About
Glory to God for All Things is a blogsite written and maintained by Fr. Stephen Freeman. All unsigned posts are written by him. Fr. Stephen is an Orthodox Priest who lives and serves in East Tennessee. A convert from Anglicanism, where he was a priest for 18 years, he was ordained to the Orthodox priesthood in 1999. The priest on the left of the picture is Fr. Stephen.
October 21, 2006 at 12:56 am
fr stephan,
i’m thrilled you joined the blog world with your own blog. i shall look forward to reading more from you. meeting you last year in atlanta at st john’s was quite fun.
October 22, 2006 at 3:07 am
glad to see you join the blog world Father.
October 26, 2006 at 8:37 pm
Fr. Stephen-
Christ is in our midst!
Nice blog. I think you will find that many people will find your blog, and you will be able to share the richness of Orthodoxy with them. If you are so inclined, take a peak at mine, listed in the website blank above. May God bless your effort to reach people in His name.
Priest Matthew
October 26, 2006 at 10:24 pm
He is and ever shall be!
Thank you for the good words. I look forward to enjoying your site.
November 9, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Wonderful blog Fr. Stephen! It is a true to gift to read your articles and selections.
November 15, 2006 at 9:57 am
Father bless:
Father Stephen, I seem to have lost your most recent email address.
Please drop me a line to make sure I have the right one.
tmatt
November 21, 2006 at 11:23 am
this is great.
I linked you on my blog.
December 21, 2006 at 10:37 pm
I was wondering where you found this bit of information on your “pagans” post:
“Neither did we borrow the date for Christmas from the pagans (that’s a 19th century German myth). The use of December 25th for Christmas predates the feast for Sol Invictus, instituted by Marcus Aurelius, by some decades. So it’s not about the winter soltice (sorry again, pagans).”
That struck my curiosity and I’d like to know more.
December 22, 2006 at 11:14 am
Father Stephen,
I stumbled across your blog a little earlier today, and have been enjoying reading your posts, especially your thoughts on the smallness of god, and on paganism.
January 29, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Fr. Stephen:
Greetings in the name of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ!
Were you in the Graduate Program in Religion at Duke University in the late 80’s? I was, and was a Southern Baptist at the time. I am now a priest in the Antiochian Archdiocese. If any of this rings a bell, please email me. If not, please forgive.
Asking for your prayers for this unworthy priest,
Fr. Philip
March 16, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Father,
I just wanted to thank you for the blog. I have been reading it for about a month, and consistently find my heart touched by what you write here. In my experience this is a rare thing to find anywhere, even more so on the internet.
Although I am not a member of the Orthodox Church (I am a Roman Catholic – not too offensive to you I trust
, your blog has been a means of real grace for me. I hope this encourages you!
I will pray that God continue to bless you and if you should think of it, please say a small quick prayer for me as well.
thomas
July 18, 2007 at 7:55 am
Fr. Stephen,
It turns out that my wife is a friend of an old friend of yours (from Greenville). We are currently attending a local Episcopal parish in NC. We have Orthodox friends and occasionally join them for services at the OCA parish in Charlotte, NC (there we met Archbishop DMITRI)
I’m also from Knoxville originally and have lots of family over there. We hope to meet you one of these days while over in that neck of the woods.
August 29, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Father Stephen,
I just discovered your blog indirectly through the http://orthodoxwiki.org/Online_Orthodox_Communities
list.
May God bless the work of your hands!
With your blessing, I would link your blog to mine.
In Christ,
Stephanos
August 29, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Thank you Stephanos. May the Lord bless you!
November 10, 2007 at 9:39 am
I read your blog often, but I am so intimidated by all your learned commenters that I rarely make a peep. Your blog feeds my soul. I love coming here; it is like a quiet traditional church.
November 10, 2007 at 10:47 am
Commentators run the gamut here – from learned to just simple folk needing an answer to a question. Please feel free to comment or ask. My rule is to try and keep kindness as the norm.
November 14, 2007 at 8:48 pm
Father, bless. Christ is in our midst!
I’ve really enjoyed the posts I’ve read on your blog. Time permitting I’ll be reading more and more of them. I added you to my blogroll. You’re most welcome to take a peek at mine if you’d like to.
Ever the sinner, a simple catechumen,
Isaac
November 20, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Father Stephen, You mention a Protestant seminary and Stanley Hauerwas. Did you attend, by any chance, Duke? I was there in the mid seventies.
Boyd Holliday
January 27, 2008 at 10:49 pm
I look forward to reading your blog!
February 14, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Father Stepehen, you would be interested in this article that appeared in Christianity Today. It describes the movement of many evangelicals toward Orthodoxy and Catholic traditions. I especially recommend that any interested in these developments do a search on the name Thomas Oden.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/february/22.22.html
March 3, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Fr. Stephen,
I just discovered your blogsite – well done! How do you find the time to do all that you do?
Thank you for all you have contributed to our journey of faith.
God bless you and your family.
March 3, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Mike,
I time travel. It’s the only way to multi-task.
March 17, 2008 at 6:42 pm
Father Stephen,
Would you consider listing Just Genesis on your blogroll? It has much of interest to Orthodox Christians and my thinking would benefit from more interaction with Orthodox readers. You will find it here:
http://jandyongenesis.blogspot.com
March 19, 2008 at 10:06 am
I would be interested in your thoughts on the doctrine of apocatastasis. Wikipedia defines it as the idea that hell will be abolished and all (lost souls included) will be saved. But I wonder if that isn’t confusing apocatastasis, which is a broad statement about the final reconcilition of “all things” in Christ, with only one question, that of universal salvation. Might not final reconciliation mean more? Can it be taught or understood without answering the question of who will (or won’t) be saved? And if that question is set aside, then what does it mean?
March 19, 2008 at 10:14 am
The apocatastasis is not a part of Orthodox doctrine. There are some mild speculations within about three fathers that in the end God’s mercy triumphs over all. But as far as the Church’s teaching is concerned, we affirm that most assuredly some will refuse the love of God. Whether that will remain eternal is perhaps more open for speculation. But I cannot go further than the teaching of the Church.
March 31, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I really like your blog! I’ve started one of my own about the Plight of the Single Person. I’d appreciate hearing what you think of it.
In Christ,
Thomas
June 12, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Evloyeitai.
I have been blessed in this one second in my life to come across your blog via the blog stnicholasdallas. God is merciful to His servant.
I am overcome by the beauty and truth of what I have been reading here….more so when the direct simplicity of HOW it is written is taken into account.
I look forward to getting to know you and all the others who write/comment here.
With Christian love,
Nina
July 3, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Good afternoon,
I have really enjoyed your blog. At the moment I am developing a site in Australia and wanted to ask where you sourced your digital images of antiquity?
Covenantal blessings,
TA James McCallum
July 4, 2008 at 8:23 am
Mostly those of antiquity were in my computer when I bought it (Hewlitt-Packard). I use a lot of shots from my own travels. Other images I hunt down on the web – usually through google images.
July 6, 2008 at 4:24 am
wow, orthodox foreigners have blogs also… This is amaizing. I’m from Romania and I also have a blog: http://sceptik.wordpress.com . In Romania there are tenths of orthodox blogs, of a very good quality. Also, you might wanna checj this out as well: http://eresulcatolic.50webs.com/aggiornamento.html which shows the apostasy of the catholic church and the bad consequences of Aggiornamento. Click on those links…
July 10, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Fr. Stephen,
Please forgive, but I was hoping to get in contact with you concerning possibly speaking engagements. I am a member of St. Ignatius in Franklin, TN, with Fr. Stephen Rogers. This comments field was the easiest manner I saw in which to leave you a message. I will continue to look for an email address as well.
You can reach me at yolanrym@comcast.net . Thank you so much.
Myrna Martin
(written and posted by Miriam Martin, Myrna’s daughter, who is a little better at navigating websites.
July 17, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Good afternoon, I have been reading your blog for several weeks and I love that it gives me things to think about as I go through my day. It also gives me a substitute for participating in office gossip (something that I am prone to do when I am not mindful of it). I have noticed on your blog whenever I see the name of the Archbishop mentioned, it is is all caps. i.e. “Archbishop DMITRI.” Why is this? Is this the proper way to write his name, or is “Archbishop Dmitri” also acceptable?
Thank you,
Sophia
July 17, 2008 at 12:24 pm
It is conventional, in Russian practice (I presume) that the name of the Bishop be in all Caps.
August 2, 2008 at 11:38 am
Hello,
I’m not sure how I came across your blog originally but I check in here from time to time. I’m not a religious person at all and most of the time I question the existence of god completely. Still, something makes me return to this subject (and sometimes your blog). Sometimes something specific calls me back.
I live in Winnipeg, Canada. A few days ago, a horrific murder happened on the highway, on a greyhound bus, between Winnipeg and Brandon Manitoba. A 22 year old was murdered and decapitated in front of all of the passengers on the bus – for no reason.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080801.wbus-victim01/BNStory/National/home
http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Manitoba/2008/08/02/6336156-sun.html
In case the contents of the links above change- Tim Mclean was stabbed as many as 40 times (the actual number of times has not been released yet) and then decapitated. His murderer walked up and down the isle of the bus with his head and was rumored to have eaten parts of Tim’s corpse. This happened in front of a crowd of people. No one even tried to help Tim Mclean.
People are talking about this everywhere in Winnipeg. Yesterday while at work, I casually mentioned that I had some trouble sleeping the night the story broke on the news. A work mate nearby chimed in and claimed the same. I had a nightmare about it actually, the first in years; and I’ve had trouble sleeping since. A third person in my office overheard and came by to also talk about how disturbed he was over this.
It’s been a while since I have spoken to god. I usually don’t bother because I have the hardest time understanding that a supreme being can exist. But I want to believe. I am trying and yet things keep happening in daily life that say otherwise.
Yet, today, I started to pray for Tim Mclean- someone I never knew. I am ashamed to say that I kind of fell apart when I began.
What I tried to say was something like this:
“GOD: A few days ago, your child, Tim Mclean died horribly at the hands of a monster and well before his time. I can’t fathom why you decided it was time for him to return home so early and why he had to come back to you in the way he did. I beg you to erase the last moments from his memory and let his heart and spirit be filled with joy and happiness. Help his family and friends in their suffering too. I don’t know him, but I bet Tim did not deserve an end like that.”
What came out in stead was this:
“GOD: Where are you? Did you know what has happened to Tim Mclean? Did you even notice or what it part of your plan- that he die the way he did without meaning or reason? What that your intention? What’s your plan for his killer?? Where you just in a bad mood when you allowed a monster to massacre your child right in front of you (and all of us)? You toy with us.”
.. and it goes downhill from there.
I find that I am not adequate to say a prayer for Tim.
I wonder, if in one of your sermons; you might ask your followers to join you in a prayer for Tim Mclean and his family.
Rob W
August 3, 2008 at 12:17 am
Dear Rob,
While I am no more adequate than you to pray, I will say a prayer tonight for Tim. I know what it is to be deeply moved — to tears — by one you have never met. Will you say a prayer for the child Ben who is suffering from cancer and the treatment for it? Neither of us is adequate, but Christ is.
Patty Joanna
August 3, 2008 at 1:53 am
Rob,
A horrible, shocking occurrence of course, but such things happen every day – when it’s a computer game like strike on a ‘facility’ somewhere in the Middle East from a hi-tech US stealth bomber, the human suffering (euphemistically called collateral damage) does not seem quite so dramatic….the point is that God is not to be called into question for doing or allowing it. He allows us free will to make the better choices and suffers for us when we don’t.
If you question the existence of God completely, as you say, then may I ask where you think you get the moral sense from that allows you to feel the way you do about the tragedy that has happened in Canada? After all, if there is no natural order beyond ourselves and we are no more than the result of some infinitesimally unlikely random chance, then why not just do whatever we feel like at all times?
Science is great but in terms of the universe, that which it can explain is far less than that which it cannot, so for me the existence of God provides a framework which can far more compellingly explain how the world works than any alternative.
God rest Tim, and bless you Rob.
Gerry
September 3, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Could it be the same wonderful priest I knew 20 years ago in Simpsonville, SC @ Holy Cross??
Remember our Wednesday “dates” to the Red Barron for Ruben’s and beer?
You are truely a man of God and I want my Grandson to meet you.
May God’s peace be with you.
Jan
September 4, 2008 at 7:31 am
Jan,
I’m the same guy. Older, grayer, and a little banged up. But I now serve as an Orthodox Chrisitian priest in Oak Ridge. I’d love for you to come up some time. I think the Red Baron shut down, pity.
October 10, 2008 at 10:18 am
I am residing in Singapore and there is no Orthodox church. How can I participate in an Orthodox liturgy?
October 10, 2008 at 10:29 am
Jojulie
Look at this website
http://www.orthodoxchurch.sg/Welcome.html
It is from the Orthodox Church in Singapore, which is under the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople. I do not know if it is convenient to you but they should have good information for your local situation.
October 10, 2008 at 11:01 am
Dear Father Stephen,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I have been reading your blog for the past couple of months and to say that I have been blessed is an understatement. May our Lord continue to use you and this blog site to bless all those who are seekers like me. With prayer and blessings…
October 31, 2008 at 12:59 pm
This comment is for Rob. Years ago in college I read the book Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevski. It is a very long read and very difficult. (The newest translation by Random House/Vintage books is supposed to be the best, and I just bought a copy, but haven’t read it yet. My old, beat-up, college version is covered with highlighter ink and underlined sections. This book, reflecting Orthodox spirituality, is a lengthy meditation on the presence of inexplicable evil in the world, and why God appears to let it happen. I hope you will get a copy and that if you do, it will help you as much as it has helped me. God bless you.
November 4, 2008 at 4:28 am
Dear Father Stephen,
I am a french lay orthodox from south of France. Thank you for your blog and your writing I find very nice and nurturing. So I’ve put your link in my blogroll. I’d like to translate texts from your website to include them in my blog. Do you allow it ?
God bless you and The Most Holy Mother of God suppot your works. In XC Love. Maxim
November 4, 2008 at 9:55 am
Maxim,
Yes, feel free to translate. If possible, include a link or reference to my site. Thank you for your kind words!
Send me a note when you do your first translation, I’ll put you on my blogroll.
November 6, 2008 at 4:05 am
Good Day Father,
please give me your blessing. I recently discovered your blog. IT IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. God bless you.
Zissis
November 8, 2008 at 1:10 am
Dear Father
it’s done your recent text “Death of religion” is trnaslated and can be read on my site. Thank you a lot and Our Lord save you !
Maxim
November 17, 2008 at 12:47 am
I’m not a blogger and am working on an old fashioned book on Orthodox Christian parenting.. I’d like to talk to you.. like your work. Will you email me so I can give you info via email? I could look you up the old fashioned way but since I’ve gone this far… I’m receiving occasional emails from many quarters with your articles.
Good strength.
in Christ,
m
December 4, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Father,
Please join us as we pray for Christian missionaries in Bolivia who are being threatened by corrupt elements both inside and outside government. Our missionaries (some of them have been in-country for over 40 years), are asking for divine protection to continue carrying the Light of Christ in darkest places.
Thank you, and may God bless and protect you, and the entire Orthodox community in America.
January 2, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Hello Father Stephen,
I read your blog often and I like it a lot. God inspires you tremendously because your articles are superb. I will pray for you and for your family, to continue this blog ministry.
I’m a Romanian student at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest, and I want very much to become a priest and to serve God and all the people every second of my life. in everything I do. Me and some other friends we have also an orthodox blog. The reason that made me start a blog was you and the beautiful articles on this site.
I want to ask you if you allow us to create a blog on WordPress in which we will translate daily all your articles in Romanian, because I think they will be of great help. We will not change anything, we will keep everything as it is (text, pictures,…) If you want we can use the same wordpress theme and the same header as yours.
In our orthodox country we have a lot of orthodox blogs, but only few are worth reading daily.
Please let me know if you are ok. I think romanian people will love you. If you say yes I will ask for the blessing of my priest and then we will start right away.
January 2, 2009 at 8:28 pm
Dear Father Stephen,
I work for an Orthodox missionary website “Orthodoxy and the world” http://www.pravmir.com. Thank you for a great work you do on your blog!
Would you please allow us to post on our site two of your articles “Me, You and the Other Guy” and “When Money Fails”? Thank you!
Our site contains plenty of information about Orthodox Christianity and we try to do our best to give people a chance to know more about it. You might find our site interesting and worthwhile and add our link to your blog, if you’d love to.
January 2, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Cladiu,
I would be honored. I feel unworthy to address the long-suffering Romanian Orthodox people, but if you find it helpful, may God bless it. I’ll contact you by email to work out the details Thank you for your kind words and offer,
January 2, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I would be honored, Natalia. The more readers, in any form, the better. I am flattered, useless servant that I am.
January 3, 2009 at 6:42 am
Thank you very much Father Stephen for your good willing. I’m very glad, I’m thrilled about this….I hardly wait to start doing it.
I’m waiting for your email.
January 7, 2009 at 11:22 pm
Father Stephen, I’ve already created the blog in Romanian language, on which we will you tranlate your articles> http://parintelestephen.wordpress.com/
The name of the blog is the same in romanian as in english: “parintele = father”
I’ve used the same header and the same title, only that is translated.
Please let me know what do you think. You can send me an email to balan.claudiu@gmail.com
Thank you very much!
January 10, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Dear Fr. Stephen–I just found out about your website from one of our members at Holy Apostles on Facebook. Wow, I could spend days reading your articles. I am at heart an information addict, and can easily spend too much time in books and blogs. So I will check occasionally. I try to see your parents once in a while–they seem to apppreciate a visit. Kathy Lu.
January 19, 2009 at 11:36 pm
I just found your blogsite through Fr. Joseph Hunneycutt’s “Orthodixie” site. I am so happy to have found this and what you have to say!
January 24, 2009 at 6:36 am
Father Stephen, first I’d like to thank you for your blog. It has provided me with many thoughts, answers, and questions. Though I haven’t commented on any posts, I’ve been following your blog and your podcasts for a little over six months. As well as your blog, I’ve been reading and listening to other orthodox communicators. For many years I’ve felt the desire to learn more of God and search for a more intimate communion with Him (my protestant upbringing not fulfilling my desires). Thank you for being a helpful provider…
Having been in this place for awhile now, i wish to continue further into the Orthodox Church. I’ve noticed that many of your readers have asked you concerning how to enter into the Orthodox Church while living far from any churches… My own problem is twofold: distance and language. I live in Switzerland. The spoken language is German, whereas my own language is English as I am an Australian. I have found a number of Orthodox Churches in the region, but none are English-speaking. Can you advise me on the correct way to get in contact with people who can help me?
February 21, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Father Stephen,
I’d like to say thanks, first of all, for your posts. I’m not sure how I first came across your blog, but I’ve been reading it for the past few months, and you have both encouraged and challenged me greatly. I come from a tradition that is very different from the Orthodox Church in many ways, though I believe we hold many things in similar regard, and hearing your thoughts has been inspirational to me.
I see that in at least one of your posts, you’ve mentioned studying theology at Duke. I’ve recently completed applications for graduate schools to study for a Master of Theological Studies degree, perhaps continuing on for a doctoral degree later, and Duke was among those schools I applied to. I’m sure things may have changed in the intervening years between when you attended and now, but I was wondering if you would mind giving me your thoughts on your experiences at Duke. I’d appreciate it!
Thanks again, and God bless!
March 6, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Dear Father,
Recently I quoted you in an article I wrote criticizing Bill Mahr’s film Religulous.
If you wish simply email me and I will include it in an attachment if you want to view it.
Sincerely,
Jonathan McCormack
spiltteeth@gmail.com
March 18, 2009 at 3:46 pm
V-am adaugat la blogroll nostru !
May 23, 2009 at 9:46 am
Hi Fr. Stephen,
If you want to add Facebook or email sharing buttons to your blog posts, there’s a plugin that does it for you: http://tinyurl.com/sharebuttons
Hope you find it helpful!
Cheers,
June 13, 2009 at 8:14 am
Dear Father Stephen,
I would like to thank you deeply for your Blog, i’ve found your thoughts very interesting and inspiring – the world needs your ‘two cents’ now more than ever! I’m not Orthodox but Roman Catholic but I truly respect everything you’ve written and the Orthodox religion itself.
Do you have an email address where I can contact you? Lately i’ve been needing some wise advice about life matters and you seem like the person I should be asking.
June 13, 2009 at 1:42 pm
ula
email
priest@stanneorthodoxchurch.com
July 2, 2009 at 10:04 am
The Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos today (July 1, 2009) mourns the dormition of our Elder Joseph of Vatopedi
1 Ιουλίου, 2009 — VatopaidiFriend
The Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi on Mount Athos today mourns the dormition of our Elder Joseph of Vatopedi, one of the few remaining true Athonite elders who reposed this morning at 2:30, July 1, 2009. The Elder was born on July 1, 1921, on the celebration of the Holy Anargyroi (Saints Cosmas and Damian). After the dormition of his Elder, Joseph the Hesychast, he left the Skete where he lived and went to the Skete of the Holy Anargyroi. St Cosmas and St Damian were those who protected him throughout his life and those who chose to take him with them on the day of their celebration.
The funeral rite will be held at 18:00 today at the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi.
MAY HIS MEMORY BE ETERNAL
July 22, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Dear fr. Stephen, Christ is in our midst!
I have added your precious blog in my favourite links. Hope you will accept to add my blog’s address too: http://www.natidallospirito.com.
It is about orthodox spirituality, in Italian and Arabic.
July 28, 2009 at 9:57 pm
I have decided this Blog is a work of Genius – the comments often border on the surreal and the lunatic – but it makes for a tremendous read.
Here is an example of why this Blog is so interesting:
“The Reformation left the Catholic Church in a position where it had to clearly define more of its beliefs because they were under constant attack in a way the East was relatively safe from. Protestantism attacked the Faith in a much more sophisticated way than was faced when contending with Muslims…..”
August 22, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I came across this image in your site:
http://fatherstephen.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/pascha-fresco.jpg
Do you know where this fresco is physically located. It is a great illustration for my new e-mail Bible study series on 1 John.
August 22, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Ralph,
I’m sorry. I could not find its physical location. By its inscription, it is Russian. More than that i do not know.
October 15, 2009 at 1:48 pm
fatherstephen, thank you for you this beautiful blog. I am a Catholic who just started visiting your blog and have already linked one of your articles on facebook so my friends can discover this place too.
November 11, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I just found this blog today, and I absolutely love it! Thank you for fostering an environment of peace on the internet, especially in the “blogosphere” world! Your beautiful posts have helped to settle my restless heart which sent me out searching and brought me to your blog in the first place. I especially appreciated your post on the ecclesiology of the cross. Thanks again, I will be visiting often. God bless you!