Welcome! St. Brigid Orthodox Christian Mission is a small group of Christians seeking to serve God and make friends here in Brookings and Harbor, Oregon.
We seek to provide a place for folks to pray and fellowship and for our children to play and learn. Currently we meet at the house of one of our member families: Martin & Brooke Becktell.
I (Martin) plan to transform an outbuilding on our property into an Orthodox Christian bookstore. And we also hope to build a chapel/schoolhouse on the property in order to have a place for homeschoolers to gather and perhaps our own little school if we can manage it.
ALL ARE WELCOME:
We believe our church is truly for everyone; however, anyone visiting for the first time may find things that are are unfamiliar, which will take some explaining. For example we have icons, which are paintings of Christ and our holy Christian forebears done in stylized fashion, which we sometimes give as gifts to one another. We “venerate” the person depicted in the icons by kissing their hand, etc., formally in our worship or informally. And we believe that the gesture we apply to the icon passes through it to the saint in heaven.
This seems strange to anyone from a Protestant background or perhaps forbidden; however, if you can imagine someone kissing the photo of a loved one, it’s truly not different than that. For us the persons in the icons are among our loved ones. And we believe they are in heaven watching over us. Jesus said, God “is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mark 12:27). Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who are Old Covenant Saints watched over Moses in his day and today added to these are many New Covenant saints whom we seek to remember and fellowship with. So our icons are portals to heaven. We arrange them at the front of our worship space as if the saints are seated before us in a dais, because we believe, well, they are! Imagine any important banquet, such as the Alfred E. Smith memorial banquet in New York City where presidential candidates speak just prior to election day. There is a dais full of the important people of New York, wealthy businessmen, politicians, socialites. How much better to gather before a dais honoring first Jesus Christ and those who gave their lives for Him? See the icon of St. Brigid below:
We also ring a bell and burn incense. And we sing most of our prayers. Think of this as an ancient, “organic” multi-media, a multi-sensory experience, which stands in contrast to the “virtual” social media and AI experience we mostly participate in today. If social media or just being too busy ever leaves me feeling a little drained, this my way to get filled back up again!
The reason we pray this way is not because we wish to be weird or exclusive, but because we are seeking to be in accord with historic, world/universal Christianity. So you may feel like you’re stepping back in time.
“AS FAR AS THE EAST IS FROM THE WEST”
We believe by God’s grace we are shedding modernism/rationalism, not only in how we worship, but in who we associate with, welcoming a new post-modern era in which western Christians and nations can forge ties with their eastern brothers in Greece, Romania, Serbia, Georgia, and Russia, etc., instead of being estranged from or in rivalry with these nations.
For example, though the US may be engaged in a proxy war with Russia as I write this, and though Russia is in fact the aggressor, we believe that our orthodox faith gives us the true insight into the cultural causes of this war, which our government needs to understand in order to not exacerbate the conflict.
Members of our church can (if they so wish and can afford it) visit Orthodox churches in Jerusalem, Mount Athos, and Europe and take communion with these eastern believers as brothers and sisters in Christ. We believe this shared communion is the big picture way to glorify Christ and bring peace to the world in the 21st Century. Jesus said the way is “narrow” which leads to life; few find it.
We have three original households, all of whom have been baptized in Eastern Orthodox Churches. Thus our theology and certain aspects of our culture are Eastern Orthodox; however, we now pray according to the Western Rite English Daily Office, which was created in the 16th century to be a simplified version of what English monks and nuns would pray. If and when I become a priest, we will pray the Liturgy of St. Gregory, which is based on the Tridentine Mass the most widespread liturgy of the western world from 1570 to 1970.
HOSTS:
Martin and Brooke Becktell — Both Brooke and I enjoy spending time with our kids and studying and gardening when we have the chance.
I currently work part-time as a handyman in addition to my ministry work, although my goal is to do ministry full time. Brooke leads a homeschool “cottage school” gathering as well as participating in other homeschooling groups with our kids.
WHAT WE BELIEVE:
Again we believe in what I like to call the “historic” orthodox Christian faith as it was delivered to the Apostles and kept through the so-called “dark ages” and the following centuries by men such as St. Basil of Caesarea (330-379), St. John Chrysostom (d. 407), St Patrick of Ireland (d. 461), Saint Brigid of Ireland (d. 525), our patron saint, and many others. We don’t believe that the essence of Christianity is something that can ever be updated, because the essence is God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So we say rather our “light” comes from this heritage as well as our cherished freedoms.
We believe God is near to each one of us and that he loves every person and his whole creation more than any of us can imagine.
REGARDING OUR CHILDREN:
One practical thing we would like to assert is how we can cooperate in raising our children in the “nurture (paideia) and admonition” of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4)—a worthy cause whether you have young children or not.
The word “paideia” was weighty word in ancient times, not unlike the way “democracy” is still a weighty word for us today. Paideia meant total enculturation. So St. Paul is telling the Christian parents to raise their children in the total enculturation of the Christian faith. Thus we believe it’s important to exempt our children from secular/technocratic enculturation as much as possible and to help families to do that as best we are able.
We wish to help the children form life-long friendships within our own group, not only to pray together, but to learn and play together as much as possible, so as to have their own “tribe”—not a tribe of any one race, but the tribe of the Church, the “new Israel of God,” a tribe set apart by the signs of the God’s Holy Covenant: baptism and communion. Of course the children will form friendships outside the group as well, but church is the one place where children are gathered together based on the faith of their parents, not based on any specific activity, such as mathematics or karate or soccer or ballet dancing, but on the basis of being brother’s and sisters in Christ. And we believe that makes all the difference in the world when it comes to instilling in our children a strong (and also true) identity.
We believe the best way to advance our historic Christian identity is not through “identity politics,” but simply by living it, by practicing our faith. This not to say that we can avoid politics entirely. We are happy to vote, but we want our message for the nation to be rooted in an embodied faith, in continuity with our Christian forebears.
MORE ABOUT ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY:
Orthodox Christianity is mostly unknown to those in America. There are three big groups of Christians: Roman Catholics, Protestants, and the Orthodox. Orthodox means, literally, “right teaching.”
Orthodox Christians are often called “Eastern Orthodox” because our faith stems from the eastern half of the Roman Empire centered around Constantinople, which was the largest city in Europe from the 5th to the 13th centuries. However, as the St. John Maximovich said best:
“Never, never, never let anyone tell you that, in order to be Orthodox, you must be Eastern. The West was fully Orthodox for a thousand years, and her venerable liturgy is far older than any of her heresies.”
The Orthodox have been officially separated from the Roman Catholics for nearly 1000 years, about 500 years longer than the Protestants. There is some talk of the Pope and the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch joining up; however, we believe such a union at this time would be for the wrong reasons—watering-down the faith. So if that happens we will be among the Orthodox who stay separate and stay, well, orthodox.
Two distinguishing marks of Orthodoxy are that we have mostly married priests and we baptize and commune our children because we believe the “promise” is for us and our children (Acts 2:39) as well as those who join us as adults.
How is a “priest” different than a “pastor?” The word, “priest,” comes from the Greek word “presbyteros,” which means venerable old man. Pastor comes from a Latin word of the same spelling meaning “shepherd.” Priests are pastors because they are expected to shepherd their flock of people, so in that sense there is no difference. But one obvious difference that you’ll notice is that a priest spends a lot of the time during the church service facing forward toward the altar at the front of the church with his back to the people as though marching in front of them—leading from the front as it were. This is the posture he assumes when praying to God on behalf of the people.
Many people come to Eastern Orthodoxy when they are about to give up on organized Christianity altogether or already have. It’s often a last chance for those who struggle with finding where they belong among the array of churches in America.
We encourage you, don’t give up on practicing your faith together with other believers! As the scriptures say, continue to “abide in [Jesus] word” (John 8:31). Continue to read and discuss scripture with other believers. Don’t lose heart, but go deeper. As the Apostle Paul said, “Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 10:23-25).
TOPICS OF DISCUSSION:
What kinds of topics might come up in the course of our discussion? Nothing is off limits. Of course we’ll talk about what the Bible says and what it means and how we know what it means. As Orthodox Christians, we like to consider what has been believed by all the Church in all places and at all times. Of course this is a tall order and it requires a knowledge of Christian history and tradition and the lives of remarkable Christians whom we call “Saints,” with a capital ‘S.’ Nevertheless, we hope to gain this knowledge little by little. It’s a worthy endeavor and very exciting to learn to recognize the unmistakable character of Christ throughout history.
And, how do we then live based on this knowledge of Christ? We believe “theology is what comes out your fingertips and what comes out your fingertips is your theology.” So we may discuss topics such as:
- Finding meaningful labor: Integrity and witnessing in the workplace.
- How Christ can redeem us from “boring,” misguided, or unethical labor.
- Family relationships.
- Christ-centered education and leadership for our children.
- Gardening and permaculture and living more locally-sustainable lives.
- Loss of species diversity and habitat and other environmental concerns.
- The Biblical offense of racism.
- How we worship.
- How we testify to Christ.
- The place of charity in the Church.
- Whether and how we shall engage in local or national politics.
- Health passports and other restrictions on personal liberty.
- And many other topics.
And we will need to seek to live in accordance with our conclusions. Actions speak louder than words. Practically speaking, our freedom in Christ means the freedom to lead our families and businesses and Christian institutions such as schools making life better in practical ways for ourselves and our children and any who wish to join us in good faith.
HOW WE GOT STARTED:
My wife and I grew up as evangelical Protestants. I did not attend an Eastern Orthodox parish until 2015 when I was 35. As a Protestant I had begun to be earnestly concerned about the accelerating transition to secularism in the United States and the future of my children; and this growing concern eventually led me to be interested in ministry and to ask, what are the true doctrines and practices of the Church which are the historical foundations of Christian ministry?
I never imagined that instead of trying to reconstruct the church from Biblical and historical evidence I would find the answers in an existing church from the East. At just the right moment in my life when I was confused, and considering praying only at home, a friend prevailed upon me to visit St. Herman’s Monastery in Platina, California. Thereafter I also visited a local Orthodox Christian parish and by God’s mysterious grace I was able to worship God freely and joyfully for the first time in a long time.
At that Saturday evening worship service, I experienced an auditory hallucination in which I heard creation praising God as one of the lower order priests was reading about the wonders of creation in Psalm 104. It wasn’t like I was hearing sounds from outside my head, by it was like my mind became free and large enough to contain all of creation, instead of just my immediate surroundings. In academia this type of experience is known as “enchantment.” My wife and I were later baptized with our two older children in 2017 at Saint Andrew’s Serbian Orthodox Church in Anderson, California.
In the summer of 2020 during the COVID lockdowns we happened to move to Brookings, Oregon. We were displaced by the upheaval and changes that occurred with the lockdowns and were very thankful to meet a small number of Orthodox Christians here in Brookings.
In March of 2023 we were granted to be an official mission parish of the Western Rite Communities of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR-WR). ROCOR is the church that started when Russian Orthodox Christians were exiled from Russia during the communist revolution.
I began to be acquainted with the Western Rite Communities of ROCOR when I visited All Saints Orthodox Church in Lodi, California, pastored by Fr. Elijah Drake. I first visited in June of 2022 and later returned with my family for our youngest daughter to be baptized.
In the fall of 2023 I attended the ROCOR-WR biennial Conference and was ordained a reader by Bishop James (Corazza) of Sonoma.
We have also visited with our dear follow Orthodox brethren in nearby Rogue River, Oregon, and Eureka, California, on many occasions and we hope to keep up our friendships with them, as well as with monks of All Merciful Savior Monastery, St. Hermans Monastery and the nuns of St. Xenia Skeet.
HEALTH CONCERNS:
We believe that if we are gathering in obedience to Jesus in faith, and seeking also to honor him by how we live throughout the week, Jesus can honor that faith by protecting our health and the health of our loved ones. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Matthew 18:20). So if Jesus tells us to gather, then we believe we should gather, despite the risks, whether they be health-related or simply the risk of encountering disapproval from others. There are times when we have to say, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). If COVID-style lockdowns were to occur again, you would be welcome to wear a mask, but not required.
Bring your concerns whatever they are, concerns about our children and the Earth, about our country and our freedoms, about peace and justice for the world, and about working toward self-sustainability for our own families. And let’s look for creative and practical ways to put our values into action. We believe that true freedom begins with appreciating the miracle of life all around us and the Person who breaths life into existence, Jesus Christ.
We hope that you will visit us!
A blessed day to you,
– Martin