http://www.antiochian.org/node/17609

St. Barnabas Antiochian Orthodox Church Receives 25 New Members

St. Barnabas Antiochian Orthodox Church, Costa
Mesa, California, received twenty-five newly
illumined faithful into the Holy Orthodox Church
on Lazarus Saturday, April 19, 2008.

The Very Rev. Wayne Wilson and the Very. Rev.
Michael Reagan officiated as over 75 friends and
family members of the former catechumens
witnessed the blessed and joyful occasion. St
Barnabas previously received 27 new faithful in
2007, 28 in 2006, and 18 new members in 2005.

Each catechumen underwent a thorough and
mandatory series of catechism classes that began
in October 2007. The curriculum included the
Nicene Creed, church history, scripture and
tradition, as well as a movie night where the
class watched the acclaimed Russian film Ostrov (English – Island).

A new class on financial stewardship was added to
the curriculum in 2008. Fr. Wayne Wilson and Fr.
Michael Reagan taught the classes except for the
class on stewardship, which was taught by the
Rev. Dn. Tom Braun. The group enjoyed the
catechism classes so much they have requested
classes to continue throughout 2008 on additional
theological and ecclesiastical topics.

A special meeting with His Grace Bishop Joseph,
Bishop of Los Angeles and the West was a
highlight of the class on Sunday, April 6. His
Grace spoke with the catechumens and answered
their questions for two hours after a
hierarchical Divine Liturgy and a luncheon in his
honor. The catechumens were especially grateful
to receive His Grace's blessing a few short weeks
before their reception into the church. During
His Grace’s visit, one catechumen remarked,
“Accountability in the Evangelical world we came
out of is entirely missing. It was a real
eye-opener to see our bishop there in person,
speaking with us and knowing so much about what is going on at our parish.”

St Barnabas Antiochian Orthodox Church
(www.stbarnabasoc.org) is a local parish of the
Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America. Its outreach and
media ministries include The Illumined Heart pod
cast, broadcast weekly on Ancient Faith Radio,
and Death to the World, a quarterly journal for seekers and subculture youth.