Acquiring the Spirit of Peace: The Christian Virtue of Dispassion (CLASS)

October 4, 2016 By St. Paul Emmaus

Acquiring the Spirit of Peace:
The Christian Virtue of Dispassion

WEDNESDAYS 7PM
OCT. 12 – NOV. 23
(except Oct. 26)

LOCATION
St. Paul Orthodox Church
156 E. Main St.
Emmaus, PA 18049

TELEPHONE
610-965-2298

Acquire the spirit of peace, and thousands around you shall be saved.
– Seraphim of Sarov

Have you ever wondered why we can’t seem to find peace in a chaotic world? Why is life with other people so difficult at times? Why can’t we just communicate? What is wrong with our families? How can we find time and the right spirit to pray? How can we bring peace to our marriages, our families, our friendships, and our workplaces?

All of these questions will be explored with insights from the Orthodox Christian tradition and from observations made from how families and other people groups function together as emotional and spiritual systems in active communion.

Presented by: Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Sessions are held following Vespers (6:30pm) on Wednesday nights at St. Paul Orthodox Church in Emmaus, PA. Sessions are free of charge. All are welcome!

“Ten Minute Spirituality”: Practical Advice on Prayer

December 1, 2015 By St. Paul Emmaus

We very much recommend to you the following video from Fr. Sergius, the abbot of St. Tikhon’s Monastery here in Pennsylvania. Fr. Sergius here gives very practical advice on prayer.

Orthodoxy & Heterodoxy (Nov. 11 – Mar. 9): Finding the Way to Christ in a Complicated Religious Landscape

September 29, 2015 By St. Paul Emmaus

Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy, the popular lecture/podcast series (and book), is going to be presented in a newly revised, expanded and updated form at St. Paul’s in Emmaus beginning on Nov. 11, 2015.

7:30 – 8:30 PM on WEDNESDAY NIGHTS (Vespers at 6:30pm)

Presented by:
The Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

SCHEDULE

Nov. 11: Introduction: Orthodoxy, Heterodoxy & Heresy: A general overview of how the Orthodox Church views the non-Orthodox, why doctrine matters, an overview of Christian history, and an examination of ancient heresies.

Nov. 18 & Dec. 2: Roman Catholicism: The Great Schism of 1054, doctrinal and practical differences (papal supremacy and infallibility, etc.), and why we are not in communion. (NO CLASS NOV. 25.)

Dec. 9 & 16: Churches of the Magisterial Reformation: Lutherans, Calvinists, Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Wesleyans.

Dec. 23 & Jan. 13: Churches of the Radical Reformation: Anabaptists, Brethren, Mennonites, Moravians, Baptists, Independents, Restorationists, Seventh-day Adventists. (NO CLASS DEC. 30 OR JAN. 6.)

Jan. 20 & 27: Revivalism & Evangelicalism: The Great Awakenings, Evangelicalism, Mega-Churches and the revolution in worship.

Feb. 3 & 10: Pentecostalism: Pentecostalism, the Charismatic Movement, Word of Faith and the Prosperity Gospel.

Feb. 17 & 24: Non-Mainstream Christian Groups: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Science, Unitarian Universalists, Unification Church (“Moonies”).

Mar. 2 & 9: Non-Christians: Judaism, Islam, Druze, Zoroastrianism, Mandaeism, Yazidism, Baha’i, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Shintoism & Animism, Wicca, Neo-paganism, Neo-Gnosticism, Scientology.

Time for Q&A will follow each talk, which will be roughly an hour at most.

The talks (but not Q&A) will be recorded and uploaded to Ancient Faith Radio.

JOIN THE FACEBOOK EVENT HERE.

Church School Has Begun. Here’s How to Help.

September 12, 2015 By St. Paul Emmaus

St. Paul’s innovative church school program has begun for the 2015-2016 year. We will continue the “one room school house” approach.

Here’s how it works:

Teachers (1) and helpers (2) sign up for one-month commitments and are given all the curricular training they need before their commitment begins.
The students are dismissed at the end of the Divine Liturgy before the announcements and share their own coffee hour time.
While the adults head to their coffee hour, the students return to the church for their group lesson.
The teacher gives the lesson for the first half.
For the second half, the students are broken up into age groups and given appropriate projects and assignments related to the lesson, led by the teacher and the helpers.
When they’re finished, the students are returned to their parents’ care, where they can finish coffee hour together.

Here are 5 things you can do to support your child and our church school staff:

Come to church on time, at least 10 minutes before the Divine Liturgy begins at 9am. Being on time is a signal to your child that church is important. And then stay all the way through church school. It is disruptive to remove your child early, so plan on staying! And you get to deepen your relationships with fellow parishioners during coffee hour.

Come to church consistently. Coming every Sunday — at a minimum — also shows your child that you are serious about your love for Christ and His Church. This consistency also helps to make sure that your child does not have gaps in his/her knowledge of the Scriptures and the other lessons being taught.

Discuss the lessons at home after church. When you do this, it helps to solidify the knowledge in your child’s mind and heart, and it also shows him/her that our faith is something we live not just at church, but also at home and everywhere. Start by doing this in the car while riding home!

Suggested questions to ask (not just “What did you do in Sunday School?”):

Interact with teachers and helpers. Ask them how you can help your child prepare, what you can do to lighten their load, and how you can pray for them.

Pray for your child. A parent who prays for their child is one who is concerned with the deepest and most important part of parenting. Pray not only that your child will learn knowledge about God and the teachings of the Church but also that your child will know God in an authentically personal way.

See you in church school!