Let’s Introduce Ourselves

Hello my name is is Silouan Younger, I am a recent convert to Holy Orthodoxy (having been baptized in July of 2023)! I am living in Meridian, Idaho (where I was also born and raised) attending the parish of Holy Transfiguration under the loving care of Fr. Mark Fenn in the Antiochian Archdiocese. I began to chant during the Dormition Fast of 2023, when I was lovingly “drafted” by Fr. Mark to help him chant the paraklesis when none of the usual chanters were able to make it. Since then, I have joined my parish choir and gained a greater interest in chanting and the particulars of the church services, occasionally lending aid at a vespers service when needed. With this class, I hope to begin to expand my knowledge of the church offices both to gain a greater appreciation for the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church and to be of greater use to my growing parish!

I’m Paul Fallon, from Fredericksburg, Virginia. I’m supposedly 77% of the way through my actuarial journey through life. My church is the Nativity of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church. I have sung in the choir for about 15 or more years. In recent years, though, I realized if we wanted more in English, I’d have to step up. So I’m essentially self-taught. I’ve leaned heavily on DCS. So I’ve been one of the chanters and in the last two years, the English language chanter and backup for when the main chanter can’t make a service. On 9/8/2024, I was tonsured a Reader.

I’d like to know things like why during the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos on a Sunday, the prescribed reading for the feast was not used. I don’t know if we’ll cover any of the lectionary.

I’m disappointed that the EP’s typikon on the website has been under construction for years. I’m disappointed that the red ΕΠΕΤΗΡΙΣ is so expensive and only in Greek. So I hope this course will help me understand the variables and changes in especially vespers, orthros, and liturgy.

Hello, my name is Tyler Jennings. I am from Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Bluff City, TN. I am not vocally talented so I tend to volunteer for easier chanting such as the Psalms, but I am fascinated by the liturgical services of the Church and how they are put together. I hope to get a better understanding for how the services work and learn some history about them as well.

Hello, my name is Erick Sampson and I am from Kingsport, TN. My wife, our daughter and myself were brought into the Orthodox Church in 2020, and since, God has added 2 healthy twin boys to our family. We currently attend Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Bluff City, TN.

My wife and I actually met in our highschool choir, and music has always been apart of our lives. My bachelor’s degree is in Worship Arts, and while music was a great part of that experience for me, the focus on the worship of God in and through the whole of the created world was always and repeatedly emphasized. Now, by God’s grace, that I am an Orthodox Christian, many of the principles that were instilled in me at that time have taken on new and truer forms, and it seems that the longer I live, I see not only a great significance in the offering up of all of the external, material world to God, but also *time* itself.

If asked, at times, I would say that we live in strange times, trying times, and sometimes even dark times, but at other times, if asked, I would say that we live in great times – sometimes, even Holy Time. I know that it is God that holds this world together. I know that the Divine Services and the liturgical cycles of the Orthodox Christian Church are holy. I know that the Typikon is holy. I want to internalize it, live out of it, and understand it in such a way as to pass it on as an endless, invisible and untouchable, eternal treasure to my children, and lead a life as a family that is holy and pleasing to God.

I am also interested in the current parish use of the Typikon across jurisdictions, as well as the biblical and historical roots of the Tradition.

Good evening, my name is Jon Tilas from Camp Pendleton, CA. Due to me moving to Michigan within the next month, I am currently a member of St Innocent of Irkutsk Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) in Redford, Michigan. My Godfather has taught me a little bit of Byzantine Chant, as well as friends of mine such as Christian Farradj, but I am still a beginner with byzantine notation.
I hope to not only learn more about chant (both western and byzantine) but to be able to structure services from scratch, as I am very often isolated from a parish due to military obligations. In addition, I hope to one day serve the church as a reader. I am a very big fan of the Anthologion and Book of Hours, as it has provided me the ability to “conduct” services in the absence of a priest when I am in the field or serve the recruits at MCRD San Diego when the chaplains could not be there due to military obligations.