After 15 years as an Anglican priest, including six years as the rector of Trinity Church in Rock Island, the Rev. Thomas Janikowski is converting to Russian Orthodoxy.By the time he and his wife, Shelly, get back from a New York trip, he will be an ordained deacon and priest in the Russian Orthodox church’s Western Rite Communities. He will celebrate the Liturgy of St. Gregory the Great on Sunday as a fully ordained priest of the St. Athanasius parish at 228 W. 15th St., Davenport. Sunday Matins will be sung at 8:15 a.m. with a Divine Liturgy at 9 followed by food and fellowship. The church — once a tattoo parlor named “Joe’s Garage” — is … [Read more...]
God Led Me Into His Church: Part 5
January 13, 2018 By Leave a Comment
by Fr. Geoff Harvey Finding the Orthodox Faith I knew we needed to join the Church. I’d learned from Peter Toon that Christ’s Church exists as a physical reality on this earth. I knew Christ had said the gates of hell would never prevail against it, so I knew that it existed. And I had learned from Michael Harper that the Anglican Communion was simply no longer the Church. As a Westerner, Roman Catholicism was the obvious choice. However, my dear mother said to me, when I explained my struggles, that she would support any decision I made, as long as I didn’t become a Roman Catholic! To be honest, I was shocked at her attitude, and put it … [Read more...]
God Led Me Into His Church: Part 1
January 9, 2018 By 2 Comments
by Fr. Geoff Harvey Fr. Geoff's story is a 7 part series which will be published daily, and shows a living history of the last 50 years while he traces the footsteps of his path to God's Holy Church. Ever since I can remember, I have had an awareness of God, even if He has not always been at the centre of my life. He was always in the air I breathed. But although I’ve always attended church services, it took me a while to discover God’s Church. I was a post Second World War baby boomer, born into the waning days of the British Empire and, as with many military families, we moved frequently. Cities and streets changed, houses changed, … [Read more...]
The Last First Step
August 9, 2017 By 7 Comments
by Stephen Brannen Back in 2011 I started writing a series of posts entitled “According to the Whole” which was focused on exploring the issue of Christian disunity and where I was looking for possible solutions. The posts were personal and were informed by my own intellectual and experiential journey, but they weren’t overtly autobiographical. I used them to ask questions, make diagnoses, and offer prescriptions in a general sense, but I didn’t use them to tell much of my story. Now my story which spawned those questions and thoughts has reached a definitive point, even a conclusion of sorts, and I want to finally tell it. I was born to … [Read more...]