Crown them with Glory

Why Should Orthodox Christians March?

On January 16th, 2015 of this year, the Supreme Court agreed to hear four new cases on same-sex “marriage,” and “rule on the power of the states to ban same-sex [so-called] marriages and to refuse to recognize such marriages performed in another state” (1). More details on that announcement can be found here.

The March for Marriage is supported by the National Organization for Marriage who is working diligently to communicate the necessity for the defense of marriage between one man and one woman. April 25th represents the third March for Marriage in Washington D.C., and is set to take place within days of when the Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on the cases before them that will decide the national legal status of civil gay “marriage.” It is projected that this ruling will seriously impact religious freedom in the USA.

The march is a peaceful rally and quite comparable to the March for Life. We invite you to make every effort to attend the rally, and encourage your priests, brothers and sisters in Christ, and leaders and members of religious communities in your area, to do likewise. Come out in support of marriage between one man and one woman, modeled from our Lord’s love for His Bride: the Church. With a blessing to pursue this work from a number of our bishops, many priests believe it is time we had a national pan-Orthodox Christian movement. A strong, vibrant, and clear message is needed from our Church on the matter of the Mystery of Holy Matrimony, as well as an enumeration upon God blessed sexuality and gender roles, toward the strengthening of family life. This action is necessary in order to dispel confusion which has been stirred up by our secular culture, and most egregiously, even by some of our own clergymen.

Such an effort would be blessed by God to the building up of our faith in the hearts of our Orthodox people. This is what our nation’s people need to see: that the Orthodox Church has preserved its timeless teachings on the sacrament of marriage, and, as a place of refuge, the Church offers healing through Christ for us all, boldly proclaiming a blessed path toward salvation.

“Grass Roots” Organization Effort

• Information has been packaged to help bring clergy, monastics, and laity together in order to attend the March, including information for financial Sponsorship for clergy and monastics unable to financial afford the trip to D.C.
• We are inviting clergy and laity to act as catalysts for spreading news about the cause. We are offering packaged information on a number of key aspects for organizing our Church nationally: a page explaining how to become a Parish Representative, high quality Sunday bulletin inserts, logos of our theme to add onto blogs and websites, homiletic materials, and other edifying print and media resources.
• Visit and share using our facebook page at www.facebook.com/crownthemwithglory.

Register for the March and Become a Parish Representative

• Visit our website and Register to attend the March for Marriage and become a Parish Representative. According to a recent study, there are 1,900 Orthodox parishes in the United States (1). If every parish sent an average of two families to the March for Marriage, we could easily have several thousands of laity join our clergy and monastics at the National Mall in D.C. for the March and proceeding Orthodox gathering. Parish Representatives will be asked to speak to their priests, fellow laity, make phone calls, distribute flyers, and even coordinate buses down to the March.

We seek your prayers and leadership in the furtherance of this cause.

May we act now with great labor, asking that the Lord have mercy on us.

Glory to God who has counted us worthy to bear this cross in our age.

Prayer of Married Persons

“O merciful god, we beseech You always to remind us that the married state is holy, and that we must keep it so. Grant us Your grace, that we may continue in faithfulness and love; increase in us the spirit of mutual understanding and trust, that no quarrel or strife may come between us. Grant us Your blessings, that we may stand before our friends and in Your sight as a loving family; and finally, by Your mercy, count us worthy of everlasting life. For you are our sanctification and unto you we ascribe glory: to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.”