Church Shootings in Michigan – STV Response

Yesterday there was a major church shooting in Michigan. Again. You are not wrong if you perceive that these incidents are on the increase. At STV we have had an active shooter protocol since before the pandemic. And it is still in place today. However, this is not a static protocol. We review incidents, such as the one that happened on Sunday, to try to learn how we can better protect our parish family. Our active shooter team will be meeting later this week for this express purpose. All this was begun with Archbishop Peter’s blessing and continues with Archbishop Gabriel’s blessing.

As Orthodox Christians we understand that our life ends exactly when the Lord deems it most expedient for our salvation. And that end will come whether we are in a plane, on the street, sleeping in our bed, or wherever we are. Our days are numbered by the Lord because of His love for us. We are pilgrims on this earth and the Heavenly Kingdom is our true homeland. The Lord allows us to go to Him when we will be as close to Him in that next life as we can be. One of our great struggles is to trust God in this regard. We forget that He loves us more than we love ourselves, and He desires our salvation more than we desire it.

That being said, we do not take a cold, detached approach to this question. We live our lives with zeal and love for God and our fellow man in the beautiful garden He has provided us – not as people just waiting around to die. And we take our responsibility to provide security to our community VERY seriously. We aim to cooperate with God in this regard – to do our best while we trust Him and His providence. That being said, we will not be mounting machine guns on our roof anytime soon. We have to find the happy medium between a parish church as an armed fortress and no security whatsoever. Most of you probably didn’t even know we had a protocol and an active shooter team, or who is on that team. And that is exactly how we want it. But I think, in the face of increasing violence against houses of worship in our Michigan, you need to know that this is something that we are actively managing.

“Fear not – believe only.” (Luke 8:50)

The words of the Lord above have to be our focus in the face of evil. Fear undermines faith. It is hard for us to do anything when we are in fear. So let us march forward as a parish family with this short verse from the gospel on our lips and in our hearts. STV will do everything it can to keep our parish family safe. And we will trust God that He will give us what is best for our salvation. Coming to church has always been an act of defiance in a way. We live in the world, but we strive not to be consumed by the world, and we show this when we come to God’s House and affirm that we desire to follow the gospel. Like that gospel phrase noted immediately above. The Christian life was called “The Way” in ancient times. This is the Way: to be in God’s Church as often as we can be, and to trust Him that He will give us what is best for our salvation.

Please REACH OUT anytime with questions. May the Lord grant those who died yesterday a place in His Kingdom, and comfort to the grieving. And may He continue to bless us at STV in our striving to be a community that trusts His providence, and works together with Him for the best possible outcomes for our parish family in this life and the next!

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory 

Questions: Relics, Holy Communion, Moving at Liturgy

Friends,

I have been asked a few questions lately about Orthopraxis. We haven’t talked about this for a while, so I thought I would write a short note for Blogtushka to address these, and invite an ongoing conversation in this regard. Our priests are always happy to answer your questions. But sometimes you stump us. :) In this case we aren’t going to just make up an answer – we are going to tell you we don’t know, find the answer, and get back to you.

The first question is about venerating relics. We venerate relics just as we would venerate an icon. Make the sign of the cross twice, venerate the relics, and make the sign of the cross again. For children in arms, we would touch their head to the relics or the reliquary – just as with an icon. The question came from the visit of the relics to our parish a few weeks ago with Archbishop Gabriel’s blessing. We are all facing East during the Divine Services, so I don’t see what is happening behind me. Apparently there were some rather inventive ways that the relics were venerated at STV. We applaud creativity in many parts of our lives, but not this one. :) We should seek to venerate relics, icons, etc., just as Orthodox Christians always have. It is good for us to have a default that we do as our fathers and mothers in the faith have always done, unless there is a VERY GOOD reason to deviate from this stream of faith that flows from generation to generation.

The second question is: what time we should arrive to the Divine Liturgy if we plan to partake of Holy Communion? But first, let’s take a step back and cover: when should we arrive to the Divine Liturgy period? The answer is, as a rule, BEFORE the Liturgy begins. Ideally we should arrange for our prosphora, light our candles, and be standing in our place when the Deacon intones the beginning of the first litany. If you have little ones, you are sick, or something of that sort, of course you might come a bit later. It is better to come late and stay to the end than to come early and leave early. Liturgy at STV lasts two hours approximately. One seven-day week has 168 hours. That two hours is 1.2% of the week. Let’s give every little bit of that 1.2% to God if at all possible. 

But – what if I am running late and I have read all the prayers, gone to confession, fasted, and am planning to partake of Holy Communion? Life happens. This is understood. The demons especially work hard when we are planning to do something good, and there is really nothing better we can do for ourselves than partake of Holy Communion. A good rule of thumb is: if you are at STV in time to hear the Gospel reading then you are good to partake of communion. If not – then not. This is a RULE OF THUMB. It is not necessary for you to police your brothers and sisters in this regard. We have no tactical team of enforcers at STV and we don’t want one. We are talking now about YOU. Not about your neighbor. There are those that come late with a blessing for various reasons. You don’t have to worry about those reasons. You take care of you. And if folks with little ones can’t quite make it for the Gospel we are not going to keep the little ones from partaking of communion. This is a rule of thumb for adults.

And now, a final Orthopraxis question that I am sometimes asked, and that we all struggle with. So I think good to review here. What to do with myself during the Liturgy? I mean, I am standing there, but can I move? And if I move when can I move? And finally, what do I do with myself when I am standing there and the Holy Gifts are consecrated, are brought forth for communion of the faithful, etc.? This sounds like a huge answer! I can’t take any more Fr. Gregory! Thankfully, this one can be answered by the two posters below. Please review those and let me, Fr. Colin, or Fr. Vladimir know if you have questions. Note the one about prostrations: no prostrations on knees on Sunday (except for very rare exceptions). On Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, we commemorate our adoption by God as His sons and daughters. Yes – we need to continually strive to actualize that adoption, but because of this spiritual kinship we do not prostrate to the ground on Sunday. Every other day: we do. We just don’t come to church on weekdays that often, so prostrating to the ground seems like an exception. Actually, the exception is NOT prostrating to the ground on Sundays.

WHEN YOU CAN MOVE AT LITURGY

WHEN TO MAKE PROSTRATIONS AT LITURGY

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory 

How Not to Fall to Idolatry in the Midst of Civic Grief

Friends,

I think the piece below is well done (thanks to Fr. Colin for sharing it with me), and so no need to recreate the wheel by writing something myself. A few comments from me at the end though, which I hope provide some value.

===

American politics is NOT divided as people claim, it is a SINGLE hellmouth that is devouring us all. 

We use the term "spirit" to describe movements so often that we don't think of the meaning of the word. American spirit, team spirit, holiday spirit. A spirit is something that acts upon us and leads us to actions that are not directly related to us as individuals, to act on behalf of a collective. 

When it comes to matters of spirit, there is no moral neutrality, a spirit can only be aligned with God or against God, and we can discern the spirit based on the impact it has on the world. A spirit that moves us towards God by inspiring selflessness and humility is a Saint or an angel. 

But a spirit that guides one to act upon, what St. Augustine called the libido dominandi, "lust for power", is ALWAYS a fallen spirit. When a crowd is motivated to storm the Capitol, it is a fallen spirit. When someone shoots a public figure that they falsely believe is their enemy, it is a fallen spirit. When people mock a murder or call for revenge, it is a fallen spirit.

The most dangerous and demonic lie in America today is that the other side is a threat to you. The people on the other side of the aisle will take away our rights and harm the innocent. We have judged them culpable, and we must put an end to them before they put an end to us.

But we "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." No man is ever truly your enemy, they are being led by a fallen spirit just like any of us are. Donald Trump is not your enemy, Gavin Newsom is not your enemy. Neither are Netanyahu, Elon Musk, Zohran Mamdani, and neither was Charlie Kirk. 

The ones who bring you to court or even kill you are not your enemies, just as Christ didn't see us as enemies when we tried and crucified Him.

Your enemy is the spirit of MAGA, the spirit of progressivism, the spirits of the Democratic and Republican parties. Your enemies are the spirits of Wall Street, Marxism, Zionism, antisemitism, white nationalism, Critical Race Theory, revolution, conservatism, feminism, the manosphere... 

When you place your faith in any of these things you are acting like the Grand Inquisitor in Brothers Karamazov, who told Jesus Christ "we don't need you anymore, we have made something better". All of these ideologies and theories are attempts to impose our own will and our own vision on the world, our libido dominandi. "Humility, Love, and Beauty will not save the world, our schemes will, we just need to devour anyone in our path". 

There is no division in American politics, all sides are offering you the exact same thing, the world in exchange for your soul.

By Louis Marx

Shared by Fr. John Hogg on Facebook

===

Perhaps this excellent piece could only be improved by a short addition from C.S. Lewis’ posthumously published “Christian Reflections”:

“There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God and counter-claimed by Satan.”

Let us then fight only for the ideology that is truly existential, the only party we have as Orthodox people: Christ. If Christ is not driving the narrative of our lives, something needs to be corrected - in us. And if we are not striving to have Christ abiding solely in our hearts, how can we share Christ with others? Historically, mankind is tempted to idolatry. To put something – anything – between us and God. For Christians, who know idolatry is wrong, the idolatry of kings is particularly tempting. We know not to bow down to a statue, but to bow down to worldly power seems harder for us to resist.

Let us remember those who have died that the Lord makes us aware of. If He allows us to know their names, like the name of Charlie Kirk who was assassinated yesterday, then it means He is calling us to pray for them. If they are not Orthodox, let us remember them in our private prayers. Ours is to pray and ask the Lord to give what is best for the salvation of all. He will take care of the rest if we can focus squarely on Him and… “Trust ye not in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.” (Psalm 145)

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory

Time to Start the Transition to the New Generation!

Some years ago our previous generation of leaders was unable to continue in their positions of leadership. So Fr. Gregory went to seminary to fill that need. Other of our (then) young people stepped up and took on other leadership positions in our parish. The generational transition worked, with some hiccups, not because the previous generation was so desirous of it, but because it had to happen. But we don’t want to do it that way again. We don’t want you to have to put us in the ground before you step up. We want to share with you what we’ve learned. We know you won’t do things exactly the same way we do, but we at least want to share what we do as leaders so at least SOME of it will be useful for the next generation. But, although we do mostly know where you live, we aren’t going to steal you away in the night and make you take a leadership position. At the same time – we want to start this transition NOW – so it is MUCH easier than it was when we took leadership positions in the parish. We don’t think of ourselves as old – but that time is around the corner. Step up now! Begin to dip your toe into parish leadership. We want to replace ourselves! Help us do that! Let’s start this generational transition NOW, so that when you do put us in the ground you won’t curse us, but pray for us. Just as we will pray for you if we find favor before our Lord. This is how it works – generation to generation. But NOW is the time to begin. Contact Fr. Gregory, Brendan, or any of our parish council members to learn more about how you can help.

Pascha Party Thank You!

SEE THE PICTURES & VIDEOS HERE

Dear Friends,

Christ is Risen!

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us at our home last night for our Pascha party, and to those who could not come but who sent best wishes. A special thank to those who prepared the program marking the 30th anniversary of my ordination. That was very kind, a total surprise, and I appreciated your efforts very much!

I didn’t get a chance to say anything, which is fine. You get too much Fr. Gregory already as it is. :)

But I did want to say just a few things, so I’ll do that here. 

First, I am thankful to God for His great mercy in allowing me to serve at the Holy Altar for these 30 years. It is not because of my own qualities that I have been a priest this long, but only because of God’s mercy.

Second, there is no way I would have made it 30 days, much less 30 years, without Liza. To be a priest is hard work, to be sure. But to be a priest’s wife is unquestionably harder. And she has fulfilled her labors with grace and love for all these years. I am forever thankful for her endless sacrifice. My mother told us when we asked their blessing to be married, "if you marry him you'll be a saint!". May the Lord grant it.

Third, it is never the captain or coach of the team, but rather THE TEAM, that wins the victory. Any good thing that I may have accidentally accomplished despite my great shortcomings is because of those who are part of our STV team. Not because of me personally. I am thankful that the Lord has blessed our parish richly – with great leaders that have brought us to great places. And I am confident that our leaders will bring us to even greater places in the future in this life, and through this outstanding leadership in this life, will help facilitate the greatest accomplishment for our parishioners: the Heavenly Kingdom. This is why we are here. Everything we do as a parish family can and must lead to the Chalice. And if we make our Communion with God the center of our lives here – then the Heavenly Kingdom will be our true Homeland. May we continue our pilgrimage in this life with zeal and love for Christ and His Church, and through our efforts and God’s mercy, enter His Kingdom.

No one is promised tomorrow. Our Evening Prayers allude to this and this is good – that we understand we must do good and live as Christians now. Only the fool says “I will begin tomorrow.” Let us begin today! Now! To put away the things which bind us to the earth and embrace those things that lead us to Heaven! Not that we should leave our families, or our labors, but rather that ancillary worldliness that makes idols of so many things. That is, that makes us put so many things in front of God. 

One cannot say everything in such a note as this. And so I will end. But I will say finally: please remember me and my family in your prayers. By your prayers I have hope that we can continue to serve our STV family for many years. We have a GREAT team! I’m thankful to have the opportunity to lead that team, and prepare those on the team for what comes next. We have to train our replacements. :) If I do that, and all our leaders do that, we have be at peace that not only will STV continue long into the future, but that it will continue to improve with each generation. May the Lord grant it!

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory 

Unofficial Car Sales at STV – New Church Fund Raising

A lot of fund raising and planning for a building project is about adopting a new paradigm. Right now our paradigm is: “I come to STV and everything is there for me – the building, the choir, the meals, the clergy, etc.”. All lights are on, the heat and AC works, etc. Obviously we all know that doesn’t happen magically – success only comes before work in the dictionary, and if we want to have a successful parish family we need to work for that success. And we do work for it. And we are thankful for those that make those efforts, pray for the workers, and all zeal for the glory of God and the good of His people.

But to get our brains around the fact that we have undertaken a new building project is perhaps a bit more challenging for us. That is not all bad of course. Struggle is good for our salvation on the whole, with some exceptions. But the work and success thing is true here too: if we want to adopt the new paradigm that we are focusing, laboring, praying, striving towards the completion of our new project we need to work! And we need to pray that the Lord will help us to adopt that paradigm.

I’m happy to report here that we have already made some headway in this regard. Fr. Colin reports that the little boys were trying to sell their toy cars on Sunday to support the new church project! “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings has Thou perfected praise.” (Communion Hymn Lazarus Saturday – Matthew 21:16)

The boys are on it. Sometimes the adults lead. And sometimes the youth. Thank God that our children are providing us a zealous example! Now, let us emulate them in our zeal for the glory of God’s House!

LEARN MORE/SUPPORT

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory

Parish Council Resolution Regarding Fundraising for New Church

PARISH COUNCIL RESOLUTION REGARDING FUNDRAISING FOR NEW CHURCH

НА РУССКОМ НИЖЕ

At our parish council meeting Sunday, March 23, 2025 the council debated and discussed various approaches to the building of our new parish church. As all are aware, we have been making every effort to raise funds for the new project. This is happening both inside the parish, and broadly outside the parish as well. So far the there has been humble success. And we are thankful for that, ask your continued prayers, and that you consider how you might help support this project with your time, treasure, and talent.

Our practice in the past has been to gather enough funds to start a project and then in fact just begin, asking the Lord’s blessing and trusting that He will send the funds needed to finish the project if this is pleasing to Him. Thank God, so far we have done all the civil engineering work, parking lots, cemetery, and school based on this approach, as well as (a bit further back in our history) our kitchen expansion and our altar expansion. The Lord has blessed us richly as a parish family, and for this we should be thankful!

However, the new church and social hall is on another level of complexity and cost. We have never done anything that is going to cost us millions of dollars before. And so, based on very solid advice from parishioners who understand these things, we considered whether we needed to approach this project differently. Perhaps it was better to raise all the funds and THEN begin the project rather than just get started and hope the Lord would bless us as He has in the past?

After a lengthy discussion and debate, the parish council made its decision, which is below. In the end, we decided to trust more in the Lord. Which is the scarier path from an earthly point of view, to be sure. But we simply could not ignore the past record of our accomplishments, which were not due to our wisdom or effort, but simply to trusting in God and hoping that our labors would be blessed by Him – as they always have been. Past success is not a guarantee of future success, however, and in effect we are challenging our parish family to do as we always have – trust radically in the Lord and work as hard as we can, cooperating with Him for His glory.

RESOLUTION: “The Parish Council would prefer to raise $4 million (the present estimated cost of the project), hire a contractor, and build the new church all at once, but we understand that this may not be  possible. Therefore, we have decided that if by May 29th, the feast of Ascension, we do not have the needed funds, we will start building our new church project in phases and raise money concurrently, as we have in all past building projects. We feel it is better to begin the construction this year than to wait until we have all of the funds amassed.”

To be clear, if the Lord blesses us to gather the funds we will of course see that blessing as His instruction to us: hire a big local contractor and do all the work immediately. But if this is not His blessing, we will humbly accept this, roll up our sleeves, and get to work. As in all past parish building projects: WE NEED YOUR HELP! 

MOST IMPORTANTLY: we need your prayers! Not so much that we “get what we want”, but that we get what we need for our salvation. Please pray often, especially in times of doubt, that the Lord will send our parish family what is best for our salvation. If this is our common approach we are confident that indeed the Lord will bless us as HE sees fit, and we know that He cares more for our salvation even that we do.

Those who can volunteer time and talent are asked to reach out to our new Starosta, Brendan Hayden, at starosta@stvladimiraami.org.

Those who can volunteer treasure are asked to reach out to our Treasurer, Mikhail Fisenkov, at treasurer@stvladimiraami.org.

DONATIONS TO THE NEW BUILDING FUND MAY BE MADE HERE/MORE INFORMATION

Those who have have questions are asked to reach out to me at ogrisha@stvladimiraami.org.

This is our biggest project ever! I am confident that, following our past practice of radically relying on the Lord to bless our endeavors, He will in fact bless us here also: whether that blessing is to build a new church and hall, or to humbly accept that this is not His will. We pray many times per day “Thy will be done…” - let us have this as our approach to our new building project! In this way we can have great hope that we will be laboring to do God’s will. And as your priest, I could never hope for anything more than that, since zealously doing God’s will clearly places on the path to His Kingdom, which I wish for all of you. May this project be not for our glory, but for the Glory of God!

Asking Your Prayers,

Fr. Gregory

РЕЗОЛЮЦИЯ ЦЕРКОВНОГО СОВЕТА ОТНОСИТЕЛЬНО СБОРА СРЕДСТВ ДЛЯ СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВА НОВОЙ ЦЕРКВИ

Во время собрания церковного совета в воскресенье, 23-го марта 2025 г., обсуждался вопрос о различных путях подхода к строительству нашей новой церкви. Как всем вам известно, мы прилагаем усилия для сбора средств для нового проекта. Это происходит как внутри прихода, так и широко за его пределами. До сих пор, успех был незначительным. Но мы благодарны и этому. Просим ваших молитв и возможности подумать как вы можете помочь в поддержке проекта вашим временем, сбережениями и талантами.

Наш предыдущий метод был таким - собрать необходимые средства для начала воплощения какого-либо проекта и затем просто начать, прося Божиего благословения и уповая на Него в том, что Он пошлет нам средства для завершения проекта, если это Ему угодно. Слава Богу, к настоящему моменту, мы завершили все инженерные работы, парковки, кладбище и школу, основываясь на этом подходе, также как и (немного вглубь нашей истории) пристройку к кухни и расширение алтаря. Господь щедро благословил нас как церковную семью и за это мы должны быть очень благодарны!

Однако, строительство новой церкви и общественного здания, это уже другой уровень сложности и затрат. Мы никогда ничего не делали такого, что стоило бы нам миллионы долларов. И потому, основываясь на совете со стороны прихожан, на собрании церковного совета мы рассматривали вопрос: должны ли мы подойти по другому к этому проекту. Возможно было бы лучше собрать все надлежащие средства и ЗАТЕМ начать строительство вместо того, чтобы просто начать с надеждой на Господа, что Он благословит нас как Он и делал до этого.

После длительного обсуждения и прений, церковный совет принял решение, которое предлагается ниже. В конце концов, мы решили больше уповать на Господа. Со всех земных точек зрения, это, несомненно, пугающий путь. Но мы просто не могли игнорировать результаты всех наших предыдущих достижений, которые были не результатом нашей мудрости и стараний, но простого упования на Бога и надежды, что наши труды будут Им благословленны - как они всегда и были. Прошлый успех - это не гарантия успеха будущего, однако, мы бы хотели побудить нашу приходскую семью сделать то, что мы всегда делали - совершенно уповать на Господа и трудиться изо всех сил, взаимодействуя с Ним во славу Божию. 

РЕЗОЛЮЦИЯ: «Церковный совет предпочел бы собрать 4 миллиона долларов (цена строительства на настоящее время), нанять строительную компанию и сразу же построить церковь, но мы понимает что это может быть невозможно. Поэтому, мы приняли решение, что если до 29-го мая 2025г., праздника Вознесения, у нас не будет необходимых средств, мы начнем строительство пошагово и параллельно с этим, будем собирать средства для дальнейшего продолжения работ, как мы и делали в прошлом. Мы думаем, что лучше начать строительство в этом году, чем ждать пока у нас будут все необходимые средства».

Для ясности - если Господь благословит нас собрать средства, мы, конечно, видя, что это Его благословение, сразу же наймем местную строительную компанию и сделаем всю работу таким образом. Но если этот путь не будет Его благословением, то мы засучим рукава и будем работать. Как и во всех прошлых проектах: НАМ НУЖНА ВАША ПОМОЩЬ!

САМОЕ ВАЖНОЕ: нам нужны ваши молитвы! Не то что « нам надо то, что мы хотим», но то, что у нас будет то, что необходимо для нашего спасения. Пожалуйста, молитесь часто, особенно во время сомнений о том, что Господь пошлет нашей приходской семье самое лучшее для нашего спасения. Если это будет нашим общим подходом, мы уверенны, что, несомненно, Господь благословит нас, как Ему угодно, и мы знаем, что Он заботиться о нашем спасении больше, чем мы сами. 

Тех, кто может пожертвовать временем и талантами, мы просим обращаться к нашему старосте, Брендану Хейдену (Brendan Hayden) по электронной почте starosta@stvladimiraami.org

Тех, кто может пожертвовать сбережениями, мы просим обращаться к нашему казначею, Михаилу Фисенкову по электронной почте treasurer@stvladimiraami.org

ПОЖЕРТВОВАНИЯ НА СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВО НОВОГО ЗДАНИЯ МОГУТ БЫТЬ ОКАЗАНЫ ЗДЕСЬ, ЗДЕСЬ ЖЕ МОЖНО НАЙТИ И ДОПОЛНИТЕЛЬНУЮ ИНФОРМАЦИЮ

Тех, у кого есть вопросы, мы просим обращаться ко мне по электронной почте ogrisha@stvladimiraami.org

Никогда еще у нас не было такого большого проекта! Я уверен, что следуя нашему предыдущему опыту полностью уповать на благословение Господа нашим начинаниям, Он, действительно, благословит нас также и здесь: либо благословением на строительство новой церкви и общественного здания, либо, если на то нет Его воли, тем, что мы смиренно примем это. Много раз в день мы молимся «Да будет воля Твоя…» - давайте это будет нашим подходом к новому строительному проекту! Таким образом, у нас будет большая надежда, что мы будем трудиться по воли Божией. И как ваш священник, я не могу иметь большей надежды, чем эта, т.к. ревностное выполнение  воли Божией, несомненно, поставит нас на путь, ведущий в Его Царство, чего я желаю всем вам. Пусть этот проект будет ни для нашей славы, но для славы Божией!

С просьбой о ваших молитвах,

о. Григорий.