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Missions Staff
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Fr. Stefen AnthonyUrban and Foreign Missionary Priest Theology and Catechism Teacher Human Trafficking Lecturer Apologetics Church Historian Orthodox Dogmatic Theology Instructor Fr. Stefen Anthony is the Priest in charge of the Mission. Fr. Stefen has been an Orthodox Christian all his life. He was ordained, on March 20th, 2000. He studied his Orthodox Theology at St. Athanasius Orthodox Academy which is a seminary run by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, as well as at Trinity Western University, where he received a Bachelor of Divinity Degree then a Masters of Divinity. Fr. Stefen has been on missionary trips to Serbia and Jerusalem after he was ordained and to Northern Ireland before he was ordained. Fr. Stefen has a heart for the lost and for those who receive injustice's. He is committed to Orthodox Missions, and wants to follow in St. Pauls footsteps to do so. He believes that urban mission's in North America are strongly needed, because he says.. "if you can't missionize your home countries, how can you do so with others." Fr. Stefen is passionate about his Orthodox faith as he says.."it is not just a faith, it is a way of LIFE, you live it day after day." Missionary work has been Fr. Stefen's joy and was put on his heart by the God the Father 10 years ago and he just wants to fulfill what the Father is asking of him. Fr. Stefen is a kind, big hearted man, who does care about everything and anything that has to do with people and what they go through, he has a warm and tender spirit and is full of Unconditional love, that can only come from God the Father. Fr. Stefen's heart is has been touched by the human trafficking problem in the world and is going to be concentrating his missionary trips to help prevent the human trafficking of Ukrainian and Russian Women. His heart was touched by this after reading Victor Malarek's book "The Natasha's", he is hoping to work with NGO organizations and the Orthodox Church fully in this. |
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BARTHOLOMEWARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, NEW ROME AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH There is a great hunger for spirituality; there is a thirst for transcendent meaning...and there has never been a greater need for spiritual leaders to engage themselves in the affairs of the world." His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew is the 270th successor to the Apostle Andrew and spiritual leader of 300 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. Since ascending the Ecumenical Throne on November 2nd, 1991, he has tirelessly pursued the vision of his enthronement message — spiritual revival, Orthodox unity, Christian reconciliation, interfaith tolerance and coexistence, protection of the environment and a world united in peace, justice, solidarity and love. As Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew has helped the Church to expand on many fronts. Through dialogue and visitations, he has greatly advanced Orthodox relations with the Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists and others. His All Holiness has taken a highly active role in post communist Eastern Europe by strengthening contacts and relations with various Orthodox national churches and through direct visits to several Orthodox nations, including Russia. Known in Europe as the "Green Patriarch," Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has taken the lead among all religious leaders in his concern for the environment. His All Holiness has initiated seminars and dialogues to discuss the need for the mobilization of moral and spiritual forces to achieve harmony between humanity and nature. As the leader of the Orthodox Christian Church, His All Holiness represents the voice and concerns of a long-suffering, but fast growing faith. Orthodox Churches are gaining adherents across the globe, but particularly in the developed world, where individuals are turning to Orthodoxy in record numbers because they are finding in it the simple peace, love, and salvation they have been seeking. Orthodox Christianity is also resurgent in newly freed countries where some of the worst religious persecution in history occurred in recent times. In the first decades of this century, whole Orthodox populations were extinguished from native lands they had known for centuries. Soon after his enthronement in 1991, the Ecumenical Patriarch journeyed throughout the Orthodox world bringing a message of restoration and renewed hope. He is a living witness to the world of Orthodoxy's painful and redemptive struggle for religious freedom and the innate dignity of mankind. As a citizen of Turkey, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew's personal experience provides him a unique perspective on the continuing dialogue between the Christian and Islamic worlds. He has made a valuable contribution to global conflict resolution and peace building, as in the case of the former Yugoslavia. The Ecumenical Patriarch has worked persistently to advance reconciliation among Catholic, Muslim, Jewish and Orthodox communities in the region and around the world. His All Holiness is profoundly committed to expressing the religious importance of protecting and preserving the environment. He has received Prince Philip, and with him sponsored a conference on the Environment at the Theological School of Halki. He has established the first day of September as an occasion of an annual Message on the protection of creation, as well as establishing that same day as a day of prayer in the Ecumenical Patriarchate and throughout the Orthodox world. |
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His Beatitude Eireneos Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine |
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His Beatitude Ignatius IV Patriarch of Antioch and All the East - Antiochian Orthodox Church The present Patriarch of Antioch, (from 2 July 1979), His Beatitude, IGNATIOS lV (Hazim), was born in 1921 in the village of Mhardey near Hama in Syria. He is the son of a pious Arab Orthodox family and from an early age was attracted to service within the Church. Whilst studying in Beirut, Lebanon, for a literature degree, he entered the service of the local Orthodox diocese, first by becoming an altar server, then a deacon. In 1945 he went to Paris where he graduated from the St. Sergius Theological Institute. From his time in France onwards he has been moved not only by a desire to pass on the deposit of the Faith, but also to take Orthodoxy out of its unhistorical ghetto by discovering in its Holy Tradition living answers to the problems of modern life. On his return to the Middle East, he founded the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Balamand, Lebanon which he then served for many years as Dean. As Dean he sought to provide the Patriarchate with responsible leaders who had received a good spiritual and intellectual training and who were witnesses to an awakened and deeply personal faith. Whilst his native language is, of course, Arabic, he also speaks fluent English and French. He was one of the founders of the very active Orthodox Youth Movement of Lebanon and Syria in 1942, through which he helped to organise and lead a renewal of Church life in the Patriarchate of Antioch. The movement worked at the heart of the Church helping ordinary believers to rediscover the personal and communal meaning of the Eucharist through a practice of frequent Communion which had become extremely rare. Following on from this in 1953 he helped to found SYNDESMOS, the world fellowship of Orthodox Youth and Theological Schools. |
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His Holiness Aleksii II Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' - Russian Orthodox Church |
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His Beatitude Vladimir Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine - Ukrainian Orthodox Church |
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His Beatitude Christodoulos Archbishop of Athens and All Greece - Greek Orthodox Church |
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His Eminence Philip Metropolitan of New York and North America - Antiochian Orthodox Church. |
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His Grace Antoun Bishop of Seleucia, Auxiliary Bishop of North America - Antiochian Orthodox Church |
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His Eminence Demetrios Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, Exarch of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans |
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His Beatitude WASYLYArchbishop of Winnipeg and Central Diocese Metropolitan of All Canada - Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada |
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His Eminence Archbishop JohnArchbishop of Edmonton and the Western Diocese - Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada |
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His Eminence Sotirios Metropolitan of Toronto and All Canada -Greek Orthodox Church |
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His Eminence Stylianos Archbishop of Australia - Greek Orthodox Church |
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Very. Reverend Father Peter GillquistFr.Peter Gillquist is the Director of Missions with the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America... A former Protestant and Campus Crusade for Christ worker, Fr. Gillquist and others in 1979 founded the Evangelical Orthodox Church and was accepted into the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese in 1987 along with 2000 others. A tremendous man for Missions and a great speaker and writer.. Fr. Gillquist is Fr. Stefen's inspiration and mentor. |
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