Share the Faith is the only pan-Orthodox, non-profit fund supporting mission and needy parishes in the United States. As an Orthodox ministry, we have been endorsed by:
- His Eminence Paul, Archbishop of Chicago and the Midwest (OCA) of blessed memory
- His Eminence Archbishop Nathaniel of the Romanian Episcopate (OCA)
- Bishop Longin of the Serbian Diocese of New Gracanica-Midwestern America
You might not be aware that most Orthodox mission priests, and those attached to smaller parishes, often have to work one or more jobs just to make ends meet. This puts great stress on their families, and reduces the amount of time they can devote to the missionary activities. At the same time, mission / smaller parishes are often attended by Orthodox Christians who have little training or experience in growing a parish. The priests need financial support, and the parish board needs training in how to support the priest in evangelizing. Share the Faith provides both – stipends for deserving priests and training for the Faithful on how to bring others into the Kingdom of Christ.
In 2022, Share the Faith has been blessed, through the generous contributions of faithful Orthodox Christians, to support three amazing mission priests as they labor for the Kingdom – Fr. Adam Sexton, Fr. Cassian Dunlop, and Fr. Mark Hodges. Thanks to our support, Fr. Adam has been able to expand his parish’s outreach efforts, continue to expand his official Orthodox mission, and add a new Orthodox outreach in a completely new area of Virginia. Please read this update from Fr. Adam to see how God is moving in Virginia!
Fr. Cassian has been blessed to increase average attendance at liturgy by over 50%. The newcomers include several new families with young children. Fr. Cassian has had to expand the number of catechism classes he offers to keep up with demand. As Fr. Cassian said to us recently, “Sometimes I turn around from the altar to bless the congregation, and wonder who all those people are, and where they keep coming from!” We know the answer to that. The new people are being led to Orthodoxy by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Fr. Mark Hodges is blessed to have the only Orthodox parish for hours in any direction out in Bullhead, Arizona. We were fortunate enough to do a long interview with Fr. Mark about effective evangelism to Protestants, his community, and the success he is having in a fast-growing, important area. Please view that interview here on our YouTube channel. While you are there, please be sure and subscribe while inviting your Orthodox friends and family to do so! We also recently got a wonderful update from Fr. Mark about the growth of his parish. Please click here to read it.
The mission field, however, is much greater than these three priests can cover. Share the Faith has many ambitious goals for the upcoming Year of Grace 2023:
- Expand to helping 20 mission parishes by the end of 2023.
- Expand our Evangelism Education offerings for both supported and non-supported parishes alike. No one is born knowing how to evangelize, or how to effectively welcome guests to our parishes. While Orthodoxy will never be “seeker sensitive”, as we primarily gather to worship God rather than please men, there is so much more we can do to bring souls to Christ. In 2023, we will be making many more resources and in-person coaching available.
- Expand our own podcast channel with a focus on Orthodox Evangelism. More Orthodox podcasts exist today than ever before. Many are high quality and are highly effective. They also tend to cover a wide variety of topics. Share the Faith is focused on spreading Orthodoxy to the non-Orthodox in the United States. Our podcasts will be expanding this year, and oriented towards that very specific goal.
- We are currently running an outreach program to expand awareness of Share the Faith among Orthodox Christians. It is our goal, by the Grace of God, that every Orthodox Christian in America will have heard of Share the Faith by the end of 2023.
To do all this for the Orthodox Faith, we need God’s help and yours. In this time of giving, could you make a donation of any size to Share the Faith to help us meet our goals for Christ and His Kingdom? Could you forward this email to your Orthodox friends and family who might also consider assisting Orthodox missions? Could you post this email, and/or Share the Faith’s informational flyer to your social media? Could you bring the flyer to your parish priest, and ask if he could put a copy in the Narthex, email it to the parish, and/or put it in the weekly bulletin?
Your help this Christmas Season will make all the difference. May the blessings of the Incarnate Christ be upon you, your families, and your parish!
In His and Your Service,
On behalf of our entire Board of Directors, wishing you a most Blessed Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Fr. Evangelos, Director Share the Faith Ministries and Glen Chancy, Vice-Chairman
To send a donation via check, please click here for our mailing address
