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A video of my keynote address, given at the Paideia Conference in June 2025, is now available. My talk is titled “Lord, it is Good to be Here: Building Orthodox Culture in America”. In it, I discuss the full history of Orthodox church building in America: the beautiful and well-acculturated churches of the early 20th-century: the subsequent turn towards modernism and ethno-nostalgia: and some shining recent examples that chart a path forward. I discuss the real process of culture-building, the role of artists and patrons in fostering this process, and I work to debunk the destructive myth of ‘organic development’. It is probably the most important talk I’ve had the opportunity to offer – essentially a summary of the wisdom I’ve learned in my 22 years of designing American-Orthodox churches. I strongly encourage everyone with an interest in Orthodoxy and the arts to watch this.
Many thanks to Herman Middleton with Protecting Veil for filming my talk and creating this video, which is illustrated with over 200 slides. And to composer Olivia Rehmet and the Holy Ascension choir for creating the “Appalachian-Orthodox chant” featured in my talk.
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What a joy to watch and listen to this incredibly sensitive, thoughtful presentation. Have just finished reading Liturgies of the Wild, by a convert to Orthodoxy who stumbled into an old, stone Orthodox Church tucked into a busy, retail district. Martin Shaw. His book was on storytelling and myth, and how it’s shaped by culture (location) and time. You’re walking us through this same idea expressed in architecture. And the iconography, and the architecture, tell stories. God bless your work.
Thank you! I have had the pleasure of dining with Martin Shaw a few times. His very presence is an inspiration. I do hope my church designs express a little of his wildness.