“Heritage, Hierarchy, & Orthodox Evangelism:
An Awakening of the ‘Older Religiousness’ of the South”
Please join us in the Bluegrass State on September 12th for our next annual conference,
this year at Rough River Dam State Park in charming Falls of Rough, Kentucky.
The all-day event will feature engaging speakers from varied jurisdictions, a catered cookout-style lunch, and Q&As sprinkled throughout, concluding that evening with onsite Vespers.
✢ Although the conference “officially” closes on Saturday, we hope one and all can arrive on Friday for an informal meetup that evening (details near bottom of this page) and stay through Sunday Divine Liturgy, which will also be held onsite at the Falls of Rough Conference Center in Rough River Dam State Park.
✢ Our gathering is about serving the Church’s evangelistic mission by promoting the enculturation of the Orthodox faith into the South’s unique ethos. Moreover, it’s an opportunity for folks to learn and inquire, discuss and dialogue, break bread, connect with new friends and reconnect with old, and commune with brethren from around the South and beyond. If “Heaven must be a Kentucky kind of place,” as Daniel Boone is purported to have said, we figure our aims are pretty fittin’!
Speakers
✢ Dr. David Bradshaw is a professor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky. Most of his “work to date has been on the philosophical roots of the division between the Greek-speaking (Eastern) and Latin-speaking (Western) branches of Christianity.” He is an Orthodox Christian and a parishioner in the Orthodox Church in America (OCA).
✢ Dr. L. Daniel Cantey, Jr. (Pachomius) converted to Eastern Orthodoxy from Protestantism in 2013 and is a contributor at the new Orthodox periodical Tennessee Mountain Times. Dr. Cantey earned his doctorate at Emory University and his master’s in theology from Yale Divinity School.
✢ Michael Warren Davis is general editor of the Union of Orthodox Journalists-America (UOJ). Davis worked in Catholic media for nearly a decade before converting to Orthodoxy. He previously served as a contributing editor at The American Conservative, editor-in-chief of Crisis Magazine, and U.S. editor of the Catholic Herald. Davis is a member of the OCA.
✢ Benjamin Dixon is a Fellowship member at Large and editor-in-chief and founder of UOJ’s American Bureau. A veteran of the 101st Airborne Division and the French Foreign Legion, Dixon has spent the past eight years in conservative politics. He is also a writing fellow at America’s Future and a board member of the Society of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco. Dixon, a reader in the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), also serves as the catechist for his local parish in Charlotte, North Carolina.
✢ Buck Johnson is host of the Counterflow Podcast, a thought-provoking show which explores the intersections of faith, culture, and dissident politics. Buck, a longtime firefighter, a professional drummer, and a native Texan, is a lay member of St. Andrew the First-Called Orthodox Church.
✢ Abbot Mark (Kerr) is head of Joy of All Who Sorrow Monastery (Serbian Orthodox Diocese of New Gracanica — Midwestern America) in Monteagle, Tennessee. As a hieromonk, abbot, and spiritual mentor at the Orthodox Bible Study Group at the University of the South in Sewanee, he aims “to lighten the burdens of others, to offer faith and hope, and to embody love of God and neighbor.”
✢ Rev. Fr. Terence Johnston is the parish priest of Holy Apostles Orthodox Church (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A lifelong Southerner with strong roots in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Oklahoma, Fr. Terry is a former Nashville session musician and U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran, having served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s a direct descendant of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, Commander of the Army of Mississippi who was killed in action at the Battle of Shiloh.
✢ Dcn. Mark Mathis was was ordained to the Holy Diaconate in January by His Beatitude Met. Saba (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America) at St. Michael’s Orthodox Church in Louisville, Kentucky, where he was chrismated in December 2000. Dcn. Mark holds a M.Div. from Southern Seminary and completed the St. Stephen’s Course of Orthodox Studies in September 2025. He is the author of The Rest of the Bible and served as a translator for the Orthodox Study Bible.
Schedule of Events
9 to 10 a.m. ● Dr. David Bradshaw: “A Southern Orthodox Education”
10 to 11 a.m. ● Rev. Fr. Terence Johnston: “Faith of Our Fathers”
11 a.m. to noon ● Dr. L. Daniel Cantey, Jr. (Pachomius): “The State of Nature & The Garden of Eden”
Noon to 1:30 p.m. ● Lunch
1:30 to 2:30 p.m. ● Dcn. Mark Mathis: “Hidden Orthodoxy in the South: Give Me That Old-Time Religion”
2:30 to 3:30 p.m. ● Abbot Mark (Kerr): The Mother of God Standing Among the Sorrowful: The ‘Joy of All Who Sorrow’ Icon & the Evangelical Mission of Orthodoxy in the South”
3:30 to 4:30 p.m. ● Michael Warren Davis & Benjamin Dixon: “Regional Character & Social Order: Was the South More Paternalistic?” debate moderated by conference emcee Buck Johnson
6 to 7 p.m. ● Vespers
There will be time allowed for Q&A at the end of each speaker’s presentation.
✢ Register TODAY to reserve your spot to secure our discounted pricing. “Early bird” is $65 and is good through August 2. Admission will increase to $75 on August 3. All you have to do is”
- Simply fill out the registration form below.
- Be sure to hit the grey “Submit” button, located at the very bottom of the registration form, just above the PayPal button.
- Then tender your $65 payment, either by the orange PayPal button, or by check paid to the order of “Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship” and mailed to: 10636 Catharpin Rd, Spotsylvania, VA 22551. You will receive a confirmation email once our treasurer Brother Joseph receives both your registration form AND your payment. Thank you!
Registration Form
Lodging
✢ Rough River Dam State Park: There is limited lodging available at the State Park. To book one of their remaining lodge rooms or cabins, please contact Brenda Armstrong at 270-257-2311 (option 2). These rooms will go fast, so act now!
✢ Falls of Rough Motel: Closest lodging. Located just outside of the State Park.
✢ St. Clair Motor Lodge: 2-minute drive to the State Park.
✢ Alexander Hotel: 23-minute drive. Located in the closest town of Leitchfield.
✢ The Hatfield Inn: 23-minute drive. In Leitchfield. Currently closed for renovation, but open for reservations on July 1.
✢ Twin Lakes Creamery: 23-minute drive. Two lodging options, both located in Leitchfield. The Inn at Twin Lakes Creamery is a traditional hotel-like stay, whereas Homestay on Main by Twin Lakes Creamery provides residential-style accommodations and is described as “Bed & Light Breakfast.” Click here for a property comparison and here for reservations.
Camping
✢ Cave Creek Campground: Closest camping. About 4.8 miles (8-minute drive) from the State Park.
✢ Axtel Campground: Located approximately 5.6 miles (10-minute drive) from the State Park.
✢ North Fork Campground: Roughly 6.8 miles (11-minute drive) from the State Park.
✢ Laurel Branch Campground: Approximately 7.7 miles (12-minute drive) from the State Park.
Optional “Bluegrass Concert Meetup” on Friday Night
There is a free bluegrass concert taking place from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. on Friday, September 11, at the Falls of Rough Conference Center. This live performance will serve as an informal meetup opportunity for those already in town. Food and cash bar are available both before and during the show at the State Park’s Grayson’s Landing Restaurant. If you need a primer on the Kentucky-born musical genre, check out the essays Bluegrass and What Makes Bill Monroe Great? by Dr. Tom Daniel of the Academy of Southern Music.
✢ We’re working diligently behind the scenes to make this our best conference yet, so make certain to keep an out on this Event Page, our main hub for all forthcoming updates. You can also follow us on our social-media accounts, as well as sign up for our newsletter; that way, you won’t miss any important Conference news!
✢ God willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll be seeing y’all in Kentucky for some down-home fellowship, bluegrass-inflected and outdoorsy fun, and communal worship the weekend of September 12th!
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