January 09, 2022

Our Father - Part 1
Sunday Sermon

- Fr. Gregory Edwards Ph.D - Dean -


Today Father Gregory shares part one of a three-part series on the rich and deep central prayer of the Orthodox Church, The Lord's Prayer. The series intention is to help deepen our understanding and zeal for the prayer Jesus gave only to His disciples around 30 AD. This prayer was part of the experience of the Church and passed down orally. The first line of the prayer, " Our Father, who are in heaven" is the focus of part one in this series. Jesus called God, His father, making Himself equal to God. When we are Baptized into His death and Resurrection we become sons and daughters by grace just as He is a Son by nature. If we understand the Grace of God given to us at Baptism, we feel God's security and love as a father. Once joined to Christ, we become His brethren having concerns for the common body, praying for our fellow man and not personal interests. We must not think of God spacially, but rather know He is near the humble.



The Rev. Fr. Gregory Edwards, Ph.D., was raised in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania, and became a member of the Orthodox Church while studying for his Bachelor's degree

307 19th Street South, Birmingham, AL 35233 | Fr. Gregory Edwards, Dean | 205.716.3080

Photography Credits: Beth Hontzas - Music: Presbytera Katerina Makiej





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The Rev. Fr. Gregory Edwards, Ph.D., was raised in Virginia and eastern Pennsylvania, and became a member of the Orthodox Church while studying for his Bachelor's degree in Religious Studies at Brown University. After completing a Master's Degree in the New Testament and early Christianity at Florida State University, he conducted doctoral studies in Greece at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, graduating summa cum laude in 2012. Ordained in 2007, he served parishes in Thessaloniki and Volos for 9 years. He and his wife Presvytera Pelagia lived in Greece from 2006-2016, where their four children were born. He has served as Assistant Professor of Missiology at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary in New York since 2014. Before coming to Birmingham in March 2019, Fr. Gregory served St. George Greek Orthodox Church in New Port Richey, FL from 2016-2019.