Orthodixie

1. Who is Orthodox Christian Supply and how did your company get its start?

Our company grew out of our love for Orthodoxy beauty. The staple product offered by Orthodox Christian Supply, our traditional panel icon, was the catalyst for beginning our business. This was the case in that we really wanted to present a reproduction icon to the market that still maintained many of the qualities and presence of icons painted throughout antiquity. We have been making this product for four years now and are very thankful to have seen a great interest in higher quality reproduction icons. In this regard, to some extent, we have already accomplished our goals.

The company consist of only myself and my wife, Silouan and Luibov Campbell. My wife is from Divnogorsk Siberia and I am American. We are parishioners of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Fletcher North Carolina and are trying very hard to build an Orthodox artisan community here in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

2. What products does your company offer?

Our main product is our reproduction icons, available in both classic and traditional panels. We also build Orthodox liturgical furnishings. This, we have found, is quickly becoming some of our most popular offerings. In the past year we have built a very large amount of icon boxes and custom church furniture. In addition to working with wood, we have branched off into designing and building a limited number of metal items. In fact, we just listed the first of these items – nickel-plated panahida trays. We also carry imported brass goods, prayer ropes, incense, and baptismal crosses.

3. What would you say is the “mission statement” of Orthodox Christian Supply?

It is our desire to beautify churches and homes here in North America. We hope to accomplish this through good prices and high quality items, always keeping in mind traditional Orthodox aesthetics. Regarding churches, we are willing to work with parishes of low budget status through discounts and, in some cases, donations. I guess you could say that our mission is to make the beauty of traditional Orthodox items affordable and tangible to all Orthodox communities here in North America.

4. Where can people find your company online and who should they contact for further inquiry?

We are online at www.orthodoxchristiansupply.com and they may contact me, Silouan Campbell, directly through the website.

Fresh from the Antiochian Clergy Symposium on “Medicine, Theology, and Healing,” here’s some thoughts from Sunday’s sermon at St Joseph/Houston on Jesus’ healing of the Paralytic, and that which matters most.

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.

With the election of a new Metropolitan for the Antiochians and fresh-from-seminary newly ordained men throughout the Church, one thing’s for sure: Their feet are the same as, well, yours! Here’s a three-peat on clay feet.

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio!

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An honest to goodness email from a real person:

Hi Father Joseph!

How are you? At the fair last week someone asked me “Who are you with?” and I thought of your book.

I was waiting for the pig races to start and the family next to me was talking about, of all things, confession. The mom was talking about how going to a Catholic university she saw the ridiculousness of religion in how everyone used confession to basically do what they wanted.

I was worried primarily for her two teens, so I asked, awkwardly (with my face partially numb since I had just been to the dentist that morning), if I could interject. I pointed out that I wasn’t Catholic but that if confession is used in such a way it is making a mockery and actually worse than not going at all and that the purpose is genuine and real and that God knows who is confessing genuinely and who is not. The mom then asked, “And who are you with?” I responded, “Oh, I came here myself for the afternoon.” I felt silly when she clarified, “I mean, who are you with? What branch are you?” “Oh! I’m Orthodox Christian.” “And what is that?” “Well, um, once upon a time, there was the church… and then the Pope decided he was boss and left, and then the reformation happened, and well… the Orthodox Church, we’ve just been the same the whole time.”

She said thank you and then the pig races started but I kept thinking about what she asked, “Who are you with?” and finally it occurred to me why it sounded familiar and I started laughing when I remembered your book and “the Waffle House Story” …

So … here’s the honest to goodness Waffle House Story from We Came, We Saw, We Converted:

I remember once, in the Old Country (North Carolina), a parishioner and I were waiting in line for a sandwich at a Subway restaurant. I had a long beard and ponytail and was dressed in a cassock. The fellow wrapping the subs by the cash register, who had tattoos all over his arms and an attitude in his eyes, kept staring at me. I figured he thought I was some kind of nut job.

When we got up to his station, he said, “Who ya with?”

I said, “Excuse me?”

“Who you with?” he repeated.

Sheepishly, I said, “I’m an Orthodox Christian priest.”

“Oh, humph,” he replied.

And that was it. After we got outside, I turned to the parishioner and said, “You know, when he asked ‘who ya with?’ I should have said something silly like ‘Waffle House’.” We laughed.

A year or so later, on the way to St. Seraphim Church Camp, another priest and I were eating with the campers in a restaurant in the Old Country (Virginia) and I noticed a woman kept staring at us.

Later, as we stood outside talking, a deacon had joined us—that made three men in black dresses with long hair and beards—and I could see, out of the corner of my eye, this woman and her friends slowly approaching us. We kept talking until I felt a gentle tug at my elbow, and with a wonderful down-home Virginia accent, she said, “Excuse me, but, who’re y’all with?”

Without blinking I turned to her and said, “Waffle House.”

This woman literally lost it! She turned red in the face, burst out laughing, and hit me on the arm, saying, “Now you oughtta be ashamed o’ yo’self! I was so nervous—and now you go and say ‘Waffle House’—why, I oughtta . . .”

It was funny. So funny, in fact, that I later shared that story with an area “non-denominational” clergy gathering in a local restaurant.

About thirty minutes after its telling, a man who had apparently overheard our conversation approached our table and said, “Excuse me, but are you Fr. Joseph?”

I said, “Yes,” and he said, “Are you still with Waffle House?”

Ha!

Forgive me,

Fr. Joseph

AFR BLURB:  Just back from five weeks in the United Kingdom, Fr Joseph shares from his travelogue on the Saints — and others — he encountered there.  In other words, what do Joseph of Arimathea, Patrick of Ireland, Elder Sophrony, King Arthur, and Ron Weasley all have in common?

Is Glastonbury known for more than a muddy music festival?

Did Our Lord visit England as a boy?

Do airline security personnel visit Armagh?

The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio!