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Orthodox Australia - Missionary and catechesis website Alex Ivanov. www.orthodox.net.au. (www.australianorthodox.com). Why do we need one?. Australia, like other countries, is rejecting Christianity Catholic and Protestant churches are closing
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Orthodox Australia - Missionary and catechesis website Alex Ivanov www.orthodox.net.au (www.australianorthodox.com)
Why do we need one? • Australia, like other countries, is rejecting Christianity • Catholic and Protestant churches are closing • Government policies and law no longer supports Christian values • Australian adults grown in Christianity no longer attending the church services • Australian youth have absolutely no idea about Orthodoxy
Orthodox Christianity in Australia • Largely unknown to Australians • Associated with migrant country: Russian Church, Greek church instead of focus on Christ Himself • Only 2.6% Australians are Orthodox • In the world, Orthodox is the second largest Christian church • In Australia, Orthodox is fifth largest behind Catholicism, Anglicanism, Uniting, and Presbyterian/Reformed churches
Website goal 1: Mission • Provide a short summary what Orthodox faith is • Why we believe Orthodoxy is The Truth • Explain why we believe God exists, what are major religions and how they differ from Christianity • Explain why Orthodox is the only Church founded by Christ Himself • Address “difficult questions” • Apologetic information
Website goal 2: Catechesis • Basic Orthodox teachings • Difference with catholic, protestant • Links to Holy Fathers books • Living a Christian life
Website goal 3: Linking Orthodox Churches of Australia • Build vibrant Orthodox online community • Information about Orthodox eparchies of Australia • Map of all Orthodox churches and monasteries, with links, photos • Calendar of church feast days • Bible study groups • Pilgrimages • Photo gallery • Forum on various topics. Apologetics, Q&A etc. • Example protestants: http://carm.org/apologetics
Multi lingual site • Initially only English and Russian – full versions • Other languages to join later (engage multicultural team) • Greek • Serbian • Romanian • Bulgarian
Social network &Facebook integration Articles have public FB comments enabled Discussion is translated to Facebook user feed Moderation is required Forum with the priest answering questions
Project team • Laity not clergy (time consuming) • Clergy to review articles • Engage Fr. Michael,Fr. Igor, Fr. Nikolai • Engage laity from Dandenong, Brunswick, Oakleigh • Engage people from national churches
Part 1: Missionary • What do YOU believe? • No God: Atheism, agnostics • Buddhism • Multiple gods: Hindu, pagan • Islam • Judaism • Sects • Occult teachings • Christian church • Church History • Orthodoxy and Catholics • Orthodoxy and protestants • Orthodox countries in the past and today • Famous Orthodox people
Structure 2: Catechesis • Orthodox faith • Holy Trinity • Nicene Creed • Holy Tradition • Holy Scripture • Apostolic succession • Icons • The Divine Liturgy • Saints • Jesus Christ – Man and God • Sin and repentance • Salvation • Church • Judgement and Afterlife Being an orthodox • Prayer • Fasting • Repentance, confession • Holy Communion • Spiritual warfare • Bible studies
Structure 3: Orthodox Australia • Orthodox Australia • Orthodox church in Australia • Australian eparchies • Map of all churches and monasteries • Calendar of church feast days • Bible study groups • Pilgrimages • Forum • Photo gallery
Project budget • Project is driven by lots of people volunteering their time • Content is mostly copied across from other websites, with permission • $600 professional design https://www.fl.ru/konkurs/ • $80 per year hosting • $300 custom maps