Orthodox Christianity and American Culture?

Here's a brief intro to my new blog!

On the surface, it can feel like Orthodox Christianity doesn’t quite fit with American culture…

And that’s for at least two reasons:

1. While Orthodoxy is “ancient,” we live in a modern world; and

2. While Orthodoxy has deep roots in the “old country,” it’s foreign to American culture.

Yet there’s also a third point, which isn’t limited to the presence of Orthodox Christians in the United States.

It’s the fear that:

3. American culture is hostile to Christianity in general.

Do you agree? What do you think about these three points?

As for me, I’ll be honest:

I’m writing this blog because I believe each of these points is wrong.

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Now, that might raise a bunch questions. First of all:

1. Who am I?

My name is Steve (as you can tell from this blog’s title) and I founded and led Y2AM for the past nine years.

And Y2AM was the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, though our work supported Orthodox Christians across all American jurisdictions and even around the world!

So you may be familiar with some of that work, such as “Be the Bee,” “Pop Culture Coffee Hour,” or “Effective Christian Ministry.”

But I left that position at the end of August 2022. I’m currently the Director of Operations & Community Engagement for FOCUS North America.

And I’ll be teaching my first ever class at Hellenic College Holy Cross this upcoming spring semester, “Pop Culture and Orthodox Evangelism.”

And if you’re familiar with any of this work, you may know the answer to this next question:

2. What’s with the blog’s name?

I started every video with “hey everybody this is Steve.” So the blog’s name is a fun callback to some old projects as I start something new.

And speaking of that new project:

3. Why am I starting this blog?

Selfishly, I find writing helps me organize my thoughts.

But that doesn’t help you, does it?

More than that, we’re at a very interesting point in the Church’s history.

Because Orthodox Christianity is incredibly easy to discover thanks to a ton of modern platforms (video, social media, etc).

And, on the one hand, that’s great!

Yet the very tools that are making the Church accessible are also changing the Church in subtle (and not so subtle) ways.

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

In the past, the Gospel spread thanks to the witness of saints.

Today, it spreads as part of internet culture and the endless churn of digital content that monetizes our attention and sucks us into endless, superficial engagement.

But is this toxic system actually spreading the Gospel?

Or something else?

Well, that’s what I hope we can explore together here!

Speaking of that:

4. How often will I post new articles?

If you watched the last few episodes of “Be the Bee,” you know I’m pretty suspicious of the internet.

I have no desire to build some online pseudo-community. So I won’t be churning out content or trying to capture your attention.

Instead, I plan on posting one short piece every week (on Fridays) that can give you something interesting to think about over the weekend.

All that said:

5. What now?

Well, if this adventure sounds interesting, feel free to subscribe below.

If not, that’s ok!

Whatever you decide, I hope God grants you a fruitful and joyous 2023!

See you when I publish the next article…

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