Conference 2.0: Fr. Peter Heers’s Speech

Fr. Peter Heers — founder and current head of Uncut Mountain Press, the founder and editor-and-chief of The Orthodox Ethos, and the author of three books, many articles, and online lecture series — delivered a bold and loving speech at Conference 2.0. Sharing stories from his time as a village priest in Greece, Fr. Peter took some of those lessons and drew parallels which can be applied to cultivating Orthodoxy in rural and small towns in the South and beyond.

Last year’s two-day Texas conference largely focused on the rich heritage of Southern and Orthodox art and music, and the continuity between the two traditions. The conversations surrounded Southern and Orthodox culture, worldview, and values, and the interplay between them; the importance of service in Southern parishes and missions; and the struggles of evangelism and how to navigate these obstacles as they arise both in our parishes, in Dixie’s Land, and in society as whole.

Also, check out this pre-2nd-conference Instagram short in which Fr. Peter explains to Fellowship friend Buck Johnson, host of the Counterflow podcast, why there is no inner contradiction within “Southern Orthodoxy.”