Anastasia1
Born into pahklava
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« on: September 09, 2012, 06:11:49 PM » |
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How does one pick a parish? Obviously better music or something is not a good reason for one over another. What are good reasons for one over another? What should a single adult convert consider?
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« Last Edit: September 09, 2012, 06:12:20 PM by Anastasia1 »
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To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.
Abbe Faria: Here is your final lesson - do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence. God said, Vengeance is mine.
Edmond Dantes: I don't believe in God.
Abbe Faria: It doesn't matter. He believes in you.
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Michał Kalina
proud Podlachian Belarusian parajournalistic engineer in spe
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OC.net's trickster
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« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2012, 06:33:12 PM » |
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Length of services, commuting, service language, friends or foes of yours that attend it, pretty representatives of the opposite sex, quality of sermons, the way the choir sing / priest reads, other elements (ie whether there is a coffee hour afterwards), number of people attending, size of the parish - these are mine.
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« Last Edit: September 09, 2012, 06:37:42 PM by Michał Kalina »
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formerly known as mikeDespite being a Polish citizen I am not a Pole.  Long live Belarus! "It's my constitutional right!" |
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Asteriktos
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« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2012, 06:49:28 PM » |
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What you want is a good priest that you trust the advice of, and feel comfortable asking advice of. Some priests are not to be trusted.
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"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." - Plutarch
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Alpo
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« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2012, 08:09:23 PM » |
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How does one pick a parish?
By attending the closest Orthodox church. |
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Just a little reminder: this forum is not called OrthodoxChristianityUSA.net   |
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Punch
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« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2012, 09:15:24 PM » |
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How does one pick a parish?
By attending the closest Orthodox church. Not always. I pass by one 1.5 miles away from my house to attend one 14 miles away. I guess I could attend the closest one if nothing was important to me. MK gave a bunch of reasons, and many of them are good ones. |
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God did not create man equal. Samuel Colt made man equal. Blessed be the Peacemaker.
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Alpo
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« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2012, 03:27:39 AM » |
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How does one pick a parish?
By attending the closest Orthodox church. Not always. I pass by one 1.5 miles away from my house to attend one 14 miles away. I guess I could attend the closest one if nothing was important to me. MK gave a bunch of reasons, and many of them are good ones. While I understand that point of view it leads into catastrophic situation which can be seen in all of the Western European and American countries. |
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Just a little reminder: this forum is not called OrthodoxChristianityUSA.net |
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celticfan1888
Orthodox Christianity, funny.
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Eg trur på Gud Fader, den allmektige...
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« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2012, 04:08:50 AM » |
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How does one pick a parish? Obviously better music or something is not a good reason for one over another. What are good reasons for one over another? What should a single adult convert consider?
1) Location 2) People you know who attend said parish 3) Language 4) Tradition (Antiochian, OCA, Greek, etc) |
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« Last Edit: September 10, 2012, 04:09:32 AM by celticfan1888 »
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Punch
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« Reply #7 on: September 10, 2012, 09:01:57 AM » |
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You have your cause and effect reversed. Bypassing a close parish for a far parish does not lead to the situation that we have. The situation that we have leads to the sometimes necessary act of bypassing one parish for one further away. If both parishes followed the same calendar, venerated the same Saints, were under the same Bishop and the like, it would not be necessary (nor would it probably be allowed) to drive passed the one to get to the other. How does one pick a parish?
By attending the closest Orthodox church. Not always. I pass by one 1.5 miles away from my house to attend one 14 miles away. I guess I could attend the closest one if nothing was important to me. MK gave a bunch of reasons, and many of them are good ones. While I understand that point of view it leads into catastrophic situation which can be seen in all of the Western European and American countries. |
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God did not create man equal. Samuel Colt made man equal. Blessed be the Peacemaker.
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Anastasia1
Born into pahklava
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« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2012, 01:40:23 AM » |
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You have your cause and effect reversed. Bypassing a close parish for a far parish does not lead to the situation that we have. The situation that we have leads to the sometimes necessary act of bypassing one parish for one further away. If both parishes followed the same calendar, venerated the same Saints, were under the same Bishop and the like, it would not be necessary (nor would it probably be allowed) to drive passed the one to get to the other. You mean people would be forced to attend one parish or not attend at all? |
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To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.
Abbe Faria: Here is your final lesson - do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence. God said, Vengeance is mine.
Edmond Dantes: I don't believe in God.
Abbe Faria: It doesn't matter. He believes in you.
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Asteriktos
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« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2012, 01:41:55 AM » |
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Don't listen to these people, Anastasia1. Ask your priest!
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"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled." - Plutarch
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Alpo
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« Reply #10 on: September 11, 2012, 01:57:02 AM » |
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You have your cause and effect reversed. Bypassing a close parish for a far parish does not lead to the situation that we have. The situation that we have leads to the sometimes necessary act of bypassing one parish for one further away. If both parishes followed the same calendar, venerated the same Saints, were under the same Bishop and the like, it would not be necessary (nor would it probably be allowed) to drive passed the one to get to the other.
No, it's you who has cause and effect reversed!  Picking and choosing is the thing that caused the change of calendar and other problems in the first place and is causing bybassing close parishes today. While I agree with you on the calendar etc issues simply attending outwardly more correct parish doesn't make the issue go away. The bybassed parish still uses the wrong calendar so a problem within the Church remains. |
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Just a little reminder: this forum is not called OrthodoxChristianityUSA.net |
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Anastasia1
Born into pahklava
Sr. Member
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Faith: Oriental Orthodox
Jurisdiction: Occasionally traveling, Armenian.
Posts: 879
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« Reply #11 on: September 11, 2012, 02:08:27 AM » |
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Don't listen to these people, Anastasia1. Ask your priest!
I did yesterday. He said there are no perfect parishes, and you should go to the one that best fits your needs. |
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« Last Edit: September 11, 2012, 02:19:44 AM by Anastasia1 »
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To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.
Abbe Faria: Here is your final lesson - do not commit the crime for which you now serve the sentence. God said, Vengeance is mine.
Edmond Dantes: I don't believe in God.
Abbe Faria: It doesn't matter. He believes in you.
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sheenj
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Jurisdiction: Indian/Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
Posts: 1,038
St. Gregorios of Parumala, pray for us...
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« Reply #12 on: September 11, 2012, 09:07:37 AM » |
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Don't listen to these people, Anastasia1. Ask your priest!
I did yesterday. He said there are no perfect parishes, and you should go to the one that best fits your needs. Sounds like your priest knows what he is doing  |
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Punch
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« Reply #13 on: September 11, 2012, 10:33:24 AM » |
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You have your cause and effect reversed. Bypassing a close parish for a far parish does not lead to the situation that we have. The situation that we have leads to the sometimes necessary act of bypassing one parish for one further away. If both parishes followed the same calendar, venerated the same Saints, were under the same Bishop and the like, it would not be necessary (nor would it probably be allowed) to drive passed the one to get to the other. You mean people would be forced to attend one parish or not attend at all? Encouraged would be a better word. |
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God did not create man equal. Samuel Colt made man equal. Blessed be the Peacemaker.
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Punch
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« Reply #14 on: September 11, 2012, 10:34:23 AM » |
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I am sorry, but you are wrong. You probably need to brush up a bit more on cause and effect. I do it for a living. You have your cause and effect reversed. Bypassing a close parish for a far parish does not lead to the situation that we have. The situation that we have leads to the sometimes necessary act of bypassing one parish for one further away. If both parishes followed the same calendar, venerated the same Saints, were under the same Bishop and the like, it would not be necessary (nor would it probably be allowed) to drive passed the one to get to the other.
No, it's you who has cause and effect reversed! Picking and choosing is the thing that caused the change of calendar and other problems in the first place and is causing bybassing close parishes today. While I agree with you on the calendar etc issues simply attending outwardly more correct parish doesn't make the issue go away. The bybassed parish still uses the wrong calendar so a problem within the Church remains. |
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God did not create man equal. Samuel Colt made man equal. Blessed be the Peacemaker.
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Schultz
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« Reply #15 on: September 11, 2012, 10:54:08 AM » |
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Don't listen to these people, Anastasia1. Ask your priest!
I did yesterday. He said there are no perfect parishes, and you should go to the one that best fits your needs. I'm in the lucky situation to have five Orthodox parishes pretty close to my house. One is Greek. One is ROCOR. One is UOC-USA. One is Moscow Patriarch. One is OCA. I bypass the Greek one (actually the closest to my house) for one reason: the music. Byzantine chant does nothing for me. If this was the only church in town, I'd go to it, but it's not, so I don't have to. The ROCOR church is very ethnic: services in Slavonic (which I don't mind) and sermon in Russian. It's a very Russian parish. THE UOC-USA parish is similarly very ethnic, only Ukrainian. Both cater to their respective immigrant communities. The MP church is just a bit further away than the OCA one. They do things about half Slavonic/half English. There's a good mix of immigrants and American-born parishoners (both cradles and converts). I really like the priest and the deacon. I settled on the OCA parish because it's all in English (with a smattering of Slavonic here and there), it's literally five minutes past the Greek church, the people are nice and welcoming, and, of course, the music. They do a mix of obikhoid and prostopinije tones, the latter of which I have a love affair with, so to speak. As your priest noted, if you have the luxury of multiple parishes, find the one that suits your needs best. If you don't have the luxury, or you find that all things are generally equal, go to the closest one. |
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"Hearing a nun's confession is like being stoned to death with popcorn." --Abp. Fulton Sheen
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pensateomnia
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« Reply #16 on: September 11, 2012, 11:16:41 AM » |
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The reasons my family goes where it goes:
1. Music (Byzantine)
2. Language of services (About 50/50 Greek and English; wouldn't want to lose either)
3. Priest (Pious and good homilist)
4. Kids (Tons of them, with solid weekday programs)
5. Strong communal sense of direction and mission (Yes, please)
6. People (The kind you want to hang out with at your own or their home)
Presently, we've got all six.
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But for I am a man not textueel I wol noght telle of textes neuer a deel. (Chaucer, The Manciple's Tale, 1.131)
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