Our Commission And Mission

Jesus, the Son of God, our Redeemer, prior to his ascension, gave a command to His disciples: ““All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, and even to the end of the world” (Mt. 28: 18- 20). St. Mark in his account of the same commission given by Jesus to the apostles says: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned…” (Mk 16: 15-16). In the Gospel according to Luke our redeemer’s last words on earth are recorded: “Thus it was written and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations…” (Lk 24: 46-47).

This commission is the basis of our mission. A commission is the authority given to somebody to act for another. Our commission is from Jesus Christ to act for Himself, and it is granted to us through His priesthood handed down to us, by Himself through the holy apostles and by the apostles through the holy fathers, by the imposition of hands. We believe this commission is given only to the apostles and their successors who have received the priestly apostolate of Christ through valid and genuine apostolic succession. This priesthood is distinct from the universal priesthood of the baptized and chrismated. This priesthood, consisting of the episcopate and presbyterate, is ultimately responsible for the teaching function of the Church. Thus we, the ordained clergy associated with this Journal, believe that we are empowered to preach the redeeming gospel of Christ, which was deposited with His Church. However, this priesthood cannot stay apart from the baptized, because it is through them this priesthood of ministry ultimately finds its meaning and relevance in the plan of God, and therefore, our function of teaching will assimilate impulses and inspiration provided by the people of God.

We believe that this Church is the Holy Orthodox Church, which maintains the apostolic faith and the teachings of our fathers through the 8th century. We believe that the western churches have estranged themselves from this ancient faith by teaching many doctrines that have no basis in the Holy Scriptures and Sacred Tradition of the Church. We see that some of the Orthodox Churches have begun to slowly dismantle the structure of foundations of Orthodoxy based on ancient canons and even the core doctrines of Orthodoxy. Modern ecumenism and liberalism are to be blamed for this development in modern orthodoxy. We teach that unchecked ecumenism is as heretical as liberalistic modernity. Hence it is our mission to defend the traditional orthodox faith and morality against the attacks of dangerously relativistic ecumenism and permissive liberalism and humanism. We will use the Sacred Scriptures, the resourceful Patristics and the Sacred Conciliar Canons to erect a strong wall of defense for Holy Orthodoxy. May the Holy Orthodox Church, His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, be protected and further constructed in this age of false teachings, deceptions and confusions!

CYBER TOWER OF PRAYER

We are starting a new link to help those who stand in need of our prayer on a regular basis. In order to help them we request our readers and visitors of this website to do the following :

1. Please go to the CYBER TOWER OF PRAYER link and pray for all the persons who stand in need of your prayer because of sickness or other dire needs. The Voice of Orthodoxy team prays for these persons. We consider our readers and visitors also a part of the Voice of Orthodoxy team. When we pray together, we believe, the Lord God will intervene in the lives of these persons who stand in need of our prayer and God’s assistance.
2. Please feel free to send in your requests for prayer when you or your beloved ones do need the collective prayer of the Voice of Orthodoxy community. Please contact us with your prayer requests via email to voxdivina@gmail.com. Please note that, in order to protect your identity, we will list only your first names on the Cyber Tower of Prayer.

We will definitely pray for your intentions. May God bless you.

Chor-Episcopos Dr. Kyriakos, Ph.D. D.D. Chief Editor

Please Note: Although the Voice Of Orthodoxy is a quarterly journal, it is regularly being updated in its various links during its quarterly cycle. Therefore in order to read new items of interest, please visit our website frequently. Also, we will be deeply interested in your feedbacks that would help us improve our look and substance. Your cooperation will definitely be an inspiration for us to work hard for the glory of God and for the construction of true Orthodoxy. Thank You.