Leads Them Throughout His Career,

¶ … Leads Them

Throughout his career, Philip Saliba has attempted to lead by example. He has taken to hear the metaphor of shepherd and sheep. By writing, by speaking, by making appeals to logic and Christian charity, Saliba has taught his flock the ways to be proper Christians in a violent and unruly period. The problem then in the church is making the teachings of Christianity valid and important to people of a reluctant or self-indulgent society. All those within the ministry, whether a new recruit or one who had achieved the level of reverence of Saliba, are tasked with being leaders. Just as the shepherd must lead his sheep to and from the fields in order for them to survive and flourish, so too must the members of the clergy show their parishioners the way to salvation and the way to be allowed into Heaven upon the occasion of their ultimate demise. A person's soul is not limited to the here and now; it is eternal. Each action that a person performs in their lifetime has a direct effect on whether that soul will be allowed into Heaven or whether it will be damned to Hell. The priest's responsibility is to show the living person how their choices impact their immortal soul and, by doing, to instill in them the firm purpose to live as a Christian and according to the tenets of the Christian religion. In times of war or famine or social upheaval, it can be extremely difficult for a priest to make his flock see beyond the immediacy of their current living situation. However, regardless of its level of difficulty, this is exactly what the priest must do: make people see beyond the moment and to anticipate what will become of them in the afterlife.

Page 88-97

Philip Saliba was not content to allow the Church to continue as it had for centuries. He understood that there was change required because the world was changing. Christians now live in countries all over the world, and in many countries are persecuted for their religious beliefs. To combat this, Saliba made recommendations for ways in which the Church could be improved and better serve the needs of the growing and diverse constituency. Some of the changes Saliba suggested were expansion of the bishopric to regions of the Archdiocese, expansion of the Department of Missions and Evangelism, the creation of a department which would focus on planning and development, and also attempting to unify the American Orthodox parishioners. If it was not possible to unify the people of one denomination within the United States, then it would be unlikely to unify the members of the religion throughout the rest of the world. By the same argument, a successful unification would serve as a beacon of hope to the rest of the world. All these suggestions are logical but difficult to accomplish, but besides these specific tasks, what it means for the ministry is the understanding that it is not enough to worship or teach in the old manners and still expect large-scale success in expansion of the religion. Particularly in pockets of Christianity in the third world region, Christianity needs to be taught while also understanding the culture of the region. Perhaps the ways one would sermonize to a group of Americans is different than the way a sermon would be given in a culture which was predominantly Muslim for example.

Page 300-312

The greatest tragedy that Philip Saliba sees is the inability of the Orthodox Church to overcome issues within the church. He believed that since the Church had such abundant resources, there was no excuse for disharmony or disagreement amongst themselves. It would be unlikely to overcome issues outside their religion if they would not be able to work cooperatively within the system. There is still a degree of infighting that occurs within religious orders, be it because of external issues of the community putting pressure or individual disharmonies amongst members of the Church. Regardless of cause, these petty squabbles must be done away with if the church is to flourish and expand.

Pages 373-384