Meletios (Webber), Archimandrite: Bread and Water, Wine and Oil: An Orthodox Christian Experience of God

Conciliar Press, 2007

Written by the spiritual father of my best friend, Fr. Yousuf Rassam, this is an honest and accurate look at the holy mysteries (or ‘sacraments’) and the vision of reality that they embody and transmit. True to Fr. Meletios’ own humble, sympathetic character, the book conveys effectively that the answer to secularism is not fundamentalism but sacramentalism: above all, the infectious spirit of the Divine Liturgy.

Afonsky, Gregory, Archbishop: Christ and the Church in Orthodox Teaching and Tradition

St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001

Written by the retired Bishop of Alaska in the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), this is a systematic and traditionally-based look at the dual identity of the Church: spiritual icon of the theanthropic Trinity, the meeting place of God and man; and historical organism, identical with the Orthodox Church, that carries the authority of the Incarnate Logos in encounters with an increasingly secular society. Unlike similar books on the Church, which are more and more rare in Orthodox circles today, Christ and the Churchdoes not bow to an ‘ecumenical’ agenda in laying out a clear outline of what the Church is.

Shahovskoy, John, Archbishop: The Orthodox Pastor: a Guide to Pastoral Theology

St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2008

A classic manual for parish priests, Archbishop John of San Francisco’s book is a series of talks, each pithy and pointed, covering all basic aspects of governing and shepherding a parish. Deeply Scriptural and candid, the author steers a course between the two extremes of clericalism and congregational anarchy. He affirms beyond doubt that the primary role of the Orthodox pastor is not social worker, psychiatrist, or police officer but prime celebrant at the Divine Liturgy.