Missionary History - St Ninian

In the 4th or 5th century in Britain, while the British Isles were still Orthodox, there was a kingdom in the north which straddled the Solway Firth, which now marks the border between England and Scotland. The ruler of this British kingdom had a son, who was baptised as an infant, because the people were nominally Christian, having become so during the period of Roman rule. He grew up a godly youth, but was dissatisfied with the state of the Christian community in his times and in the place where he lived. He left his father's court and travelled to Rome where he was welcomed, and placed in the care of those who could teach him the fulness of the Christian faith.

After some years, having proved himself to be devoted to the Christian life, he was consecrated to the episcopate by the Pope of Rome and was sent back to his own homeland as an apostle to his own people. He travelled north through Gaul and was blessed to spend some time with St Martin of Tours, one of those saints who introduced the practice of monasticism to the West. St Ninian asked that he might be allowed to take some stone masons with him which St Martin readily assented to.

It is written in the life of St Ninian that,

Upon his return to his own land a great multitude of the people went out to meet him; there was great joy among all, and wonderful devotion, and the praise of Christ sounded out on all sides, for they held him for a prophet. Straightway that active husbandman of the Lord proceeded to root up what had been ill planted, to scatter what had been ill gathered, to cast down what had been ill built. Having purged the minds of the faithful from all their errors, he began to lay in them the foundations of faith unfeigned; building thereon the gold of wisdom, the silver of knowledge, and the stones of good works: and all the things to be done by the faithful he both taught by word and illustrated by example, confirming it by many and great signs following.

He settled at a place called Whithorn, where there are still the remains of a monastic foundation, and the masons who had travelled with him built a stone Church which was called the White Church and was famous because until that time Churches had been built of timber. He was not content to establish a monastic community in his homeland, nor only to restore the fulness of the Christian faith, but he also travelled beyond his father's kingdom and preached among the Southern Picts, a people who had never known Christ. His success is measured by the number of church dedications bearing his name, both in the West where his Church of Whitchurch was found, and in the East, especially in the Kingdom of Fife.

The life of St Ninian can be read in its entirety here - Life of St Ninian by Aelred - but there are several lessons we can immediately learn as Orthodox concerned with mission.

i. It seems to me that a missionary is someone who is dissatisfied with the way things are, and especially with the spiritual state of his own people, or those people who have been placed on his heart as a burden.St Ninian was not content to see his own people living with less than the fulness of the Christian life which God desired for them.

ii. The missionary begins by seeking to perfect his own spiritual life before setting out to engage in a particular ministry. He is aware of those defects in his own spirituality, his lack of holiness, his lack of devotion, his lack of understanding, and he is determined to address these, even if it means leaving behind the comfort of his home and family. St Ninian travelled to Rome, a city almost an unimagineable distance away from his home and he stayed there for many years until he was himself prepared for his ministry.

iii. The missionary has a strong sense of being called to a particular people, whether the people of whom he is a part, or some other people that do not know Christ. In the first place this is an interior call, but it is confirmed by the authority of the Church. St Ninian travelled to Rome because he wished that his own people come to a fulness of faith, but he returned with the commission of the Church.

iv. The missionary builds a local community, a base from which his missionary activities can be conducted. St Ninian did not work alone, although he was sent alone. He travelled with companions, and taught with other members of his missionary band, and he belonged to a community.

v. Even while concerned with a particular people, the missionary is always looking for opportunities to extend the kingdom of God even further. St Ninian was not content to remain in the security of his own people once they had received for themselves the fulness of faith, but he went beyond his father's kingdom to the Picts, a fierce people who had never known Christ, and saw success in his preaching among them.

A short blog post is not the place to elaborate on the life of this wonderful early missionary to the British Isles, and his Life is well worth studying. But we can learn many lessons, even from the briefest overview.

Missionary Activities - Becoming Orthodox book

Another resource I would urgently like us to be able to produce is a collection of contemporary accounts of the conversion of Orthodox Christians from various other backgrounds. One important aspect of the conversion process is being able to find the stories of others who have taken the same path and emerged at the other end safely, and indeed to find a more satisfying Christian experience.

If those reading this blog are converts, or know of converts, who would be willing to write a 3,000 word account of the journey, then these accounts would be very useful in producing a missionary resource that could be usefully and helpfully enjoyed by those considering Orthodoxy from a wide variety of situations, even from non-Christian religions and from atheism.

Please send an email to fatherpeter@britishorthodox.org if you are able to help with this project.

Missionary Activities - Enquirers Instruction Course II

It seemed a good idea to create a website where the Enquirers Instruction Course could be published as it develops, with additional resources as well. Indeed the aim will be to have a website that introduces enquirers to all aspects of our Orthodox Faith and Life. I find it difficult to think of the best domain names, but I have registered Discovering Orthodoxy and as soon as possible I will design and develop a content managed system to allow me to present the content of the first module of the course. I have already created an installation of the CMS system I prefer to use. 

Mission as it happens

We want to reach as many people as possible in our local area, but often it seems difficult to find the best means to suit our limited resources. It would be prohibitively expensive to use a bill board in the middle of town, and distributing leaflets only reaches those who are passing by while we are there. I noticed that there are quite a few empty shops in the main street, recent closures due to the downturn in the economy. It seemed to me that it would be worthwhile contacting some of the agents trying to lease the properties and try to negotiate some free or very cheap advertising in one of the windows.

What we are planning is to design two or three full colour roller banners, 2m x 0.85m. We have seen a great deal for buying 2 banners at once - just £75 ex vat. They come with full colour printing across the whole surface and a stand for each banner. I shall be trying to find the time to create two designs, and will post them here for the comments of interested supporters. Once I have the designs I will start approaching the property agents to see what can be negotiated.

The advantage of this approach, we hope, is that many more people will see information about our Orthodox Church and our Orthodox Faith. Indeed they will constantly be reminded as they walk up and down the main shopping street. If this small project is successful then we will consider rolling it out to other shopping centres in our immediate area.

As ever, your prayers and support are essential.

UPDATE: I am considering one banner describing our local Orthodox Church - who we are, where we are, when we meet, contact details etc. And the other banner describing some aspects of our Orthodox Faith - what is Orthodoxy?

Missionary Activities - Enquirers Instruction Course

So many of the people who contact us, enquiring about the Orthodox Faith, live far from one of our British Orthodox Churches, and even far from Coptic, Syrian, Armenian, Indian or other Oriental Orthodox communities. It has been a constant challenge to find materials that have been suitable to send out. There are high quality materials produced by Eastern Orthodox groups but these are never entirely consistent with our Oriental Orthodox Faith and Tradition. We hesitate to send out booklets, however well written otherwise, which refer to our Orthodox Churches as 'monophysite heretics'.

We believe that the time is now right for us to seek the support and material resources from friends and supporters to produce a high quality, comprehensive Instruction Course for British enquirers, which is entirely consistent with our Orthodox Faith in every regard, and which concentrates on our Oriental Orthodox Faith, History and Tradition. This is a major project, and we hope to include speakers and participants from a wide range of our Oriental Orthodox community. We are blessed in the UK, for instance, with Church leaders who are important scholars in their field of study.

This course will be made up of a variety of media including printed texts, audio lectures, and video presentations, and will be designed for both individual and group use. It will be produced as a pan-Orthodox resource, and so will draw on spiritual materials from all of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and will describe, relatively briefly of course, the variety of Churches in the Oriental Orthodox communion.

Here is an outline of the course as we are beginning to plan it. This is only a provisional outline and will undoubtedly change in content and in the order of presentation.

1. Introduction to Orthodoxy
2. The Bible and Tradition
3. The Holy Trinity
4. The nature of Man
5. The Fall
6. God's plan of Salvation
7. The Incarnation
8. The Holy Spirit
9. The Church
10. The Christian Life
11. Baptism and Chrismation
12. The Eucharist
13. Orthodox Spirituality I
14. Orthodox Spirituality II
15. Liturgy
16. Church History
17. Orthodoxy Today

We are proposing that each section of the course would be provided with a written introduction of about 5,000 words, produced initially as a booklet, but perhaps collected into a single professionally produced book when all of the sections have been completed. Each section would also have one or more audio resources in the form of a spoken presentation on some aspect of the subject in question, as well as additional audio resources where appropriate, so perhaps excerpts from a variety of Oriental Orthodox liturgies in the secion on Liturgy. Short 15 minute video presentations will also be produced to act as a summary of the course.

The first section of the course, An Introduction to Orthodoxy, will be completed as an initial project to help us to determine the content and format of the course as a whole. This will include written material, an audio presentation, a 15 minute video presentation, and an audio CD of selected chant from the various Oriental Orthodox communities. The continuing status of this introductory unit will be posted on this blog as developments take place.

We need your support to be able to sustain this major project. Please consider praying for our efforts, but also consider making a donation, however small. Please also mention this project to your priests and bishop, asking their prayerful consideration of supporting this venture.

Mission as it happens

This coming Sunday is the Sunday before Great Lent and we have chosen to make it a Family and Friends Liturgy. What do we mean by this? Well it is a liturgy to which we invite all of our family and friends, and all of the enquirers and even the more distant contacts we have made so that as many people as possible will come together on one occasion and enjoy our Orthodox worship, and the fellowship in an Orthodox environment.

Many people have been invited, and we pray that the Lord would move their hearts by the Holy Spirit so that they will feel inspired to attend. My job today is to send out some personal invitations by email and post to some of those that our congregation have identified as perhaps needing that little extra nudge. It is important to do all that we can, but we will not be discouraged if only a few extra faces appear on Sunday. We have learned that the harvest is the Lord's, and we are workers WITH Him.

But do pray with us that many people will re-appear after being absent or will worship with us for the first time. Much of our missionary work is as ordinary as an invitation to a friend. But the joy when a soul visits us and decides that they want to learn more about our Faith, and even more when they are baptised and chrismated, is far from ordinary.

Missionary Activities - Kent County Show

Every year there is a major agricultural show held at the county showground over three days. It still has an agricultural feel to it, but now it is just a great day out for the family. In fact at the last show in July 2010 there were over 85,000 local people who attended. There are over 900 stands, and this year we will be supporting a stand on behalf of Orthodox Mission.

This will be one of the best opportunities to meet a large number of interested people, and to generate some interest among others who may not even know that there IS an Orthodox Church.

We are planning to have a display of large mounted icons on the stand, and produce an Introduction to Orthodoxy booklet which can be distributed to those who show an interest in our Faith. We are also planning to have icon postcards to distribute, with a message about Orthodoxy on the reverse, and an invitation to our local Orthodox community. We will be organising a series of Introduction to Orthodoxy study evenings to be held immediately after the County Show.

We believe that this will be an important opportunity to reach out to a large proportion of the people who live around us. It will help us to raise the profile of the Orthodox Church and will enable us to meet face-to-face many of those who already have an interest in the rich spiritual treasures of the Orthodox Church. But we need your prayers and financial support to be able to successfully plan and conduct this missionary activity. Please pray for this activity, and the other activities we are planning and engaged in, and consider how you and your own congregation can financially support our missionary ministries. The harvest of souls for Christ in Britain depends on your support.

Do British people want to become Orthodox?

There may be many Orthodox Christians who do not think that Orthodoxy is attractive to British people. Certainly when it is lived out with faithfulness it requires a greater degree of commitment than many British Christians would be used to. But there are millions of British people are already willing to commit to a great many social and cultural activities which take up much of their time and energy. It may well be that much of Western Christianity is not very attractive or demanding to modern British people, but this does not mean that when the have discovered Orthodoxy they will not be willing to count the cost and embrace it with wholeheartedness.

Over the last three or four years we have been praying and working to encourage interested British Christians to explore the Orthodox Faith for themselves. We have been limited by our resources, and so we continue to ask Orthodox Christians around the world to consider how they can pray and financially support our ministries. There is much more that could be done if we had more prayer and more material support.

I spent a little time today looking at the records of these contacts we have made over the last few years. We have not been able to follow them all up as we would wish at present. But we believe that with more support from other Orthodox Christians we could see a greater harvest of British souls for Christ in His Orthodox Church. Would you be surprised to learn that 200 British people have ordered copies of Glory To God - our edition of the Agpeya prayers? Would you be surprised to learn that 230 British people have ordered copies of Our Daily Bread, the collection of prayers, readings and spiritual articles we have produced? Would you be surprised to learn that over 500 British people have requested membership of the British Orthodox Fellowship, an organisation we created to encourage British people to learn more about our Orthodox Faith?

There is a growing interest in the Orthodox Faith among British people. The fields are whitening ready for harvest. But we need you to help fund our missionary labours, and pray earnestly for us. Without your support much of the harvest will remain uncollected.

Do we need Orthodox missionaries?

There are plenty of Orthodox Christians who are not at all sure that we need missionaries or should be concerned about mission. When I was engaged in my own personal journey towards the Orthodox Faith from am evangelical background I met several Orthodox Christians who could not even imagine how a British person could become Orthodox. As far as their understanding allowed it was necessary to be born into an Orthodox culture to be an Orthodox Christian. Orthodoxy just wasn't the faith for British people.

But if this had been the view of the Apostles then the Christian Faith would have been reserved for the Jews, and none of the Gentile believers would have been able to unite themselves to the Church. The Feast of Pentecost reminds us that the Holy Spirit moved the Apostles to speak the glories of God in all the various languages of the world. And of course the Great Commission commands the followers of Christ to..

Go into all the world and make disciples, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all the things I have commanded you. Matthew 28-19-20

 In the 21st century a great opportunity has been opened up for the Orthodox Churches. Not only are Orthodox immigrants able to emigrate to the Europe and America, but they are able to reach out to those Western people around them and share the Gospel of the Orthodox Faith without fear or hindrance. The vast majority of British people still consider themselves Christian in some sense. According to a recent poll, and even with the evident decline in British society, over 70% of people still want to identify with Christianity rather than with any other religion or with atheism.

The Orthodox Churches have been given an implicit permission to reach out to the British people. They want  to know more about the Christian Faith. If they are not properly Christian it is because they have not been properly taught. not because they are necessarily antagonistic to the Faith. At the present time we need MORE Orthodox missionaries rather than questioning whether we need any at all. A nation is frustrated and un-moved by many of the non-Orthodox versions of Christianity. They do not satisfy the deep and abiding need of British people in the 21st century to truly experience God for themselves.


Do pray for THIS missionary. The fields are white, but where are the labourers in this vineyard? They are few and far between. Pray then, that God will send more Orthodox missionaries, and consider how you can support Orthodox missionary activity in Britain yourself.