We Are Orthodoxy

Steve and Christian reflect upon some of the insights gleaned through the forty-four interviews conducted to date.

Hope has been on an interesting journey through Orthodoxy, that some may even refer to as a "there and back again" story. She discusses her time in evangelical Christianity as well as some of the experiences she has had in now being a full-time staff member with a Christian ministry program.

Randy is in his mid-30s and describes his relationship with the Orthodox Church and his desire to be known fully as the person he really is.

Lee is a 29-year-old army captain living in Alaska. He discusses the importance of other people in building and sustaining his life of faith.

Sandra is a parish administrator in the Chicagoland area and explores how her faith has played a central role in her life for as long as she can remember.

David is 24 and has been Orthodox for most of his life. In this interview, he discusses his sometimes rough (and sometimes wonderful) relationship with the Orthodox Church.

Monica is in her 30s and discusses her conflicted relationship with the Church. She touches on the reality of the presence of mystery within the Church but wonders if people are really ready to embrace the uncertainty that goes along with it.

Sandra is a 33-year-old pharmacist living in DC, and she discusses the impact of the division of the Orthodox Churches and its impact on her, her marriage, and the world around her.

Nic is a folklorist, and he describes the notion of how the vegvisir can be something that guides us home if we keep coming back.

Marie is a recent convert to the Church, and she discusses some of the path that led her here, including seeing how much it mattered to others in her life.

Justin is finishing college and describes how his life has been impacted by finding a community that has helped him live life in a new way. Finding Orthodoxy has only further encouraged him as he seeks to engage life fully.

Ryn is 32 years old. Currently working for a non-profit, she feels that she is discovering what it is that she is meant to do, all while exploring Orthodoxy and learning to grieve.

Juan is in his 30s and is navigating the waters of marriage and parenthood. A military veteran, his life has had twists and turns, and he shares how all of them have continually lead him to Christ.

Megan is a 20-year-old junior in college and has found her way to the Church. She discusses the tension between details and mystery and how Orthodoxy can touch the whole of life if we let it.

Mark is a 31-year-old convert to Orthodoxy. Growing up in a family where justice ruled the day, his encounter with Orthodoxy was a merciful, loving breath of fresh air.

Jules is 19 years old, and since she was 12 years old, she has been looking for her spiritual home. Not finding it in Orthodoxy, she has become deeply involved in an evangelical community, where she feels she is continually growing closer to God and discovering her calling.

Naomi is 22 years old, newly married, and is finishing up her doctoral work in physical therapy. In this conversation, she discusses the centrality of relationships and their role in how she has experienced the Church as a place of comfort or as a place of distress.

Patrick is 30 years old, working as a machinist in California. Having converted 8 years ago, Patrick finds himself on the cusp of a couple transitions. As he prepares to become a father for the first time, he is also preparing to say goodbye to his own father. In the midst of this, his reflection leads him to ponder the faith, life, and legacy of his father and how this is guiding him as he considers what kind of legacy he wants to leave for his own children.

In this Lenten lecture, Christian discusses three major themes of conversation that have emerged from We Are Orthodoxy interviews so far. He discusses why these themes may be emerging, lays forth a biblical paradigm for conceptualizing ministry, and closes by offering a few concrete vistas for imagining what it might look like to minister to young adults.

LISTENER DISCRETION ADVISED: Alex is a 21-year-old Philosophy graduate from college. Though he was previously a self-professed atheist, once he started finding his way toward Orthodoxy, he knew that it was the longing of his soul. In this episode, he discusses some of the choices (both joyful and painful) that led him toward Christ's Church.

Hosanna is a 23-year-old grad student, getting a degree in literature. As a first generation Eritrean-American, she finds herself stuck between cultures, and hasn't exactly known where she fits. What's more is that she was raised in a Protestant church, but recently has been discovering her family's historic roots in Orthodoxy and wondering if this is the place where she'll find not only where she's from, but also where she belongs.

Ed works in software development, but he found the Orthodox Church through OCF while in college. Since graduating, however, his relationship with the Church has gotten a little complicated. Struggling to find his place in a local parish, Ed feels disconnected from the Church but remains committed to the belief that Orthodox Christianity is good for him.

Ashley is a 29-year-old mental health counselor and yoga instructor. She is also a convert to Orthodoxy, but it wasn’t exactly a quick journey. When her husband wanted to become Orthodox, it took her over three years to catch up. She entered the Church with some big questions, and she still has plenty of them, but in the last few years she has learned increasingly to trust the ancient wisdom of the Church.

Daniel is in his early 30s and working in software. Through high school and even through college, Daniel was involved in the Orthodox Church, even serving in leadership positions. Since getting married, however, it seems that he has let his involvement in the Church slide to the back burner. He discusses the various reasons that this has happened as well as the fact that he still maintains an affection and respect for Orthodoxy.

Christina is in her early 30s, working as a professional fundraiser. Though she has been Orthodox her whole life, she finds a lot of usefulness to some of the practices in Protestant denominations. Her story is full of pain and longing, but she seems to remain confident in God’s providence through it all.

Elizabeth is a med student and is preparing to be married in the Orthodox Church, yet she finds herself asking more and more questions about the role of women in the Church. Elizabeth’s story is full of honesty, curiosity, and insatiable longing for Mystery.

Ted is a 30-year-old youth director in Ohio. After deciding against a career in journalism, Ted chose to spend his life spreading the best news story he’d ever heard: the resurrection of Christ. For Ted, no other story has the capacity to break through the darkness and shine the light of love upon our lives.

Aleksandra is in her early 20s, and she says she “lives, eats, and breathes Human Resources.” She describes her faith journey as one that has taken many twists, but has ultimately brought her back to Orthodoxy through a series of painful events. With the support of her friends and people who have loved her, she has found the Church to be a place that offers direction and new possibility. New episodes every other Friday.

Hannah is newly graduated from college and is looking for how she can continue to grow in her own faith through serving the world. She speaks clearly about the reality of pain and suffering, both in her own life and in the world, and shares how the community of the Church can be a source of strength through the ups and downs of the Christian walk. New episodes every other Friday.

Stephanie is 32 years old and is just beginning her own therapy and life-coaching practice. Her area of expertise: religious trauma. As an Asian-American woman, Stephanie is also interested in the intersectional space of minority identities and how this gives everybody a unique perspective on the spiritual life.

Matt is a professor of philosophy in Rhode Island, and for him, philosophy isn’t just something he has studied; it’s a way of life. Through philosophy, Matt has learned that it is important to stay engaged in the struggle of faith and to pursue the things that are rightly fitting for human beings.

Justin is in his 30s, working as a forensic investigator for a major insurance company. He describes himself as a scientist but can’t seem to get away from the relational realities of the Gospel as he seeks to live more fully into the tradition of the Orthodox Church.

Fr. Panagiotis is a 31-year-old priest in the Chicagoland area. Having served as an altar boy as a kid, he pretty much always knew the direction his life was headed. In this episode of We Are Orthodoxy, Fr. Panagiotis discusses how his relationship with the Divine Liturgy has kept him connected to an enduring vision of what is good and right for human beings to pursue.

Emily is newly graduated from college and is working as a learning specialist. A convert to the Church, Emily is trying to navigate exactly what it means to live a faithful life in Christ. While she longs to be connected to Christ and the Church, Emily shares the shame she experiences when she feels she falls short of others’ expectations, and the temptation to give up altogether.

Steve Christoforou puts his feet to the fire in the season finale of We Are Orthodoxy. Steve discusses the complexity of working for the Church, describing how it isn’t always quite the same thing as serving the Lord. Trusting that Christ is enough to make it through even the deepest of crises, Steve remains deeply committed to holding on to the Lord.

Zantana is a third-year college student living in Las Vegas. She grew up Orthodox but never really felt like it mattered beyond being a dogmatic system. Recently, however, she has begun to rediscover the spiritual depth of Orthodoxy. Surprisingly, it has actually been her education at a secular university that has opened her mind to reengage the spirituality she was given as a kid.

Tim is in his twenties, working in D.C. as a graphic designer. He has grown up in the Church and remains actively involved in it, but he can’t help but feel a little frustrated when he feels people are getting stuck in promoting ideological agendas. Tim is looking for the Truth and simply isn’t interested in anything less than Truth Himself.

Natalie is a 30-something who recently graduated with a Master’s Degree in School Counseling. She grew up Orthodox, and she is now married to another woman. Natalie is stuck in the tension of being separated from the Church while also understanding the Church’s uncompromising stance on her marriage.

Sean is 32 years old and is living in New York City with his wife and daughter and attending grad school. Although Sean grew up going to Christian schools, attending church, and converted to Orthodoxy after high school, his life has taken a turn away from the Church. Compelled by social concerns, Sean has turned to other places looking for solutions.

Maggie is a senior in college and is looking for her purpose, but her journey hasn’t been easy. Battling with depression and anxiety has been hard, but she finds the Church to be both exactly what she’s looking for while also being a place where she struggles to find people who understand.

Ben is a 23-year-old dental school student in Detroit. Having moved away from his friends, family, and community, Ben is struggling to find a parish to call his home, and often feels some of the pain of being so far away from the people who know him. This reality has affected his desire to attend church, but it doesn’t define it.

Recorded before he was ordained, 34-year-old Fr. Jacob shares about his movement from Protestantism to Eastern Orthodoxy. As a 22-year-old, he was deeply moved by the liturgical and theological beauty of the Church. As he came to see that God is a God of healing love and mercy, Fr. Jacob realized that the Orthodox Church alone portrayed the vision of God he had been looking for his whole life.

Emilie is a 21-year-old who moved to LA with hopes of being an actor. It wasn’t long before she realized she wanted to be more involved with starting her own brand, promoting healthy living and people’s self-actualization. Emilie considers the Orthodox Church her home, but because she's having a hard time finding a place in the Church, she is also struggling to make sense of its moral and religious teachings, so she’s kind of making her own.

Michael recently graduated from college, where through a series of conversations with his roommates, he began to question the Orthodox Faith. Even though Michael still identifies as Orthodox, he no longer attends church and is on a journey to discover if his own perception of reality is actually true. Finding that some of his life experiences don't exactly match what he was taught in Church, Michael is motivated to find the truth, not just to avoid being wrong.

Mary is now a sophomore in college, but during a gap year, Mary went on a journey of self-discovery that challenged her in unexpected ways. While she comes from a close community of Orthodox Christians, Mary describes feeling like she has struggled with faith largely by herself.

In the first episode of We Are Orthodoxy, Christian Gonzalez sits down with Jasiel to discuss his journey to the Orthodox Church. Jasiel shares his story of being born in the Dominican Republic, moving to New York City as a young boy, and playing piano as a young man for his church. The son of two Pentecostal pastors, Jasiel’s move toward Orthodoxy has not come without a cost. But for him it’s worth it.

Join Steve and Christian as they introduce We Are Orthodoxy. Even though the podcast has generally been well-recieved, it has brought up some questions about its purpose. They discuss how the podcast originated, what the podcast isn’t, and what it is: an exercise in listening.