Lessons from the Martyrs of the Communist Yoke.
Seventy years of Soviet Communism left in its wake great suffering on the face of the earth - but with it, God brought forth the witness of millions of martyrs for Christ. These holy witnesses provide us with countless examples of the Gospel in practice in everyday life, examples which are most relevant in our own day.
In this series of talks, Father John Whiteford will provide a glimpse behind the Iron Curtain at the face of the Suffering Church, and draw from Her the lessons desperately needed in a world where privacy, freedom, and even the notion of what it means to be human are called into question.
Join us for this rare and poignant talk, where we will walk in the footsteps of the suffering saints of a past generation, and draw strength from their witness.
Our Speaker: Father John Whiteford
Father John Whiteford is pastor of St. Jonah Orthodox Church, in Spring, Texas. He was born in Riverside, California in 1966, and lived in Grand Terrace, California. After living in Kentucky, he returned to Houston, Texas in 1978.
Father John was raised in the Church of the Nazarene, and began learning about Orthodox Christianity while studying Theology at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma. He was baptized at St. Benedict Orthodox Church in Oklahoma City in 1990.
In 1995 Father John wrote an article entitled Sola Scriptura: In the Vanity of Their Minds, for the Christian Activist, which laid out many of the theological reasons for his conversion.
He was ordained a priest in the Russian Church Abroad in 2001. He is married to Matushka Patricia, and has two married adult daughters. He is a proud grandfather.
In early 2019, he was invited to give an address at St. Tikhon University in Moscow entitled Causes and Challenges of the Current Crisis of Inter-Orthodox Relations. His blog can be read at saintjonah.org.
