In June Fr. Ambrose made an annual visit to Dominica, where the parish of Holy Protection of Mother of God is registered since 2021. The Parish does not have a space yet, and services were performed at parishioners’ houses.
June, 13th. The second debates with the followers of the United Church of God were held over zoom. Missioners from USA, Craig Truglia (see his blog: Orthodox Christian Theology) and Sergey represented the Orthodox side. Father Ambrose was on a flight to Dominica and joined by the end of the session. The discussion was focused on the 4th Commandment. Craig presented many Orthodox arguments (some of them can be found here: An Orthodox Argument Against Adventist Sabbath-Observance – Orthodox Christian Theology). The counter party was staying adamant after many arguments (recording of the debates will be published later), Craig asked...
June, 11. Father Ambrose celebrated Divine Liturgy in the Sacred Heart RC Church of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.
On June, 6, debates with followers of the United Church of God teachings were held over zoom with over 30 participants. United Church of God are descendants of the sabbath-keeping adventists who did not agree with the vision of Ellen G. White. The representatives on Grenada claim that this church existed from the beginning. Church History was proposed as the topic for the debates, but broader issues were discussed, including keeping commandments, criteria for the true church, etc. Recording will be available soon and the debates will continue in the future – links to join will be shared on this...
The service commemorating the memory of the 318 Father of the first Ecumenical Council was held on the seventh Sunday after Pascha. The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in the city of Nicaea (modern day Turkey) by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. It was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all Christendom. Most significantly, it resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, pray to God for us!
In the beginning of May two missionaries from the USA visited Grenada to help. During their visit they focused on the main needs of the parish – looking for opportunities to expand the church space and attract more people. For that reason they participated in the following activities
Anna said yesterday that on the island of Tobago, her friend Elias, a member of the Thaer family who had been visited by missionaries the year before the last, was shot during the attempt to rob his store. He is already dying. Anna says that Elias is Orthodox, even wanted to become a priest, but in connection with the move from Syria this was not destined to come true. I conveyed her [request for] prayers for him to Orthodox friends. September 14th. Elias died while in ICU. I contacted his family to express my condolences and my desire to go...
Read Part I here. August 12-13, 2019. Annual carnival. Historically, in Catholic countries, before Lent, a carnival (in Latin, “goodbye meat”) is organized. It has long lost its religious significance, but acquired an entertaining meaning for Caribbean people and their culture. In order not to compete with Trinidad and Tobago, where it is celebrated mostly in February but rarely in March, depending on the Gregorian calendar, the Grenadians moved it to mid-August. At this time, many dress up as ‘Jab Jabs,’ the manifestation of devils, and they drench themselves with oil. As my friend explained, this is a symbol of rebellion...
I would like to offer selected memoirs from my diary from July to December 2019 and tell about the development of the missionary parish in the Caribbean, where the Lord judged me to serve. I hope it will give answers to some questions and become an inspiration to Orthodox Christians for missionary work. I accepted the leadership of the Christian community at the request of about 50 Orthodox people in Grenada, which they sent on February 10, 2019 to His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad. In response to the...
