Ancient Faith Radio (AFR) is an Orthodox Christian Internet radio station, a division of Ancient Faith Ministries (AFM), a department of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. In addition to its two streaming stations, Ancient Faith Music and Ancient Faith Talk, as well as live church service streaming and call-in shows, AFR features more than one hundred podcasts hosted by a variety of contributors, including both clergy and laity of the Orthodox Church.
Although AFM is a part of the Antiochian Archdiocese, like all of its ministries, AFR is specifically designed to be "pan-Orthodox," with both content creators and listeners from a variety of Orthodox traditions. While most of its audience is Orthodox, AFR also has a significant listener base among Christians of other traditions. [1]
AFR features some of the more prominent figures in English-language Orthodox Christian media, including Kh. Frederica Mathewes-Green, the late Fr. Thomas Hopko, Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, Dr. Jeannie Constantinou, Fr. John Oliver, and Elissa Bjeletich.
In 2004, John Maddex founded Ancient Faith Radio after a career as the division manager of Moody Institute's 35 radio stations and radio work for Focus on the Family. In 2008, under the leadership of Maddex, AFR combined with Conciliar Press (formed in 1977 as part of what became the Evangelical Orthodox Church) to form Conciliar Media Ministries, which, in 2013, was renamed Ancient Faith Ministries (with the publishing division renamed Ancient Faith Publishing).
Originally AFR primarily featured Orthodox worship music, interspersed with quotes from the Bible and the Church Fathers as well as a "Saint of the Day" segment. Later, podcasts were added with teaching-oriented broadcasts from such figures as Fr. Thomas Hopko and Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon. The first daily podcast was The Path with Fr. Thomas Soroka, added in 2007.
In 2009, Ancient Faith Radio received 135,000 iPod downloads a month. [2] [3] Station manager Bobby Maddex conducted a survey of the station's listeners in 2011 and found that converts to Orthodox Christianity outnumbered those raised in the Orthodox Church nearly three to one. [4]
Raphael of Brooklyn, born Rufāʾīl Hawāwīnī, was bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, auxiliary bishop of Brooklyn, vicar of the Northern-American diocese, and head of the Antiochian Levantine Christian mission. He was the first Orthodox Christian bishop consecrated on American soil.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, also known as the Antiochian Orthodox Church and legally as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, is an autocephalous Greek Orthodox church within the wider communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity and one of the historic Pentarchy. Headed by the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Antioch, it considers itself the successor to the Christian community founded in Antioch by the Apostles Peter and Paul.
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA), often referred to in North America as simply the Antiochian Archdiocese, is the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in the United States and Canada. Originally under the care of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Syro-Levantine Eastern Orthodox Christian immigrants to the United States and Canada were granted their own jurisdiction under the Church of Antioch in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution. Internal conflicts divided the Antiochian Orthodox faithful into two parallel archdioceses — those of New York and Toledo — until 1975, when Metropolitan Philip (Saliba) became the sole archbishop of the reunited Antiochian Archdiocese. By 2014, the archdiocese had grown to over 275 parish churches.
Thomas John Hopko was an Eastern Orthodox Christian priest and theologian. He was the Dean of Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary from September 1992 until July 1, 2002 and taught dogmatic theology there from 1968 until 2002. In retirement, he carried the honorary title of Dean Emeritus.
The Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC), founded on January 15, 1979, is a small Christian syncretic denomination established by former leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ, who, reacting against the freewheeling Jesus People movement, developed their own synthesis of Evangelicalism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Shepherding Movement principles.
Father Duane Pederson, The Right Reverend Archimandrite was an American Eastern Orthodox priest, "Jesus freak" and former leader of the "Jesus movement". He was also the founder of Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry.
The Orthodox-Catholic Church of America (OCCA) is an independent and self-governing Christian syncretic jurisdiction based in the United States, with clergy also in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Africa, and Australia.
The Convergence Movement, also known as the Ancient-Future Faith movement, is a Protestant Christian movement that began during the Fourth Great Awakening (1960–1980) in the United States.
The timeline of Eastern Orthodoxy in North America represents a timeline of the historical development of religious communities, institutions and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in North America.
Metropolitan Philip (Saliba) (Arabic: فيليب صليبا) (born Abdullah Saliba; 10 June 1931 Abou Mizan, Lebanon – 19 March 2014 Fort Lauderdale, Florida) was the Archbishop of New York, Metropolitan of All North America, and primate of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. He held the position from 1966 until his death in March 2014. His tenure as an Orthodox bishop was the longest serving in American history.
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Mission in the Philippines is a jurisdiction of the Antiochian Orthodox Church governed by the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Marianas Island, and All Oceania. It is one of three Orthodox Christian jurisdictions in the Philippines.
Peter Edward Gillquist was an American archpriest in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and retired chairman of the archdiocese's department of missions and evangelism. He was chairman of Conciliar Press and the author of numerous books, including Love Is Now, The Physical Side of Being Spiritual and Becoming Orthodox. He also served as project director of the Orthodox Study Bible and, from 1997, served as the National Chaplain of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.
The Antiochian Village Retreat and Conference Center/Camp was founded in 1978 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Ligonier, Pennsylvania. Owned and operated by the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, it consists of both a Camp and a Retreat and Conference Center. In 1994, the Antiochian Village was the site of the Ligonier Meeting, an unprecedented and historic gathering of all Eastern Orthodox Christian bishops in the United States. The Antiochian Village also hosts other faith-based retreats, meetings and educational gatherings.
Demetri, titular Bishop of Jableh, was an auxiliary bishop of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America from 1995 to 2003.
The Orthodox Christian Network (OCN) is an American broadcasting network which presents Orthodox Christian themed programming to the United States and to over 190 countries world-wide.
Eastern Orthodoxy in Guatemala refers to adherents, communities and organizations of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in Guatemala. Many of the Eastern Orthodox Christians in Guatemala are ethnic Mayas. Although the dominant religion in Guatemala is historically Roman Catholicism, in recent decades other Christian denominations have gained adherents there. Eastern Orthodox Christianity in particular has been growing rapidly, as a number of schismatic Catholic groups have expressed their desire to become Eastern Orthodox and have been received under the jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodox hierarchs. Currently, there are two distinct Eastern Orthodox communities in Guatemala, the Antiochian and the Constantinopolitan.
Patrick Henry Reardon is an archpriest of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, author, lecturer, podcaster, and senior editor of Touchstone.
Ancient Faith Ministries (AFM) is a pan-Orthodox media ministry and department of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Alongside its sales division (Ancient Faith Store), it includes four media outlets: Ancient Faith Radio (AFR), Ancient Faith Publishing (AFP), Ancient Faith Blogs, and Ancient Faith Films. It is headed by CEO John Maddex.
St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Sioux City, Iowa is a parish of the Great Plains Deanery of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America, part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, a constituent archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East. Founded in 1916 to serve the Syrian and Lebanese immigrant community that existed in Sioux City at that time, it is the oldest Orthodox parish in Sioux City and has become a pan-Orthodox community with members from across the Siouxland region.