St George Antiochian Orthodox Church and Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral team up each year to host Vacation Bible School. This year, we’re at the Cathedral with a Group curriculum: “Paul and the Underground Church”. Fr John Salem, Fr Nicholas Hadzellis and I are teaching the kids about the ancient Church (through prayer, song, and chat): using water, oil, wine, incense, and bread. Today, we did water. Q&A;, especially with the youngest youth, is always unpredictable. Fr Nicholas wound up with... Read more

But first, a little back story … These two young PKs were spotted recently at the Parish Life Conference in Wichita, Kansas. (Though the content is unknown, you can almost hear them singing in this pic.) They’d obviously been drinking — but I have it on good authority that this pic was taken after their singing and not before. These guys, the St George, Houston, Bible Bowlers studied very hard and put up a good fight — finishing in fourth... Read more

I don’t follow Country Music (or any popular music) these days, and I was never a Sammy Kershaw fan. But, when I saw this picture of a railroad car converted into an Orthodox Chapel, that song “She’s the Little Queen of My Double Wide Trailer” came to mind. We once converted a three car garage into a very nice little Orthodox “temple” — complete with blue onion dome — which looked surprisingly similar to the one pictured here. Our first... Read more

I‘m off to the Wonderful Land of Oz for our Diocesan Parish Life Conference this week but, before I go, a plug for a previous podcast — with a bit of an update: I’ve got some CDs to give away from the group The SmallTown Heroes. You’ll hear a bit about them in this week’s episode. Be sure to (re)listen for new details at podcast’s end on how to receive your FREE copy of their new CD, “Lo, the Hard... Read more

The St Tikhon’s Mission Choir, in the presence of the Wonder-working Sitka Icon of the Mother of God, performs at St George Antiochian Orthodox Church, Houston, on June 2, 2009. Listen H E R E. View all the Houston podcasts here on the Houston Orthodox Clergy Association web page. Read more

Although I don’t do text, here’s a an email FWD from a parishioner at St Joseph Church, Houston, that some of you may enjoy. (All others: pls 4giv.) What if God had text messaged the 10 Commandments? It might look like this: 1. no1 b4 me. srsly. 2. dnt wrshp pix/idols 3. no omg’s 4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r) 5. pos ok – ur m&d; r cool 6. dnt kill ppl 7. :-X only w/... Read more

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.— William Shakespeare Once again this blog is nominated in the annual Eastern Christian New Media Blog Awards in the funniest category. This year, I’m up against The Onion Dome (which I didn’t even know was a blog! 🙂 For a limited time, vote here. Over the past couple years I’ve directed most of the funny stuff (hopefully, that is) to the Orthodixie Podcast. But, FWIW, Some of my favorite posts,... Read more

This is a prayer I found on the Net and have “orthodoxized” (for what it’s worth, for personal use). O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,How Divinely pure are Thy thoughts!Thy Words only reflect wonders,Parables worthy of searching minds.I earnestly strive to follow after Thee.Help me, O Lord, to respect others,That I may never gossip against anyone.Guide me in the righteous path of life,Where sensational gossip does not exist.If by Thy will, my intervention is required,Guide me to... Read more

This week’s episode of the Orthodixie Podcast is about that big event of summer. But, for the Old Marrieds, here’s a little chuckle someone sent me a while back: A wife was making a breakfast of fried eggs for her husband. Suddenly, her husband burst into the kitchen. “Careful,” he said, “CAREFUL! Put in some more butter! Oh my gosh! You’re cooking too many at once. TOO MANY! Turn them! TURN THEM NOW! We need more butter. Oh my gosh!... Read more

In the wee hours of Pascha, we Orthodox begin a joyful dialogue where when someone says “Christ is Risen!” the reply is “Indeed, He is Risen!” Or, “Truly, He is Risen!” In those early hours of Pascha, some folks have grown a little rusty on their Orthodox lingo. Imagine: “Christ is Risen!” “Glorify Him!” (The Christmas response.) Or … “Christ is Risen!” And the inevitable reply: “Happy Easter!” Then there’s the fun we have for 40 days in the shortened... Read more