Orthodoxy has declined from 20% of global Christians in 1910 to 12% in 2010. We are not yet making Orthodox "disciples of all nations" to the degree our Lord instructed us. Why? Some answers can be found in the latest leadership, innovation, and change management best practices and research.

Frederica urges us to focus on the truly important aspects of our Orthodox Faith, rather than getting distracted by politics, scandals, or gossip.

Frederica argues that women's ordination is not the main reason converts come to Orthodoxy.

Frederica reminds us that a passion begins to die when you don't think about it.

Frederica reads the narrative of Peter's denial of Christ from St. Romanos the Melodist.

Frederica shares the prayer titled St. Patrick's Breastplate.

I believe that it's good to set yourself a prayer rule that you won't be able to fully complete.

Don't miss this rich and inspiring reading by Frederica Mathewes-Green of the entire Nativity Kontakion written by St. Romanos the Melodist and translated by Fr. Ephrem Lash. It was taken from the book On the Life of Christ: Kontakia, published in 1994.

Frederica Mathewes-Green shares the prayer titled St. Patrick's Breastplate.

What might God be planning for America given the rampant infiltration of sin, abortion, and depravity? Frederica has adjusted her thinking on this after a rather strange "awakening."

We are walking with Frederica in a shopping mall today only to be bombarded by inappropriate images from a certain famous store.

Recently, I uploaded an old video to YouTube, of one of the strangest and funniest experiences I ever had with an interview. It was 1996. A producer for a viewer-call-in political talk show, "Capital Watch," phoned me about the work I was doing with a group called Common Ground for Life and Choice. We brought pro-life and pro-choice people together in dialogue, to get better understanding of each other's beliefs. (To get past misunderstanding so we could arrive at genuine disagreement, I used to say.) I put it on my calendar, and drove to the studio on Capital Hill. But while I was standing just off the set, waiting to be introduced, I heard the host say I was going to talk about common ground between Republicans and Democrats. I knew nothing about that. I didn't follow politics at all. But in a matter of seconds I had to walk on the set, sit down, and basically fake it for 20 minutes. I guess the producer had written "Common Ground" on the schedule without any further explanation, and that's what the hosts thought I was there to talk about. It's pretty funny. You can see me making guesses about what answer the hosts expected me to give, trying to sound like I actually knew something about the topic. Afterward I wrote a column about it, and how you can see someone on a talk show who appears to not know what they're talking about, "the idiot beside the potted plant." Well, that would be me. Watch the interview at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SneiaHIiogA. Read the column at: frederica.com/writings/whos-that-idiot-next-to-the-potted-plant.html.

Frederica Mathewes-Green shares a few words about the meaning of love.

Join Christian this week as he explores the reality that we cannot share a real love for Christ if we don't possess it ourselves.

Fr. Thomas takes a second look at the story of The Prodigal Son, this time focusing on the meaning of The Father's House.

During Great Lent, the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great is prescribed in Orthodox Churches. Fr. Tom appeals for the audible use of that prayer for the blessing and edification of all.

During this week as we venerate the cross of Christ, Fr. Tom Hopko shares a sermon by Met. Anthony Bloom on the cross and our sin.

As many know, Kevin Allen recently announced his retirement from his interview program, Ancient Faith Today. After listening to an interview Ancient Faith Radio did with Kevin announcing his departure, Fr. Tom shares his own thoughts on the state of American Orthodoxy.

This past weekend Google sent out a round of manual penalty notices citing “unnatural outbound links” – later confirmed to be targeting sites publishing compensated content and reviews where the blogger is linking out to the brand or site that compensated them. If your site received the notice, you'll find some advice for fixing your…

The post How Bloggers Can Fix a Manual Penalty Caused by Compensated Content & Reviews appeared first on Sugarrae.

I always run my affiliate links through redirects – also referred to as cloaking affiliate links – for several reasons: Running them through my redirects means I have a click count to match up to the one the merchant is reporting. Affiliate links are usually ugly and impossible to remember without doing a copy/paste. Redirects…

The post How to Cloak Affiliate Links (& Why You Should) appeared first on Sugarrae.

During the Paschal season, on the Sunday of the Paralytic, Fr Joseph was at St Paul/Tupelo, Mississippi. Here's excerpts from that Sunday's sermon which claims we don't always want the truth. (But we do need to be healed.)

When it comes to church work: some do, some don't. The same can be said of every stage of our life in Christ. Here's Fr John mission planting in the Pacific Northwest.

Preaching at Saints Peter and Paul Mission/Boone, North Carolina, Fr John compares the Archangel Gabriel's visit to Mother of God to that of the father of the Forerunner.

Fr Joseph interviews Fr James Guirguis of St. Raphael of Brooklyn/Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. This church is full of children! Fr. James offers a word on the joy of the priesthood, which is truly fruit for thought.

Fr. Joseph speaks at an ecumenical gathering about how the Orthodox work out their salvation.

"I'm up here, Lord -- hope that doesn't bother You!" In the Sundays before Lent, our Mother bids us to come down to meet the Lord. Fr. Joseph preaches at St Silouan/College Station, Texas.

Don't fret this episode's title, Big D folks can handle it. Fr Joseph interviews Fr John Guy Winfrey on the one year anniversary of St Katherine/Burleson, Texas. Y'all ever had possum for Pascha?

Fr. Matthew Snowden, pastor of St Nicholas/Jackson, Tennessee, preaches on Our Cross, and the Lord's Cross—and what have they in common?

When the churches are open again, some folks will be shouldering even more doubts than before due to being kind of “shell shocked”—hurt by having been locked out of church services—especially during the holiest season! Suffice it to say, whether we’ll admit it or not, we’re all hurting a bit. So, you see, we’re all missions now!

In 2020, pretty much EVERYONE missed the Lamentations service! (No, watching it online is no more the same as watching American Bandstand, or Dancing with the Stars, is the same as attending the prom.) Fr Joseph wept.

Are we living in the Last Days? Sure! What are we to do about it? Fr Joseph preaches at St Joseph/Houston.

Jesus says the disciples could not exorcise a demon because of their little faith. He then went on to say that faith the size of a mustard seed could move mountains. Huh?

In the second installation of his new series, Fr. Tom Hopko talks about the biblical and evangelical nature of the Divine Liturgy. True worship in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

What made Noah's worship a sweet-smelling savor to God?

There are so many images of Christ, the Trinity, and our worship as Orthodox Christians in the Old Testament but perhaps none so powerful as the story of Abraham.

Fr. John shares about Jacob's Ladder on the Sunday of St. John of the Ladder.

Fr. John shares the example of Joseph, the son of Jacob, as an example of God's sovereignty.

Fr. John shares warnings from Isaiah 5:8-6:7.

Fr. John returns to the series on Psalm 118, and discusses verses 33-40.

Fr. John shares from Amos 7:7-9.

Fr. John talks about the importance of taking time to read and understand the Scriptures.

Fr. John shares from Mark 1:21-39.

Fr. John shares from Psalm 118:65-72. "God puts people in our lives because He's trying to teach us things. When we encounter a difficult person, rather than necessarily trying to seek how we can get as far away from that person as we can, maybe we should ask ourselves, 'What is God trying to teach me?' and try to learn that lesson as quickly as we can."

Fr. John talks about Orthodoxy and culture.

Fr. John shares about the healing of the demoniacs.

Fr. John uses the passage of John 3:14-21 to illustrate Christ's love and the importance of going to His light.

Fr. John talks about Luke 7, the raising of the widow's son, and how important it is to remember the timing of God.

Fr. John Whiteford discusses the importance of respect for fathers.

Fr. John Whiteford discusses 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 and the importance of filling ourselves with good things.

Fr. John Whiteford discusses the importance of the life of Daniel.