A clarion call on the Feast of the Dormition

Father Gregory Hallam, of the St Aidan's Orthodox Church in Manchester has posted a powerful statement of faith on Facebook, and I want you to be able to read some of it here. The full text rightly calls for action against phyletism- this heresy that aligns Holy Orthodoxy with a particular national character. There is a desperate need for more pan-Orthodox mission work in the UK.

"..I truly believe that this is the one holy catholic apostolic Church that we see in the New Testament and unfolded through Christ in the Old. I cannot even begin to imagine being anywhere else. I shall die in this Church.

I say this because I want you, dear reader, to understand how much the Orthodox Church means to me. It is here that I have discovered the full depth and riches of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. It is my God-bearing family, and I a sinner find myself here amongst saints. It is a humbling thing to come home to God in Orthodoxy, knowing that if I can only repent, I also shall see the glory of the Lord.

Please also understand that I am a thinking, feeling, striving man, flesh and blood. I did not leave my critical faculties, my God given mind at the door upon entering holy Orthodoxy. I am no crypto-fundamentalist. I submitted to God as one who heals and strengthens me, who calls upon me to love him with all my heart, my mind, my soul, my strength. I cannot do that if I am an automaton, if submission simply means blind belief, unquestioning practice and a disabled conscience. God did not give me all my faculties for them to remain dormant. Serving Him means using them, transformed by His grace to their fullest extent."

I often struggle to say what I mean on this blog- so I praise God that He sends eloquent people like Fr Gregory to speak on my behalf.