Young Penitent

Tim Kirby is the animating force behind the American Village in Russia. Tim is an American expatriate who moved to Russia in 2006 and is now the host of the YouTube channel Tim Kirby Russia. The American Village is a project which will settle Westerners on individual plots of land in a tract of land in the Serpukhov district South of Moscow. The village is not yet built; the people who are moving there are the ones who will be doing the building. The people who will be settling in the Village are generally conservatives who wish to escape the moral decay which is expressing itself in the West, and who see Russia as a country which is upholding traditional values and where living out the Christian Faith will not be opposed with hostility. The project has attracted much attention and the quota for the first round of applications has already been filled. In this livestream we will be talking with Tim to find out how this project got started, where it is now, where it is going, and how you can get involved if you are one of those people who have decided it is time to leave the West and migrate to Russia.

Recently there was an article published in the online magazine Tablet about the phenomenon of the Orthobro. Naturally the article wasn't entirely flattering, but we didn't expect it to be. What this article tells us, however, is that Orthodox Christianity is entering into the mainstream consciousness of America, and the Orthobro is one of the reasons why. Eighteen years ago when I first discovered Orthodox Christianity I had no previous knowledge of the Faith. If I had asked my neighbor or friend or a random person on the street if they knew what Orthodoxy was, the answer was probably "no." Things have changed, and a big part of the reason why is because Orthodoxy is being disseminated on the internet in an effective manner. YouTube is the now one of the first places a young person will go to learn about a subject because learning is easier in an audio-visual format. The "Orthobro" was originally coined as an epithet used by Protestants and Catholics to refer to Orthodox online who were argumentative or confrontational in their style, but by now Orthobros have adopted the name as their own. I proudly refer to myself as an Orthobro. Some people still use the term in the negative sense, because we have a bad reputation in some circles, but there is no reason we cant rehabilitate this label to the Glory of God.

One of the most popular genres of Orthodox YouTube videos is that of the conversion story. Usually the title is something like "my journey to Orthodoxy." I made one of these videos and I was surprised to see how popular it was. I then realized that this type of video is a kind of low-hanging fruit; people like to watch these testimonials. Macarius Johnson has taken the "journey to Orthodoxy" genre to a whole new level with his video "The Path of Self Denial." I watched this 2.5 hour Testimony all the way through and decided that I had to have Macarius on the show. His Testimony comes across more like a documentary than a YouTube video. Usually these videos involve a person sitting in front of their bookshelf and talking to the camera, but Macarius has used his talents with videography (which he honed in his career as a rapper) to incorporate photos and videos from his past, and he tells an evocative story that the viewer immediately identifies with.

I am excited to bring to my audience the guest for this episode. I first heard of Fr. John A. Peck when he was a guest on the @Counterflow podcast and I was impressed with Fr. John's presentation style. I then found out that he has his own show on Rumble called Ecclesioclasm (https://rumble.com/user/frjohnpeck) which I also highly recommend. Ecclesioclasm is a weekly show in which Fr. John breaks down news stories from the week and interviews knowledgeable guests on various subjects. You should subscribe to his channel because he is bringing cutting edge information and not enough people are aware of his work.

Returning as an honored guest to the channel to talk about the Orthodox approach to evangelism is my spiritual father Abbot Tryphon. Abbot Tryphon is Abbot of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery on Vashon Island in the Salish Sea and author of the Morning Offering. This week the monastery is hosting a retreat for the St. John Brotherhood of the Salish Sea and since I am present at the retreat I thought it would be a good opportunity to have a sit down discussion with the good Abbot in person. In discussing the Orthodox approach to evangelism we will discuss the history of Orthodox evangelism in America, the difference between the Orthodox approach and that of western confessions to, and the proper use of the internet as a tool for evangelism. Pull up a chair and bring your questions!

In this episode I will be interviewing Abbot Tryphon on the subject of the importance of male friendships. We will also be discussing the Salish Brotherhood of St. John the Wonderworker. Abbot Tryphon is the founder of All-Merciful Saviour Monastery and author of the well-known blog The Morning Offering. One of the themes that he often talks about is the importance of male friendships. Human society was historically communal in nature. In today's society mankind has become atomized resulting in an epidemic of loneliness. As part of an effort to combat this trend Abbot Tryphon created the Salish Brotherhood of St. John the Wonderworker, a lay brotherhood comprised of young men who hold retreats at All-Merciful Saviour Monastery on a bi-annual basis. The Brotherhood is meant to create a supportive environment for its members to grow in the Faith, and is a place where its members can form friendships that are meant to last for a lifetime. In our interview we will talk about the origin of the Salish Brotherhood and its activities, as well as the subject of male friendships in general.

Today we are going to have a conversation with Raphael Fiedler from the YouTube channel Orthodox Review "the most uneducated educational show on the internet." His channel is a valuable resource for Orthodox Christians when it comes time to buy a prayer book, among other books and items which may be used for devotion in the home. The basic premise of his channel is to provide reviews for such items available for purchase so that we can make our purchases based on an informed decision. He could probably be considered the best informed person on the internet when it comes to Orthodox prayer books, and for that reason part of our discussion will be centered around prayer books and our preferences regarding them, but our discussion will by no means be limited to this topic. Tune in to see where the conversation takes us, and bring your tobacco pipe if you would like to join us as we share a smoke during the stream.

The internet is home to many and varied subcultures, and Orthodoxy on the internet is no exception. Embedded in the heart of the Orthodox YouTube subculture is Jerry from the channel Exposing Powerful Lies. Jerry is a moderator for many channels, including that of Jay Dyer, and he seems to have his finger on the pulse of whatever might be going down on YouTube. I have invited Jerry on the channel to talk about another subject entirely, however, because one of Jerry's areas of expertise is foraging. It is a well established fact that foraging (sometimes called 'wildcrafting') is the healthiest way to source ones food, whether it be harvesting plants growing in nature or harvesting wild game. In this stream Jerry is going to be sharing with us some of his knowledge about foraging. This is actually a very good skill to have for Orthodox Christians because we often read in the lives of Saints that such-and-such Saint would survive on whatever plants they would find growing in the wild (usually these were desert dwellers). On the off chance that somebody watching this stream might one day find themselves living the life of a hermit and foraging for their food, they will be able to say that it was Jerry from EPL that got them started.

We are very fortunate today to have as a guest Klaus Kenneth. Klaus has an incredible life story to share with us, which has been outlined in his autobiographical book "Born to Hate Reborn to Love." He has experienced so much in his life that you would think that he had lived three or four lifetimes.

Today I welcome on as a guest the well known Fr. John Whiteford, rector of Saint Jonah Orthodox Church in Spring, Texas. Fr. John is an expert in liturgics, serving as the editor for the annual St. Innocent Liturgical Calendar (a resource which explains how to put together the services of the Church). I have drawn the inspiration for the topic of today's interview from an article which Fr. John wrote called "Building a Liturgical Library," (link below). We will be discussing what books one would desire to acquire, and in what order, if one were to begin building a liturgical library for home or parish use. We will also discuss why is it not only clergy who can learn about liturgics, but also laymen. Some people may have such a reverence for holy things that they leave Church services to the experts, ordained clergy. They think that if they were to touch a liturgical book they might be struck down dead like Uzzah who touched the Ark of the Covenant. On the contrary, it is absolutely appropriate for laymen to learn how to put together a service, even if it is only for personal observances in the home. The services of the Church are a source of inspiration, edification, and instruction in the Faith. Learning how to serve the daily vespers at home when there might not be a corporate service at your parish is, for many, a good way to help keep their focus on God.