In today’s modern age, it has become a habit to use the terms ‘person’ and ‘individual’ as though they were synonyms, often using them indifferently to express the same thing, however, these two terms have opposite meaning. What this session will explore is the difference between these two terms, and how the goal of our life is a mode of existence and a reflection of the inner life of the Trinity. A relationship and communion, not only with God, but also with our neighbour, that calls us to transcend our human nature as we to strive towards personhood through and in Jesus Christ. 

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Christ is very clear about the connection of His Cross to our personal cross as an acceptance of the journey up the mountain of Transfiguration. Christian asceticism is not about one’s efforts to become a ‘better person’, but about the synergy of transformation of our humanity with Christ in the life of the Church. The holy fathers emphasise the labours necessary to achieve some measure of humility to learn from the meekness and humility of Christ. By striving to live in that spirit we become witnesses to the Truth – the Lord Jesus Christ. We should be ready to give an account of our faith or may even be called to serve the Word of God in one of the ministries of the Church. 

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One of the greatest struggles facing Orthodox Christians today is in understanding how the Church and the World relate, and how we are meant to live as Orthodox Christians in a world that is becoming increasingly hostile to (especially traditional) Christianity. In this session, we will be looking at how the Church has related to the world both when society at large has been Christian, as well as in societies hostile to Christianity. We will especially seek to understand how science and faith can interrelate and complement each other. Finally, we will explore the ways in which we can be a “light on a hill,” sharing our Christian faith with others in both words and especially deeds. 

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The life of the Church is not confined to the ‘academic’ realm of dogmatic theology. Orthodoxy translated means “right worship” – which ultimately means that Orthodoxy is a way of life focused on worshipping God in a manner pleasing to Him, as opposed to having the most advanced understanding of dogmatic theology. This right worship takes place in the services of the Church which have ancient roots back to the earliest Christians and the cycle of services that would take place in the Temple and Synagogues. In this session, we will explore the cycles of Orthodox Services, focusing particularly on the Vigil and the Liturgy. We will then delve into the yearly cycles of fasts and feasts in Orthodoxy, before briefly looking into the meaning and structure of the marriage service in the Orthodox Church. 

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Orthodox theology regards the sacraments as sacred actions through which the encounter between God and the human person takes place. In them our union with God, in so far as it is possible in this earthly life, is realised. What this session will focus on is a brief overview of the main sacraments of the Orthodox church, also known as mysteries, with particular focus on Baptism and the Eucharist. We will delve into how the sacraments are not only spiritual, but also a bodily communion, as the human person enters the divine mystery with their whole being, their soul and body become immersed in God. We enter into these mysteries not as individuals, but as a collectivity of people in the pursuit of true existence. 

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The Church is a divine and human organism, the Body of Christ. The words at the beginning of the Creed apply to the Church: “I believe in ... Church’. Because we embrace the Church with our faith it is misunderstood by those who rely entirely on their reason. In this session we look at every word of this article of the Creed to come to some understanding of what the Church is and how we live the life of the Church. The accent in the Church is on life, an existential experience, not an intellectual activity. There is a concreteness in being an Orthodox Christian.

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The Holy Spirit can easily be overlooked in discussions about God. The role of God the Son – Christ – is so central that it cannot be missed, and His discussions about His relationship with His Heavenly Father throughout the Gospels means that we do not overlook the Father. 

However, while the presence of the Holy Spirit as described explicitly in the Bible is smaller, we can see the work of the Spirit more clearly both by exegeting certain texts deeper, as well as by examining the theology of the Spirit – or Pneumatology – that was laid out by the Church Fathers in councils and dogmatic treatises. In this session, we will investigate how the Spirit interacts with believers in the Church and the world as a whole, especially focusing on His role as “Paraklete” or Comforter. We will also look at the ways in which the Spirit relates to the Trinity, especially in seeking to combat ideas that subordinate the Holy Spirit to either of the other Persons of the Trinity. To end this discussion, we will look at why the Orthodox Church refused to accept the insertion of the fililoque in the Creed. 

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This session will focus on the last things to come – The end of history, what happens to the soul after death, judgment, and an Orthodox understanding of heaven and hell. We will explore the NT and patristic understanding of eschatology, which is one of hope and assurance, Christ-centred rather than Antichrist-centred. 

We will delve into judgement and the second coming of Christ, and how there is no person who will be deprived of God’s love; heaven and hell a reflection of the state of the soul, a choice to deliberately embrace good instead of evil. It is a journey that does not start after death, but starts now, as we struggle to attain the kingdom of heaven during our earthly life. 

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The Resurrection of Christ is central in Christianity. We assemble every week on the day of the Resurrection. Yet the Resurrection cannot be understood without the whole story of our salvation, especially from the time that the Word becomes flesh. We look at our relationship with God based on the gift of free will and see how this makes it possible for us to fall away, then reconnect with God and Christ’s Redemption. This opens to us eternal life and great mercy of His Ascension in our life – now and forever. 

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From an Orthodox perspective, it is essential that we have the correct understanding of Mary, the Mother of God, in order for us to have a correct understanding of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God. If the Mother of God’s image is distorted, so too is the image of her Son. What this session will focus on is the Orthodox veneration of the Mother of God as the Theotokos, the God bearer, and how it was necessary for Christ to be born of a virgin for the salvation of humanity. We will also explore how God, in his love and mercy for humanity, took on human flesh and became man, and was the God-man, containing both human and Divine natures which were in unconfused, indivisible, immutable and inseparable union through the person of Jesus Christ. 

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