“I now will begin my Inquirers classes with what I call the Orthodox caveat emptor: “let the buyer beware”.
You might want to pay attention, because these are increasingly NOT necessarily the assumptions of many Orthodox Christians:
 
1) The Orthodox Church believes that abortion is the murder of an innocent, pre-born human being. If you have had an abortion, or performed or caused one, love and forgiveness is here, but the path to healing will require your deep repentance, and a life of prayer (for the life you have taken, e.g.), and obedience.
 
2) The Orthodox Church believes that marriage is the sacred joining of a man and a woman in a lifelong union, and is the crucible for salvation for those who enter upon it, just as monasticism is for those who choose that path. If you believe differently about who may be married, or if you have ended your own union through divorce, love and forgiveness is here, but the path to healing will require your deep repentance and a life of prayer (for your divorced spouse, e.g.) and obedience.
 
3) The Orthodox Church believes that sexual relations are only appropriate within the context of marriage. The hyper-sexuality of our culture, regarding, e.g. fornication, whether heterosexual or homosexual, adultery, pornography, gender dysphoria, or simply contraception which turns the sexual act into recreation or a mere indulgence of our lust, represent a submission to the passions, not to conditions which are beyond our free will and the grace of God. If you have acted upon these, love and forgiveness is here, but the path to healing will require your deep repentance and a life of prayer and obedience.
 
If you believe the opposite of these to be more important than the life of repentance, forgiveness, healing and transformation offered by Christ through His Church, you are still welcome to inquire, but you are now forewarned .”
– Holy Trinity Western Orthodox Homily
 
***Now and then we include a particularly thought provoking or inspiring excerpt not from one of our regular ‘Elders’***