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2009 Nativity Fast Retreat with Matthew Gallatin
The very popular speaker and teacher, Matthew Gallatin, is coming to Holy Cross for a retreat the first weekend of December. He'll be giving the following presentation on his series: This Orthodox Life.
This is Matthew’s most comprehensive work. These four presentations can be offered as a complete series, in any combination, or as individual, stand-alone talks. Collectively, they are designed to:
- introduce those outside the Orthodox Church to Original Christianity;
- help Orthodox Christians better live their Ancient Faith; and
- encourage personal evangelism and parish growth.
The first presentation will be offered on Friday evening, and the next day will include the remaining presentations and a light lunch.
About Matthew Gallatin
Matthew Gallatin is the author of Thirsting for God in a Land of Shallow Wells (Conciliar Press, 2002), which chronicles his journey into the Eastern Orthodox Church. His Pilgrims from Paradise podcast addresses a host of issues relating to Christian belief and practice, and is one of the most popular offerings on Ancient Faith Radio. He’s also busy on his next book, entitled One: What It Means to be a Christian. The projected publishing date is late spring or summer 2009.
Professional Life
For more than fifteen years, Matthew taught philosophy at North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. In 2007, he left his academic post to write and speak full time. He and his wife Alice currently reside in Sandpoint, Idaho, and are active in the mission parish of Holy Myrrhbearers Orthodox Church in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
Faith Journey
Matthew was raised Adventist, but intensive questioning and study led him to ordained ministry in a Calvary Chapel fellowship. While there, he began studying philosophy, which in turn led to the writings of the early Church Fathers. From his study of the history and teachings of the Early Church, Matthew came to understand that Christian truth is not discovered through personal interpretation of the Scriptures. Finding out the truth about God is instead a matter of learning what Christians have believed about Him from the beginning.
Matthew saw that while Roman Catholicism has retained much of that early Christian faith, it also has made changes and additions to it. Protestantism has gone even further, by throwing out the bulk of those early Christian beliefs and practices. In the Western world, relating to Christ has become primarily a matter of thinking and studying about Him, but Matthew learned that early Church life centered upon the immediate experience of the Presence of Christ. This experience of Christ is not achieved through studying and theologizing. Rather, it is made possible by participating in various sacramental and ascetic practices, which have defined the Christian life since the time of the Apostles.
Eventually, Matthew determined that there was only one place where the Early Church’s sacramental and ascetic life had been preserved without additions, changes, or subtractions. Only in the Eastern Orthodox churches has the unaltered fullness of the Ancient Christian faith remained intact. In 1997, Matthew, Alice, and Kaci were received into the Orthodox Church. In 2005, Joshua and Tiffani followed them.