:: St. Stephen's Musings ::

:: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 ::

An Orthodox Young Adult Group--Is it a "Home Church"?: Part I

Earlier this year my wife and I started hosting a bi-monthly gathering of 15-20 local Orthodox Christian "young adults" (I use that term loosely because we have people anywhere from 19 to their mid 30's).

I really look forward to these meetings. We eat dinner together as a group, talking about our lives and getting to know one another better. After dinner Fr. Theodore leads us in a lively and in-depth discussion of various writings of the Church Fathers.

For the last several meetings we have focused on St. Dorotheos' opus "Practical Teachings on the Christian Life." Recent topics from this book that we dived into included: humility, obedience, the role of the conscience in the spiritual life, and the fear of God.

Then we corporately pray/chant the Compline service together in front of the icon corner in our living room, with incense and candles lit.

We conclude the evenings with a potluck dessert, tea, and continued discussion and fellowship for those who wish to stay late. Some people schedule confessions for this time, and go with Father into our bedroom for privacy.

After our last meeting and as I was getting into bed, a thought struck me about the nature of our meetings that I had always known but had never really fleshed out.....

Part II coming soon.....

:: Karl :: 12:49:00 PM [Link] ::