Blooming in the Desert – Episode 6-Interview with Archpriest Eric Tosi, Secretary of the OCA

Interview with Father Eric.

Blooming in the Desert

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This episode was a lot of fun to do.

All the episodes are done in my home and this one was no different. What we did that was different was to open up my home to the parishioners who wished to attend. We served up some excellent local pizza and had soft drinks and beer and wine and made a night of it. We had a good 35 to 40 people present which will account for some of the noise in this podcast.

A fairly large number of people turned out from my home parish of St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church(OCA). As well, some other good friends from St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church also came out to be a part of the podcast which Father Eric Tosi so graciously accepted to take part in.Father Eric is the former priest of St. Paul in Las Vegas. He served the community here for about seven years before being called on to take a role in the Orthodox Church in America's central administration.

He is an officer of the Church at the national level and his official position is that of Secretary.

Father Eric was the priest who played a vital role in my life upon my return to the Church. I am very grateful for him and also for the time we spent together on many occasions. Many are the memories he left behind for so many of us.

We all knew he left for reasons that God had called him to. He was part of the "solution" to the ailments of the Orthodox Church in America's former troubles which in large measure abated with the election of His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah at the 15th All American Council which took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in November 2008. I was at that Conference.

Father Eric, along with many others, was instrumental in the Conference itself as well in many of the reforms of transparency in the Church.

This interview , on Blooming in the Desert, is in large part his telling of the story of his transition from parish priest to being on the administrative side of the Church. Almost the entire first half of this podcast is him answering questions in response to the many questions he was asked regarding the change from a "simple" parish priest to an officer on the national level.

We then asked other questions which ranged from questions on theology, ecclesiology and the like to questions of evangelism and questions of presenting the Orthodox Faith to those who are new.

I won't say anymore but would direct you to the show.

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