On Saturday, December 4/December 17, His Eminence, Metropolitan Demetrius, celebrated a peaceful Divine Liturgy in the chapel dedicated to Saint John of Damascus in honor of the patron of our Educational Initiative. This was part of a visit to the Initiative offices and the residence of Fr. John Somers, the Headmaster of the Orthodox Educational Initiative.
During his visit, His Eminence spent time discussing Initiative updates with Fr. John as well as praying for Saint John’s intercessions to guide the students, faculty, and parents of the OEI. The visit was a wonderful blessing for the Initiative!
Operating with the blessing of the Eparchial Synod, the Initiative maintains many different offerings for elementary, middle, and high school students as well as adult discussion groups, podcasts, and a YouTube channel that produces Orthodox educational content.
Please peruse our website https://orthodoxlearninggoc.com for current offerings as well as give us a call at 215-987-2655 or send us an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We are always accepting donations for our scholarship fund which allows deserving children who would not otherwise be able to participate in our classes, the ability to attend!
May God bless all the teachers, students, parents, and benefactors of the Orthodox Educational Initiative and may Saint John of Damascus intercede on our behalf!
“Trust ye not in princes, in the sons of men, in whom there is no salvation.”
(Psalm 145:3)
We mustn’t have absolute trust in human beings for our salvation, no matter what dignity they have. Human beings are changeable. Today they are saints, tomorrow—deniers. Today—sinners, tomorrow—righteous. We must have absolute trust in God, and in Him we must base our hopes of salvation. “Blessed is he of whom the God of Jacob is his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God” (Psalm 145:5). Read more...
Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church is a beautiful mission parish near downtown Tucson, a city in southern Arizona. It was started in 1997 by Father John Bockman, who was a missionary Priest formerly serving missions in Tennessee and Massachusetts since 1990. Father John served the faithful in Tucson and the surrounding area in his home Chapel until his repose in November of 2000. His wife, Presbytera Valerie, continued to make her home Chapel available for the mission, with clergy from Saint Nectarios Orthodox Church in Seattle and His Eminence, Metropolitan Moses of Toronto (then of Portland), visiting to provide the Divine Services.
Read more...2023 Youth Conference
Please join us for the 2023 youth conference in Chicago, IL! To learn more, visit the home page or visit the conference website.
Q. There seems to be a lot of variation in how people observe fasting, but my confessor told me to fast from oil on Wednesday and Friday. Oil is a pretty vague category, though, and I was wondering if I could get a more explicit description of what kinds of food and drink are excluded on strict fast days. Read more...