Journey Stories

I was born in Vancouver, Washington into a German/Irish family in 1943. When I was three-years-old, my father was inducted into the US Army. During his absence my mother began attending a small evangelical Quaker church. She faithfully took my older brother and me. Upon our father’s return this habit of regular church attendance was well-rooted and we continued to go as a family. My parents became pillars in the church and we attended nearly every service. Our lives were filled with church ... [Read more]

Here’s the scene: May 24, 1977 in Jamestown, New York at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. A priest prepares the church for a baptism. In just a few hours, another newly-illumined soul would join the ranks of the Orthodox by the denouncing of the devil, putting on of Christ, taking up the cross and receiving Holy Communion. She would be a small, four and half month old baby, bathed in oil and holy water and clothed in white garments. Her given name, as well as her baptismal name, is Sarah. So ... [Read more]

My wife, Jessie, and I became Orthodox Church on November 1, 2009. As we are about to celebrate the third anniversary of this wonderful event, it is a perfect time to reflect back on the journey that brought us here. This is not something either of us would have expected even up to a year before we first set foot in an Orthodox Church, but looking back it’s clear that God was guiding us home. When Jessie and I met in college, we hit it off right away because of our love of learning and our ... [Read more]

From as far back as I can remember, I always had a feeling of nostalgia for something of which I could never clearly describe but which seemed to faintly call to me. Growing up in suburban Chicago, I didn’t have the blessing of enjoying such wonders of God’s creation as enjoyed in the Northwest, but my house was close to some undeveloped railroad land and my father and I would often walk around in it, picking up trash. I came to love that piece of wetland and prairie and as I grew older and I ... [Read more]

I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, until first grade when we moved to Connecticut. My father was Italian and my mother was American and they had a beautiful marriage. I was raised Roman Catholic and attended parochial school in my elementary years. After high school I did a few years at the University of Connecticut. Then my father died, and in 1972 my mom and I returned to St. Louis where I started Chiropractic College. Six months later, I was so homesick for my friends in ... [Read more]

In the beginning, a very well known phrase, I was born into a totally Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I did all the things a normal kid would do, and a lot I shouldn’t have. We really didn’t go to the Synagogue a lot. Back then you had to be a member and pay dues, and for the High Holy Days, you had to buy tickets at an additional cost to the membership dues. I questioned this and all my father would say is that I was too young to understand. As was the custom, I had my ... [Read more]

My journey to Orthodoxy began as a very small child, at the unknowing conditioning of my mother. You see, my parents raised me in the Episcopal Church because, 1) my Presbyterian-raised father wanted “Catholic values without the guilt” and 2) my Roman Catholic-raised mother wanted to marry a man who was going to be an Episcopal priest. Dad never did become a priest. In fact, he wasn’t really involved in my religious or spiritual upbringing. My mom was the head of the household when it came to ... [Read more]

My journey to Orthodoxy began before I was born. It began before my parents were married; before they had even met. My journey to Orthodoxy began with a man in Anchorage, Alaska named Harold Dunaway. In 1971, Mr. Dunaway was able to buy a large piece of property, a former Catholic Monastery in the growing town of Eagle River, Alaska. Mr. Dunaway was only able to purchase the property because of a very generous and unexpected donation. He fondly remembers that this was “how we found our home.” ... [Read more]

It all began late one evening in the spring of 1967. I was sitting alone in our family room watching the movie King of Kings on our first-ever color TV. It was a movie about the life of Jesus, and it held me in rapt attention. At the end of the movie, I started to cry. After I turned off the TV, wave after wave of tears of repentance flooded over me. That night Jesus started me on my journey. The next weeks were the best of my life up to that point. I knew I had a new purpose: to serve my Savior ... [Read more]

I feel blessed to have been born Greek. What a wonderful culture we have with the strong family traditions, the delicious foods, the great stories of how our pappous and yiayias came to this country and made a home for themselves and their family. The celebrations we have for name days, baptisms and weddings truly point to an appreciation for life. What wonderful parties I experienced growing up in a Greek family. The Church was the gathering place for Greeks that were spread throughout ... [Read more]