Reader Michael

 At Harbor Bank a co-worker asked, “Michael, what possessed you to be Orthodox instead of Baptist?” When I answered, “Because I believe in what the Church teaches,” he said, “Have you looked at your skin lately?”

Other co-workers have said that they do not see why I, “being a black man is a member of the Orthodox Church.”

Woody said, “I am tired of black people thinking that we are accepted in the whitae man's society. Take you, for example. You are not accepted in your church!” Two months later I was elected secretary of the parish, and of the social club in the parish, and of the district for the social club.

More recently, a co-worker asked, “Michael, are you the only African American in your church?” I reluctanly answered “yes” because I knew that regardless of what answer I give, a wrong conclusion can easily be drawn. He then asked, “Don't you feel out of place there?” My answer was, “No! The only place where this is an issue is here [at work].

When I thought that another co-worker thought that I was not accepted at my church, she told me, "You don't know who you is!"

These incidents are the reason for creating this page. There have been several reactions at church to the first incident. One woman said [about my skin], "it's still there." A Russian Orthodox priest replied, "Black people were Orthodox while the Russians were still swinging from trees."

Another question that is frequently asked me, "How many blacks go to your church?" And another question, "Is your church a black (or white) church?" The answer to this question is easy, "No, it's a red brick building." But the answer to the first question is not so easy.

If I give a number, the other person perceives that we discriminate and do not want minorities. Part of the purpose of this site is to let you see the life of the Church from my own perspective. Apparently my experience is completely the opposite of that of Samuel of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral. I have no way to know what the problem is from his perspective since I do not have the skills to investigate the situation properly. Personally I have seen no signs of racism there but I have also noticed a sense of strong racial identity among some ethnic groups and often this is perceived as racism.

When I was leaving my old parish, one of the women at the Cathedral told me, "You should come here. Fr. Constantine will be retiring soon and Fr. Dean will need an assistant priest." On the eve of the parish 100th anniversary, another woman asked me if I were coming back there the next morning for Liturgy and she strongly encouraged me to do so and she was delighted when I told her that I will be back the next day.

Several priests have expressed to me that they are honored to serve with me. It should be the other way around. I am honored to serve with them. Bishops, priests, deacons, and lay people have often given me the same respect that they give to priests and I am really overwhelmed by this. I definitely do not deserve this honor that I constantly receive.

On another occasion, an individual told me that the reason that I am not ordained a deacon is my race. I replied, "I don't think so!" He said, "Let's face it! Where could they send you?" In five seconds I mentioned six parishes just in one jurisdiction. And this was not wishful thinking on my part.

Everything on this site reflects my own personal experience and opinion and does not represent the views of any organization to which I belong, especially to the Orthodox Church.

Please feel free to visit my other sites:

My main page
My liturgical text page

This site exists to share with you my life as atonsured Reader in the Orthodox Church. In the Orthodox Church one is tonsured a Reader for life. Some advance and become Subdeacons and others are ordained Deacons and some later become Priests.

Most of the pages will have several photographs of me with comments and explanations and stories.

As a tonsured Reader, I have belonged to the following communities:

St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral (OCA)
St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary
St. Andrew's Orthodox Church (OCA)
Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church
miscellaneous

In addition to the above, I also have or have had strong ties to the folloiwng communities:

Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, Saddlebrook NJ
Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church, New Haven CT
Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, Yonkers NY
Three Saints Russian Orthodox Church, Garfield NJ
Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation, Baltimore MD
Holy Cross Orthodox Church, Linthicum MD
St Matthew Orthodox Church, Columbia MD
St Mark Orthodox Church, Bethesda MD
Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, Beltsville MD

There are others but I am not mentioning them simply because the list could become unyieldy. There are stories behind each of the churches just mentioned and in time I hope to share the stories with you.

Another purpose of this page is to share with you the life of the Orthodox Church. The Church has a very rich liturgical, spiritual, and social life. It is my desire that as you browse through these pages, you will begin to see the richness in Orthodoxy.

You can always send me your comments and they are appreciated:

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since 2006. Page revised Sunday 4 May 2008. Please come back and visit me again.