Orthodox Mission - Using Educational Opportunities

I have a great love of languages, and my desire to learn has always been limited by the opportunities open to me. But of course there are many thousands and millions of other people who have the same love of language. And not only of language but of many other skills, crafts, arts and abilities.

We love to learn things. It is part of being human, and therefore this very human aspiration can be used in the service of mission and of the Orthodox Gospel.

I am presently developing plans to organise a Coptic Language Summer School in London towards the end of August. To some extent this is because I want to have the opportunity to study the Coptic language in a formal setting, but it is also a mission possibility which I wish to make the most of.

I hope that there will be Coptic Orthodox Christians who would like to study Coptic for a week, but I am also hopeful that this will be an opportunity for others who are not Orthodox, to spend some time in the company of Coptic Orthodox Christians, studying in a situation which makes exposure to some aspects of our Orthodox Life a natural and interesting situation.

I wonder what other educational opportunities are open to other Orthodox in other situations? Perhaps it would be possible to organise an Iconography Summer School, or a series of classes describing the Orthodox heritage with representation from the various Orthodox churches. Our faith IS interesting, and contains many different aspects which non-Orthodox and even non-Christians find interesting and intriguing. Such educational opportunities are usually only the beginning of evangelism, but the friendship and trust which is experienced in such situations has great benefit for ongoing evangelism.

Missionary Activities - Starting a Mission

Mission involves not only sharing the Orthodox Christian Faith where we are, but also going to other places to share the Faith. Most people find it difficult to make the commitment to travel great distances to explore and experience Orthodoxy, especially at the beginning of the journey, and so it often falls to those engaged in missionary work to undertake to travel to where those who might want to learn about Orthodoxy can be found.

It is not unknown, for instance, for all of the Orthodox Christians in a State to be found in the main city, while many of those who would like to discover Orthodoxy live in the smaller centres, perhaps hundreds of miles from the city. Mission is not only about going overseas, there is also a great need to consider travelling within our own States and Countries to allow as many people as possible to experience our Faith for themselves.

Here in the UK there are places where it is not easy for British people to experience the wonder and glory of the Orthodox Liturgy in their own English language, nor is it easy for them to find a community of English speaking people who can share the substance of the Orthodox Faith with them.

As part of the ongoing mission of the British Orthodox Church within the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate a new mission is being planned here in the UK. I will share more information as the plans are firmed up. But it is enough to say that it has as its aim the objective of reaching those many British people who are interested in Orthodoxy but need someone to come close to them so that they have the opportunity to understand it for themselves.

Do pray for these plans. At the moment we are considering a location, and are in communication with various organisations to see where exactly it would be God's will for us to begin this work.