You can help your church find quality free study materials by sending your priest or church education director this full-color graphic describing two recent studies, Joy and Worship and You. Your study groups will be able to use free, full-color study guides and discussion guides, as well as mp3s, to help them grow in their relationships with God, His Church, and others.

You can see and download a full-size version of this graphic by clicking the graphic on the left, or by going to http://orthodoxresource.com/promo/studiespromo.jpg.

Please feel free to contact me if I can help you or your parish with using these studies with adult or teen study groups.

The first unit of the first study-on joy-is now up.

Also associated with real life is real life minute, a new daily podcast series (similar to Orthodox Life Tips) with advice from saints and Orthodox teachers on living as an Orthodox Christian in the modern world.

I’m not asking specifically about subjects for studies—although you are welcome to suggest topics you would like to cover—but instead am asking about specific features you would like to see included (or removed) from my studies.

Are there sections you would like added to the study guides? Do you like the length of the study guides, or should they be longer or shorter? Is the writing of the study guides at the right “level,” or would you like to see either deeper or simpler study guides? Would you like interactive features for the studies? Is there something you would like to hear in the podcasts associated with the studies?

Feel free to leave a comment on this page, or to contact me via one of the media at the bottom of this page. I may or may not incorporate your suggestions—they may be unfeasible due to limited time or resources, or I may simply decide, “Nah”—but I nonetheless welcome all suggestions.

Based on the feedback I received, I’ve decided the following:

1. To continue creating quizzes on the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew;
2. To create limited study guides on the Gospel; and
3. To discontinue the Get Wisdom podcast.

You can learn more about these decisions, and what they will mean for your parish, below.

For those of you who are unaware, I made my appeal for feedback because, due to a change in life circumstances, I need to free up time in my schedule for new responsibilities. This necessitated determining which of the many volunteer activities I do for the Church will need to be reduced (or cut completely).

Based on your feedback, combined with years of website statistics, I’ve decided the following regarding my Bible study resources:

1) The resources I create that are most used by youth workers and teen leaders, at least in preparing for Bible Bowl, are the quizzes. Almost all of you stated the teens in your parishes use the quizzes, and the number of quizzes downloaded from the Orthodox Christian Bible Studies website (http://www.orthodoxyouth.org) exceeds the number of study guides downloaded by almost 300 percent.

I will therefore continue to create quizzes for Matthew (and, for those of you who asked, I will finish the quizzes for the Catholic Epistles study in the next few weeks).

2) The majority of you said that the teens in your parishes use the study guides; however, a notable percentage explicitly stated that your parishes do not use the study guides and, as I mentioned above, far fewer study guides than quizzes are downloaded from the Bible Studies website.

Because a reasonable number of teens use the study guides, I will continue to create study materials for Matthew. However, I’ve also decided to reduce the scope of these study guides. Therefore, instead of writing commentaries for each chapter of Matthew, I will create an overview (most likely as an outline), and will include selected quotations from saints and Orthodox teachers to help teens better understand the key points of the chapter and apply the teaching to their lives.

Creating these more limited study guides will ensure that I can continue providing useful study materials for youth workers and teens, but will also free up a significant amount of desperately needed time in my schedule.

3) Unfortunately, ceasing to write full commentaries for the study guides means that I will no longer be able to produce the Get Wisdom podcast. The content for Get Wisdom is taken directly from the study guide commentaries — since I will no longer be writing these commentaries, I will no longer have content for the Get Wisdom podcast. Get Wisdom will therefore conclude with episode 109, where I will announce that the podcast series is ending.

This does not mean, however, that I will no longer produce podcasts that are relevant to teens. I will continue producing Orthodox Life Tips (http://orthodoxresource.com/category/orthodox-life-tips/), my daily one-minute podcast with tips from saints and Orthodox teachers on aspects of daily life, for the Orthodox Christian Network.

I will also continue producing studies, which include the re/CALL podcast for teens (http://www.orthodoxyouth.org/recall), for Ancient Faith Radio. My current study, Worship & You (http://worshipandyou.com), contains free study guides, discussion guides, and podcasts on carrying the transforming power of Orthodox worship into daily life.

You can always find the most recent study guides, articles, and podcasts I create for Orthodox teens and adults on my Orthodox Resource website at http://www.orthodoxresource.com.

Thank you again for your feedback. Please feel free to contact me at any time with any comments, questions, or suggestions you may have.

Have a blessed Holy Week and celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord.

For over 6 ½ years I’ve been producing Bible study materials for Orthodox Christian teens, and for almost 2 ½ years I’ve been producing the Get Wisdom podcast. I’m doing this special episode of Get Wisdom because I need your feedback.

I love studying the Bible, and I love sharing Bible study with Orthodox Christian teens and adults. But now, after years of creating these—and other materials—I have a bit of a dilemma: I need to make some choices about what work (both Orthodox and otherwise) I’ll be doing in the future. This is where you come in.

Don’t worry, I’m not asking for any money!

What I need from you is feedback: do you value my teen Bible studies and Get Wisdom podcast? Do you want me to create more of them (such as continuing the series on the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew)? If so, then I need to hear from you. Let me know that you want me to continue creating BIble studies and podcasts for teens. Or, if there’s something else you’d like to see and use, let me know about that.

Leave a comment on this page, send me an email, or contact me using Twitter, Facebook, or a number of instant messaging services listed at the bottom of this page.

I’m not asking for any type of financial commitment, or even any personal information; if I continue creating these resources, I’ll create them entirely for free, just as I always have. All I want is to know that there are enough people who use and value these resources that you’re willing to tell me you want them.

If I hear from enough people, then I’ll know that I need to continue creating teen Bible studies and the Get Wisdom podcast. If I don’t hear from people, however, then I’ll know that it’s time for me to move on and do something else. In either case, praise God.

So again, leave a comment, send me an email or use any of the social media listed at the bottom of this page. In two weeks I’ll let you know what I’ve learned. Until then, thank you.

Fr. Oliver Herbel’s post provides important food for thought; as a layperson, my thoughts naturally turn especially to the role of the laity in the system proposed by His Beatitude (which, I should note, is already largely the system in the Diocese of the South).

His Beatitude has said some wonderful things about the laity (a very pleasant–and necessary–change from the almost incessant stream of hate spewed by certain bishops who retired a few years ago); I particularly agree with his statement, “Each member is important. Each member has a voice, and must be heard.” At the same time, while this is a beautiful and true statement, it does not seem to reflect the revised structure he proposes for the “new and improved” OCA. If the voice of each member must be heard, why does it seem that the governmental system is deliberately constructed precisely to prevent most voices from being heard?

I believe the answer to this question can be found in the same presentation in which His Beatitude makes the above statement (http://bit.ly/aD83OV). Immediately after the above statement His Beatitude says the following:

There are two related attitudes that constitute baggage from the past, temptations which have afflicted the Church and distorted its life and indeed, its conciliarity. Both stem from an abrogation of responsibility. Clericalism comes from an abrogation of responsibility by the laity for the affairs of the church, with the clergy taking over all functions; even the loss of the traditional ministerial role of the diaconate and pastoral role of the episcopate, with the concentration of all ‘ministry’ in the presbyters, is a kind of clericalism . Trusteeism comes from a refusal of the clergy to accept their responsibility for the more mundane aspects of the life of the Church, which was then seized upon by lay leaders. This resulted in the priests being responsible for what happens in the altar; the parish council for everything else in the church.

I admit that, after engaging in a simple surface-level reading of this statement, I was outraged; I felt as if I were reading the ecclesiastical equivalent of the rule regarding meeting with Major Major in “Catch-22″ (you may only see Major Major when he is in his office, and Major Major will never see you when he is in his office). His Beatitude’s description of clericalism appeared to me to be precisely the system he is promoting for the OCA, and yet we laity are sinners if we go along with it, but we are also sinners if we do not.

This, however is not an entirely accurate understanding of the system His Beatitude proposes (although, as we will see, it is far more accurate than it should be). The key to the system can be found in his description of the sin of trusteeism: a bishop or priest fails to exercise his responsibility over and in every aspect of church life, and the laity therefore fill the vacuum by seizing (a particularly unfortunate description, but one I believe was deliberately chosen) this responsibility for themselves. As His Beatitude sees it, the problem in this scenario is not that the laity are engaging in activity, but that they are doing so without the direct control of the bishop or priest.

To be sure, there are situations in which what His Beatitude terms trusteeism is a serious problem. Bishops and priests are generally more than happy to regale listeners with stories of parishes in which the system became unbalanced and tilted toward excessive lay power. Situations with which I’m familiar will sound familiar to many of you: a friend who is a priest had to deal with a parish council which wanted to close the church–except for, as they saw it, such “family celebrations” as weddings and baptisms–but keep the fellowship hall open to serve as a social club/bar; another had to deal with intense pressure from a powerful lay faction in his parish wanting to allow Muslims to receive the Mysteries. Such situations demonstrate the spiritual problems that can occur when too much power is vested in the laity (please note that, as an active layperson, I’m certainly not saying this is the norm for lay leadership, but rather that there is the potential for this type of problem).

In contrast to such a situation, the system Metropolitan JONAH proposes is essentially appointment-based (for the sake of moving the discussion along I’ll somewhat oversimplify): all power (or, as His Beatitude terms it, “responsibility”) resides in the bishop, who hand-picks and appoints some of his priests (and perhaps a layperson or two) to serve as a diocesan council; the council exists to facilitate and enact the agenda set by the bishop. The personally chosen and appointed diocesan council also serves as the diocese’s representatives–with the bishop, of course–at the All-American Council (which, despite this system, will nonetheless apparently not have its name changed to the “All-American Council of Diocesan Councils”).

This system is replicated on a smaller scale in the local parish: all power (or “responsibility”) resides in the priest (who is appointed to the parish by the bishop), who in turn appoints hand-picked laypersons to serve on the parish council; the council exists to facilitate and enact the agenda set by the priest. The primary difference between this and diocesan councils is that, since the parish council consists entirely of laity and minor clergy, parish councils will not represent their parishes at larger gatherings in which decisions are made.

This system is not entirely without merit: when you have a godly bishop, humbly working to achieve God’s purposes and assist His people in their salvation, appointing godly, humble priests to serve in his parishes and on his diocesan council, then you will have a righteous structure that avoids some of the problems that can occur when you have lay leadership that is rich in money and power, but poor in faith. The same holds true when a godly, humble priest appoints godly, humble people to serve on parish councils.

The problem, of course–as history both recent and ancient demonstrates–is that ungodly men can fill such offices as bishop, chancellor and priest, and even otherwise good men can make egregiously bad and damaging decisions for a variety of reasons. This fact presents two serious problems.

The first problem, which crippled–and, to far too great an extent, continues to damage–the functioning of the OCA is this: what can be done with a bad leader (or leaders), or when an otherwise good leader makes an egregiously bad decision? In his presentation His Beatitude himself acknowledges the existence of these questions, noting that people have asked, “What happens when the Metropolitan abrogates his responsibility;” significantly, he does not answer the question. He later adds regarding diocesan councils, “When it works, there is wonderful synergy, and the Church’s needs are fulfilled; when it doesn’t, the whole diocese grinds to a halt;” again, however, after making this important observation, he says nothing further about it. So, what can be done when the system fails in this way?

The answer, in short, is: very little. If a diocese has a bad bishop, there are only two possibilities for the situation to be rectified: either his brother bishops prevail upon the bad bishop to either pursue godliness or retire, or the clergy and laity of the diocese engage in the spiritual equivalent of civil disobedience until the situation becomes untenable for the diocesan bishop. Both are very poor options; furthermore, as we saw in the cases of +HERMAN and +NIKOLAI, the Synod of Bishops will usually only prevail upon a bad bishop when the unrest generated by his actions creates significant difficulty for themselves. Things such as the OCA News website provide a desperately needed service; this service is desperately needed, however, precisely because the system as it currently exists  (and the revised one that has been proposed) provide absolutely no other realistic possibility for the rectification of wrongs committed or tolerated by the leadership.

At anything below the episcopal level, the solution to a failure within the system depends almost entirely upon the diocesan bishop. A godly bishop will ensure that the priests on his diocesan council and in his parishes will be godly men who humbly serve God and His Church; a bad bishop will permit any number and variety of atrocities so long as these priests satisfy the personal agenda of the bishop. The same holds true on the parish level, where the work of the parish council–and the quality of its members–is dependent entirely upon the character and motivations of the priest.

This is a system that has become fatally flawed: when every position within the diocese is filled through an appointment by the bishop or a priest, and the primary requirement of that position is not the person’s piety but rather his or her willingness to unquestioningly approve and enact every desire–whether licit or illicit–of the man in the rank above, then you have a system that has not merely become unbalanced…it’s a system whose focus has, at the very least, become dangerously corrupted.

So where does all this leave the laity? The system proposed by the Metropolitan almost entirely excludes the laity from participation of any kind beyond the parish level, and even there it is entirely dependent upon the agenda of the priest. Furthermore, this is not accidental: the system +JONAH and the other bishops advocate is deliberately constructed to in part to relegate the laity to this role. What does this system enable laity to do when burdened with a bad leader, or with a damaging decree from a rank above? Nothing more than endure…well, endure and write checks. Such a system is egregiously unbalanced, and spiritually damaging to both the laity and the people who lead them.

Closely related to this–and, I believe, even more significant for the life of the Church–is that this system largely prevents the Church from benefitting from the gifts given to the laity. With all due respect to His Beatitude, his description of the cause of clericalism is generally both inaccurate and unfair. While there are certainly parishes in which the priest would love to have the assistance of an otherwise apathetic and uninvolved laity, the situation–as we have seen in the above point–is frequently the opposite: the laity have been institutionally restricted from almost all but the most rudimentary levels of local service; positions at the diocesan or national levels are therefore almost exclusively filled by clergy (and matushki, who are generally considered, to put it rather inelegantly, a “higher class of laity”). There are, of course, a handful of laypersons in higher positions–for example, the treasurer of the DOS is a layman who has my respect and admiration–but these individuals are decidedly the exceptions that prove the rule (the Metropolitan Council has significant lay involvement but, as has been noted elsewhere, part of His Beatitude’s system involves reconfiguring the Metropolitan Council and redistributing its areas of responsibility).

This is where Fr. Oliver’s concerns about the All-American Council and the selection of bishops comes in. The OCA has many laypersons who are gifted with discernment, with leadership abilities, with training in psychology and sociology…they could contribute so much to the processes of selecting leaders and determining policies, but in a system such as this, however, their gifts are not only largely unwanted, but are frequently actively opposed (I speak from sad personal experience on this point).

This problem extends far beyond governance itself. We have wonderful lay teachers in the OCA; where are their materials? We have talented lay writers; where are they published? We have superb lay artists; where can their works be seen or heard? We have gifted lay evangelists and social workers; where can they fulfill their callings? Far too often, the answer to these questions is: if anywhere, in departments and ministries outside the control of the OCA. Needless to say, I am certainly not in any way belittling or criticizing non-OCA ministries; rather, I am saying that the laity in the OCA do not merely want to be more than yes-men and spear carriers…we are, in fact, called and gifted for more than this. Everyone loses when a governing principle in our jurisdiction is, “It’s better to not have a ministry at all than to have it performed by a layperson.”

Fortunately, all is not lost. His Beatitude’s vision for diocesan activity foresees ministries that “involve more clergy and laity on an ever increasing scale.” There is in this vision the potential for full lay involvement in the life of the Church. This involvement, however, must be more than saying “yes,” “amen,” “axios,” “eis polla eti despota,” and “how many zeroes would you like on this check?” This means, for the health of the Church, that the laity must be involved in both church governance and ministry. If this is to be a truly Christian system, it must involve the laity–and the priests outside the bishops’ inner circles–using all our gifts to the fullness of our gifting.

I want to particularly point out two writings from Orthodox saints on the Divine Liturgy:

On the Divine Liturgy by St. Germanus of Constantinople. Writing in the 8th century, St. Germanus particularly emphasizes the heavenly nature of the Divine Liturgy.

A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy by St. Nicholas Cabasilas. Writing in the 14th century, St. Nicholas focuses on the Liturgy as a participation in Christ’s redemptive work.

Two very accessible overviews of the Divine Liturgy are:

The Heavenly Banquet: Understanding the Divine Liturgy by Fr. Emmanuel Hatzidakis. A line-by-line textbook on the Divine Liturgy.

Let Us Attend: A Journey Through the Orthodox Liturgy by Fr. Lawrence Farley. A good devotional guide to the Divine Liturgy.

For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy by Fr. Alexander Schmemann. Fr. Alexander’s book looks at the Holy Mysteries, and the sacramental life and worldview that develops from participating in them.

Some more technical works:

Introduction to Liturgical Theology by Fr. Alexander Schmemann. A look at liturgical development, and its impact on theology.

The Orthodox Liturgy: The Development of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite by Hugh Wybrew. A look at the historical development of the Liturgy.

There are many other works I could recommend (and am using in preparing this study), but these are a good starting point for studying the Divine Liturgy from numerous perspectives.

Do you want to deepen your worship of God, and take the transforming power of that experience with you into your daily life? If so, you’ll want to participate in WORSHIP & YOU, my new multimedia study for Orthodox Christian adults and teens from Ancient Faith Radio.

WORSHIP & YOU focuses on the main services of the Orthodox Church and personal prayer, looking at the meaning of what we say and do during this worship and how we can take this with us into our daily lives. Each week you can download a study guide discussing how you can grow in your worship of God, as well as a discussion guide with questions to help you better understand the material.  These free resources are available in two versions: one for adults, and another for teens.

You can also download the related episode of either the Worship & You (for adults) or re/CALL (for teens) podcast to listen to the study when you’re on-the-go.

WORSHIP & YOU will focus on the main services of the Orthodox Church and personal prayer, looking at the meaning of what we say and do during this worship and how we can take this with us into our daily lives. Each week you can download a study guide discussing how you can grow in your worship of God, as well as a discussion guide with questions to help you better understand the material.  These free resources will be available in two versions: one for adults, and another for teens.

You can also download the related episode of either the Worship & You (for adults) or re/CALL (for teens) podcast to listen to the study when you’re on-the-go.

Get ready: WORSHIP & YOU begins FEBRUARY 1, 2010!

Please contact me at the email or IM addresses at the bottom of the page if you need more information, or if you want help in using WORSHIP & YOU in your parish.

If you would like the Jreepad file, just contact me via the email using the button near the bottom of this page.