New Website Administration

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 00:00:00 -0400

The RWRV Website is getting a new administrator. Fr. Anthony Bryant, who has done an incredible job of designing and building the RWRV Site to this point is now turning his attentions to other responsibilities within the Vicariate. For those who do not know, Fr. Anthony Bryant is the Rector of St Katherine's Orthodox Church in Pelion, South Carolina and manages an Orthodox Christian-based homeschool. We all would like to thank Fr. Anthony for the sacrifice of his time, talents and resources in creating this page and the content!

Stepping in to fill his shoes will be Fr. Benedict Simpson of St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Church in Acworth, Georgia. Fr. Benedict has several years experience in building and maintaining websites and has been a diocesan webpage administrator in the past. We would like to welcome him and wish him well in this new position!

Launch of the Official RWRV Internet Presence

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 17:41:28 -0400

We are happy to announce the official launceh of the ROCOR Western Rite Vicariate website along with other tools to help our clergy and laity stay connected around the world. To find us on FaceBook, simply click on the link below and you'll be taken directly to our page.

2012 ROCOR Western Rite Vicariate Conference Success!

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:00:00 -0400

Revised by the Pastoral Vicar and Vl. Jerome’s Blessing

The 2012 ROCOR Western Rite Vicariate conference was a great success story in the continuing growth and maturity of the Orthodox Western Rites. In addition to the large amounts of time dedicated to renewing ourselves spiritually, and enjoying the fellowship of about 50 clergy, family and friends from around the United States, we took full advantage of the time together to more fully understand what it means to be Orthodox and use the Western Rites.

Among the greatest of blessings was that His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion, and His Grace, Bishop Jerome, were both able to attend the entire conference with us. Their presence gave us an anchor of stability and provided leadership with a vision for the future of the Western Rite in ROCOR. In conversation with our Metropolitan it was established that our “Vicariate” is to be considered like a Diocese. During the conference we established more organization internally and received the direction to take a solidly traditional approach to our Orthodox Faith. Among the decisions and presentations made at the conference, a couple highlights are as follows:

1. The Fraternity of Saint Gregory will be suppressed with its content being merged into the ROCOR Western Rite Vicariate website. While this organization provided a great service facilitating the successful transition of clergy into the Western Rite of ROCOR, its mission evolved to be one that was redundant to that of the ROCOR Western Rite Vicariate, namely, the support, growth and spiritual enrichment of the Orthodox Western Rites. Those who are outside of the Vicariate and continue to support the Western Rite itself will be recognized on the website as The Friends of Western Rite.

2. While we understand the need to be pastoral with those who may wish to practice various post-schism feasts and practices such as Corpus Christi and Benediction, the Metropolitan recommended we avoid them. The act of converting to Orthodoxy, even in the Western Rite, involves much more than “changing the picture on the wall.” Since some practices were established post schism, our Bishops will take the necessary time to review their Orthodoxy before granting approval to practice them within the ROCOR Western Rite. It is important to note that this is not a judgment against the use of these practices as much as it is recognition of the need for our Bishops to review and approve them in advance of accepting them.

3. The Pastoral Vicar presented a paper on the history of ordinations in the West and their traditional times, the Ember Days which go back to the ancient Church. He requested the Metropolitan to give his blessing to the restored practice for the reasons of authenticity and practicality.

4. Fr. Irenaeus Watson, from Saint Ambrose of Milan Orthodox Church, gave an excellent presentation on how to approach evangelism from an Orthodox point of view. He focused on the need to be holy, be still, and allow God to use as in a way that is according to His will. We all have gifts that can be used to spread Orthodoxy in the Western Rite, and should use them. However, we need to work together for a more complete approach to evangelism.

5. Mr. Doug Byrum, from Saint Cuthbert Orthodox Church, delivered a very professional presentation with information to our clergy on how to look at some practical matters around church growth. He focused on the need to plan at each stage of parish growth; house church, rental church, and ownership of a new temple. Many ideas and approaches were shared, and we look forward to seeing how some of these techniques and planning play out in the years to come.

6. Fr. Anthony Bryant, from Saint Katherine of Alexandria Orthodox Church, discussed the need to get organized financially. During this presentation, all clergy unanimously agreed to make the funding of the ROCOR Western Rite Vicariate a priority. Clergy made the commitment lead by example and, in doing so, open up opportunities to help fellow clergy in need, cover future conference expenses for all of our clergy, afford annual support and maintenance of this website, and afford travel expenses for Episcopal visits to all regions of the United States.

7. Fr. Robert Bower, from Saint Nectarios Orthodox Church, also delivered an excellent and informative presentation on various tools that can be used on the Internet. He explained how a local parish/monastery can benefit from these tools at little to no cost, and the value of having a way for people to find out more information about us in a consistent format.

Most importantly, we had the opportunity to build each other up with group prayer, concelebrations of the Divine Liturgy daily, and a full formal cycle of Matins, Noon, Vespers and Compline in the traditional Western Rites. We also had the blessing to view three different versions of the Western Rite Liturgy:

1. On the first day we concelebrated the Divine Liturgy of Saint Gregory the Great (formerly known as “The Fraternity Liturgy”) with His Grace, Bishop Jerome.

2. On the second day, Fr. Aidan Keller, from Holy Protection Orthodox Church, led us in the celebration of the traditional Sarum Mass.

3. On the third day, Dom James Deschene, Abbot of Christ the Saviour (Christminster) Orthodox Monastery, led us in the celebration of a traditional Requiem Mass.

The 2013 conference is tentatively scheduled for October 7, 2013 thru October 11, 2013 at Mount Alvernia Retreat Center again. We are extremely grateful to our hosts at Mount Alvernia for all their hard work to keep us fed, on time, and giving us full accommodations throughout their facility. Last, but not least, we also would like to recognize and thank our Pastoral Vicar Fr. Anthony (Bondi) for all his hard work and continued dedication to organizing our annual conference with all the many logistics involved. With nearly 50 people participating from around the United States, this is no simple task and we appreciate his efforts and sacrifices.