Internet Ministry
The Department of Internet Ministry was created in Spring 2008 to serve the communications needs of our Archdiocese by providing a professional-quality Internet publishing platform at our official website, www.Antiochian.org. The Archdiocese website had previously been built and maintained by the Department of Communications and Information Technology, before this department was closed and its responsibilities divided. In recognition of the need for our Archdiocese to make more fruitful use of new media, the Department of Internet Ministry was launched to focus exclusively on improving the presentation on the World Wide Web of our vibrant life and work.
As the Church has always done, our Archdiocese seeks to use well the tools of our society to communicate with each other, and with the world beyond. And the Internet is the most significant communications technology of today, despite being so new that we are still coming to grips with its place in our lives. Well over a billion people across the world are estimated to use the Internet every month, including 250 million North Americans, over 70% of our continent’s population. This revolutionary communications tool has rapidly become a necessity rather than a luxury for any organization with a message to share.
What does this mean for our Archdiocese? It means that we've had to start building with what we have: the wisdom and expertise that exists across the workers and ministries of our Archdiocese, and the information and stories they need to communicate; the different audiences with different needs that make up the more than 50,000 monthly visitors to our website; the technology platform that has been built to make this website possible. Our work at the department falls in to several different categories: administrative, technical, design, and editorial.
The department is chaired by Douglas Cramer. For more information, please contact us at editor@antiochian.org, or visit our Site FAQ page.
Antiochian.org Launches Section for 2009 Archdiocese Convention
Our 49th Antiochian Archdiocese Convention will take place July 19 to 26, 2009, in Palm Desert, CA. Hosted by St. Michael Church of Van Nuys, the theme of the convention is: "Be mindful, O Lord, of those who bear fruit and do good works in thy Holy Churches, and who remember the poor."
This important gathering of our faithful from across North America will be reported on via a variety of new media sources. The editors at Antiochian.org will be posting daily from the convention, and we have prepared a special section ready for this reporting, where you can also learn about the official website for the convention, other media ministries who will be in Desert Springs, and more.
In particular, we want to note that for the first time the convention planners have made available in advance online the official reports prepared by each department and ministry for delivery at the Convention. To take advantage of this valuable resource, you can download the reports as a single PDF file from the Convention website here.
"Feast of Feasts" Web Site Goes Live
[OCA Communications/Antiochian Archdiocese Department of Internet Ministry] -- "FeastofFeasts.org," a web site celebrating Holy Pascha, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, is now live.
Co-sponsored by the Orthodox Church in America and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, the site includes current materials from the two Churches' respective web sites and print media, and new material and resources from both jurisdictions.
Visitors to the site will find articles, photo galleries, and audio files that teach about the significance of the feast of Christ's Resurrection and about how this holy day is celebrated by Orthodox Christians.
OCA and Antiochian Archdiocese to Launch Web Site Dedicated to the "Feast of Feasts"
The Orthodox Church in America and the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America are teaming up to launch a web site offering articles, photo galleries, and audio files celebrating Holy Pascha, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the "Feast of Feasts."
Featured Author of the Antiochian Archdiocese: Douglas Cramer
Douglas Cramer is Chair of the Department of Internet Ministry of the Antiochian Archdiocese, and editor of Antiochian.org. He is a writer, editor, and graphic designer with over twenty years of experience in the field of communications. Douglas has served as managing editor of AGAIN Magazine and as staff writer for Orthodox Christian Network. He is a member of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Featured
Many Hats, One Person: Sin and Anxiety
By Douglas Cramer
There’s a phrase I like that sums up our life in the modern world: “We all wear many hats.” It’s true – we do. Time management gurus like Steven Covey encourage us to structure our schedules according to the different roles we play, the different hats we wear – spouse, parent, child, worker, householder, friend, athlete, volunteer. But here’s what’s great about the phrase “many hats” – if we think about it, it reminds us that even though we wear many hats, there’s one person, the same person, underneath each of them.
You know what’s wrong about focusing on our hats instead of the person underneath? It can lead us to fall in to a dangerous sin – the sin of anxiety. You may not think of anxiety as a sin. But Jesus Christ teaches us that anxiety leads us away from Him, and from our salvation. And whatever separates us from God is sinful. We must overcome anxiety and worry. And thank God, the Scriptures and the teachings of our Church teach us how.
Let me tell you though one thing that makes me anxious – the statistics on anxiety in America! According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 1 in 8 Americans between 18 and 54 have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. That’s 20 million people! Anxiety is the number one mental health problem for women, and second only to drug and alcohol abuse for men. Anxiety is the most common mental health problem in America, more common than even depression.
Now Ben Franklin once said: “Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” Keep in the sunlight. And as Christians, don’t we know the source of the True Light? And don’t we know that we can learn to live in that Light?
Bringing Light to the World Wide Web: Antiochian Archdiocese Online
by Douglas Cramer
“Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols . Therefore he reasoned . . . in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there . ”
Acts 17: 16-17
Throughout the New Testament, we find stories of St. Paul making use of the tools of his day to communicate the Gospel and engage in the marketplace of ideas. From ships to the postal service, St. Paul used the communications systems of the Roman Empire in service of our Lord Jesus Christ. This model continues to guide the Church today, as we seek to use well the tools of our society to communicate with each other, and with the world beyond. The most significant communications technology of today is also the one that is so new that we are still coming to grips with its place in our lives: the Internet.
Well over a billion people across the world are estimated to have used the Internet in December of 2007 alone, including 250 million North Americans, over 70% of our continent’s population. An Internet business expert recently noted that, “the Internet is one big gigantic never-ending computer conference call, with people joining in and dropping out all the time.” This raises an important question for us at the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America: “What do we have to say?” The answer is, “A lot!”
One Church, Many Voices