As I hope that Appalachian people who seek "the old time religion" will come home to the Orthodox Christian Church, the Church revealed in the pages of the Bible, I also hope that African-Americans across the land will come home. Many of them don't realize how deeply the roots of ancient Orthodox Christianity run through the African soil. In his article, "African-American Orthodoxy" Albert Raboteau wrote that "the resonances or points of convergence between Orthodoxy and African-American spirituality are profound." To learn more about those "points of convergence" read his article at FreeRepublic.com or on the St. Mary of Egypt Orthodox Church website.
Father Moses Berry is the pastor of Theotokos Unexpected Joy Orthodox Christian Mission. Listen to an interview with Father Moses on Come Receive the Light entitled, “Finding My Heart's True Home: An African American’s Story” (February 25, 2006).
Read an article about Father Moses, “Descendant of Slaves Conducts Lenten Series at Virgin Mary Orthodox,” from the Northwest Indiana Times (March 8, 2003).
“Man Opens His Family Album for Slavery Museum” is an article about Father Moses from the Associated Press/Joplin Globe (Sunday16, 2000). Visit the Ozarks Afro-American Heritage Museum website to learn more about Father Moses and his work.
To learn more about St. Moses the Black (pictured here), read the article entitled "Orthodox St. Moses the Black Inspires Compassion" on the DirectionsToOrthodoxy site. The story of St. Moses is also available on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia website.
This post has been inspired by an Orthodixie post on Black Orthodoxy.
The image of St. Moses the Black is in the public domain.
