 “Share with God’s people in need, practice hospitality.”
  • 1 Peter 4:9 “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

Special Notes for Fellowship (Coffee) Hour

It is important in the Fellowship Hour that some of the regular members of the congregation say “hello.”

Try to inform parishioners that the proper standard line is:

“Hi, I am Mary; I don’t think I have met you, yet.” 

Always avoid asking, “Is this your first time here?” and for sure never ask, “Are you Greek?” (Or any other ethnicity).

Here is a way of briefly answering a newcomer should a question arise right away about church history or just Orthodoxy.

The standard is “We are the Ancient Church of Christ, His Apostles and the Martyrs.” Orthodox means “right belief and worship”.

Another option, “Welcome, I am Mary. Can I help you? Oh, you ask, what’s the best way to describe Orthodox Christianity?   Well, since Jesus our Savior is our example, did you know that He never used the term Christian?

Alternative answers to “What is the Orthodox Church?”

“I am a follower of Jesus.” or “We are followers of Jesus”

After all, didn’t Jesus chose His disciples by just saying, “Follow Me”?

In all cases please keep your responses as short as possible.  

In very rare cases non-Christians or the non-churched or atheists may ask:

“How can I follow Jesus?  What is attractive about Jesus? Why should I dedicate my life to following him?”

If you respond, make sure you present Jesus as the Messiah who has come into the world to save all mankind from its sins……….    

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Interview with Fr. Mark Hodges in Bullhead AZ

Fr. Mark Hodges is a mission priest with a wife, 8 grown children, and a heart for growing the Kingdom of God. Originally from a Baptist background, Fr. Mark is currently the first fulltime priest for the only Orthodox presence within a 2 hour radius in a fast-growing area of northern Arizona. Bullhead City’s St. Brenden the Voyager mission survived and grew for 5 years solely on the efforts of committed lay followers of Christ. With a fulltime priest, the mission is set to really thrive. In this interview, Fr. Mark talks about evangelizing to Protestants, why Orthodoxy is attractive to them, and why we Orthodox must do more to support missions out of love for our neighbors.

For more information about Fr. Mark, see his support page here. Fr Mark is a beneficiary of assistance from Share the Faith, the only Orthodox fund supporting missions in the United States. Please consider donating either to help Fr. Mark, or missions in general. Any amount is appreciated.

 

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The Important Factors in Mission Founding

For more on effective missionary work in your parish, visit this post on greeting programs!

On this Great Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, I wish you all the best of the day and pray that you all are working on your transfiguration. To some this means Theosis which is a product of this great event in Christ’s life. May his light shine upon you and instill you with the Holy Spirit..

One of the great Homilies I have ever heard is from Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (Blessed Memory). One of the greatest bishops of the Church in the modern era. A true Diocesan Bishop in Great Britain and Ireland. My Priest Fr. Paul Jannakos sent us all his fine Homily on the Transfiguration. In it he ends with this:

“There are moments when we also see something that is beyond us, and how much we wish we could stay, stay forever in his blissful condition; and it is not only because we are incapable of it that we are not allowed to stay in it, but because the Lord says, you are not on the Mount of Transfiguration, you have seen Christ ready to be crucified for the life of the world – go now together with Him, go now in His name, go now , go now , and bring people to Him that they may live! (my emphasis)

Met. Anthony is referring of course to our main goal in life as an Orthodox Christian and that is to be guided by and active in supporting Christ Great Commission (Matt.28:19-20). Many of us who have been engaged in this Commandment have made it a lifelong endeavor. No bragging rights here, it’s all of the Holy Spirit which has guided me personally over the past 38 years after the founding of my principal parish of St. Luke the Evangelist, Palos Hills, IL. OCA (stlukeorthodox.com). Presently I have helped plant 5 churches in the past 15 years. I am attaching a piece below entitled “So you want to start a Mission?” which is a guide to the effort and expertise needed to make a mission successful and to be named a church. It is what I like to call the “St. Luke Model”.

St. Luke is 38 years old now. Its founders initially totaled 17 adult families and now only 6 are alive. The Antiochian Archdiocese in the 80’s recommended at least 25 families start a Parish. I personally have found that this is by far the best number. St. Luke is now a mid-size parish of 250 adults and children. We were instrumental in founding 3 other churches in the metro Chicagoland area. If we had kept all the members, St Luke would be the size of 800 families!

St. Luke was founded with the purpose of :

1) Worshipping exclusively in the English language – Chicagoland, even in the 8o’s, used English at best 50/50 in Liturgy.
2) Reaching out to the “mixed marriages” of couples who were for many reason not active Orthodox or in non-Orthodox churches. Today our congregation is 70% “mixed marriages.”;
3) Providing an open Christian environment for the unchurched, unsettled orthodox and newcomers; and.
4) Providing dynamic Christian education for you and adults.

I want to impress upon you that there is nothing easy about church planting. In fact St. Luke’s took every bit of 10 years to get a firm foundation and find a Parish Priest match. Our founding Bishop Boris told us he would make sure a priest was there every Sunday until we could afford one. He never wavered on that promise. Only 5 years later, a group of 30 of our members founded St. Joseph’s in the western Chicago suburbs. After Bp. Boris’ retirement we want without a Diocesan Bishop for 4 years. Then in Year 1994 our new Bishop Job brought in a new Priest, Fr. Andrew Harrison, who built our Parish into what it is today and retired as Priest Emeritus after 20 years. The basic “modus Operandi” of our parish is ministry. We have taken each person’s abilities (Gifts) and put them in charge of the various functions, giving each “ownership” in parish life. If the Priest tries to do it all himself he is doomed for failure.

I will leave you with the founding of two of the 5 Parishes that the Great Evangelist Fr. Peter Gillquist (Blessed Memory) asked me to help and watch over from their beginning. St. Peter Church , Bonita Springs -Ft.. Myers, FL. lead by Fr. Hans Jacobse started with 20 families in 2010. After 5 years moved with 40 to another location in a Business Park. In the next 5 years 2021 bought a presbyterian parish that failed for $1.9 million! Now well over 100 families with space for 300.

The parish of St. Ananias , Evansville, In. started about 2009 with only 10 families but a full time priest , Fr. Dan Hackney “a street evangelist”. Fr. Dan had no financial worries since his wife was a full time nurse. In 5 years starting with about 20 members they have grown to now 60. They just bought a Methodist Church that failed as well.

Lee KopulosSo I hope you can see that mission planting is difficult. It takes time and in smaller markets much more time. OCA Archbishop Paul (Blessed Memory) was a missionary Priest for many years in Kokomo, In. He knew there were times that a priest had to go without or needed monies to enhance his ministry and/or education. A little bit of money would be very helpful . This is the support we at STF are blessed to do and to give.

In service to Christ on this Holy Day of His Transfiguration,

Chairman Lee Kopulos of Share the Faith


So You Want to Start an Orthodox Mission Church?

Starting a Mission Church: The St. Luke Model

What to do and How to do it.

The Importance of the Core Group – Coming to Grips with the Challenge

The Model is taken from the organizational design of St. Luke Orthodox Christian Church, Palos Hills, Ill., founded in 1984. From its very beginning this group of Orthodox Christians began a Mission Church from scratch with only 17 Founders.  The number of Founders in this case was a bit small, it is recommended that 25 families is far better given the income and outreach needed for growth.  However, this group had an incredible desire to succeed no matter the challenge. The Holy Spirit was alive in them! In addition, the group had a second feature of importance – talent.   Most of them had at least 15 years of experience in Orthodoxy – teaching, singing, church board administration and finance to name a few.  And, they were very well known in their previous churches and the geographical area. Finally, there was purpose in the group.  From an evening Bible Study program came a strong need to move beyond ethnic boundaries.  In their experience, the needs of Orthodox Christians in the Chicagoland area were not being met.  A new parish dedicated to witnessing to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ transcended their thinking by offering:

  • Worship exclusively in the English language;
  • An open Christian environment for the unchurched Orthodox, unsettled Orthodox, newcomer to the church, but mostly to attract the large number of “mixed marriagesnot in the church;
  • Providing dynamic Christian education for youth and adults;
  • Becoming a resource center for Orthodox Christian literature;
  • Strengthening everyone’s relationship with our Lord and one another.

It didn’t take long for this Mission to get established and grow.  The group found a church building in close proximity to Moraine Valley Community College for worship.  Soon it grew from 17 to 42 to 92 adults in 2 years. His Grace Bishop Boris (Blessed Memory) made sure that St. Luke had a priest every Sunday for Liturgy.

This mission blossomed solidly into church status beginning in its 10th year when Fr. Andrew Harrison became rector and added a very important, the  missing link – a ministry for everyone.  Each person(s) unique talent(s) were put to work in a cohesive whole towards Jesus’ Great Commission too, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, ………………….” (Mt. 28:19-20)

If you want to start an Orthodox Mission Church you must have:

  1.  Desire
  2. Talent
  3. Experience 
  4. Be Well Known
  5. Purpose
  6. Ministry

 The St. Luke Model

This Model has been fully tested a number of times in a variety of geographical markets. It has been implemented in large metro, medium and small cities.  Currently, two Antiochian Parishes are using it:  St. Peter, Bonita Springs, FL. (Fr. Hans Jacobse) and St. Ananias Evansville, IN.  (Fr. Daniel Hackney).  They are the result of the efforts of Fr. Peter Gillquist (Blessed Memory) and me since 2011.  Both parishes have grown 10-15 fold over their beginning numbers by following the 9 Point St. Luke  Model explained below:

  • The Priest. Take care and love your assigned priest.  Make sure he has enough  income and organizational support and understands a ministry for everyone; (Share the Faith can assist in providing income while you are getting started)
  • Be hospitable in your welcoming of visitors!  Have a greeter for helping guests during worship, refreshments and follow-up after the visit.
  • The Choir. Make sure you have a choir or small group of singers who sound in harmony and give great beauty to the Divine Liturgy.  It deserves it.
  • Web-site. You must have a web-site that gives directions and hours of services.  Hopefully it will have pictures of the priest, info on Orthodoxy and an up-to-date calendar of activities.
  • Be In Community.  Be visible in the communities you serve by participating in local food programs for the poor and needy thru special events.  The Priest should be active in the local clergy association. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke: 10:27) (Also: Gal: 5:14 & Matt:25)
  • Monthly Charity Giving. Apart from your internal contributions, allocate 10% of member income for Charity. “Freely you have received, freely give.” (Mt. 10:8)
  • Bible Study. Hold a Bible Study each week open to parishioners and outsiders.
  • Personal Ministry. The Priest should know membership talents.  He would do well to assign a like ministry to each. Each person has a God-given talent that needs to be utilized and encouraged. “And He Himself some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and some teachers, + for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”  (Eph: 4:11-12)
  • Evangelism Ministry.* Witnessing for our Lord and Savior (Acts: 1:8) can be difficult for many. Not everyone can perform this task effectively. However everyone should be able to relate the essential features of Orthodox Christianity and/or provide a brochure explaining the Faith and its history.  Each mission should have purchased the display rack and pamphlets from Ancient Faith Publishing.  Each member should have the basic pamphlets:  Timeline of Church History; What on Earth is the Orthodox Church; Welcome to Your Mission Church; What Orthodox Christians Believe and a great book for seekers – Ask for the ANCIENT PATHS: Discovering What Church is Meant to Be.   

Lee Kopulos

Chairman, Share the Faith

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Fr. Cassian Dunlop of St Andrew the Apostle Antiochian Orthodox Church in Eustis, FL

St. Andrew the Apostle is a community of Orthodox Christians located in Eustis, Florida, worshiping according to the ancient Western Rite practiced by the early Christians in the West for the first 1,000 years of Christianity. We are canonical (mainline) Orthodox in the Antiochian Patriarchate headquartered in Damascus, Syria, under His Beatitude Patriarch John X, and in the self-ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America under His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph.

Fr Cassian Dunlop has served as the rector for St Andrew parish for 24 years. He received his BA in Philosophy at the University of South Carolina in 1987 and was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1989 after completing his Divinity degree from St Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Seminary in Berkeley, California. As an Anglican priest he served parishes in Washington, DC and Anderson, SC. In 1995, he and his parish in South Carolina converted to Orthodox Christianity after a year of study, and he was ordained as an Antiochian Orthodox priest, continuing to serve his parish, now a new Western Rite mission.

In 1998, he was transferred to St Andrew in Eustis, Florida bringing three children and his wife Phyllis with him. Having two more children guaranteed a full complement of Sunday school and choir members in addition to acolytes.

Fr Cassian feels blessed to serve this parish in a fast-growing but still rural area outside of Orlando.

The parish has been attracting a steady stream of younger catechumens and converts. Many have come to the faith while in college or even in high school. St. Andrews streams Sunday services on Facebook. Please watch here.

The parish also has an active YouTube channel with sermons and classes by Fr. Cassian. Please watch here.

Share the Faith is using the donations of faithful Orthodox Christians to support the work of Fr. Cassian. Please consider a donation of any amount, no matter how small (monthly is particularly helpful) to assist either this parish or our other missionary work. Even a small donations greatly assist in the evangelization and transformation of our nation. To give a general donation to support Orthodox Missions through Share the Faith, click the donate button below:


 

Click the button below to make a general donation to Share the Faith and support missions in North America.