THE PHILIP LUDWELL III
ORTHODOX FELLOWSHIP
“Nurturing the roots of Orthodoxy in Dixie’s Land”
Holy Week 2024
Beloved Brothers and Sisters:
Greetings in the Lord! On behalf of everyone involved with the Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship, I want to extend our warmest regards and prayers as we continue our struggle toward Calvary and the bright Day of Holy Pascha.
The past year has been an exciting one for our Fellowship. We held our first conference in September in Tobaccoville, NC. The theme was “The fields are white unto harvest,” and our speakers explored this theme from diverse perspectives. One of the things the Fellowship is designed to do is to spark conversation about how Orthodoxy can and should be enculturated into our contemporary society. This conference went a great way in accomplishing this goal. We are especially grateful that Metropolitan Jonah graced us with his presence and his wise words concerning evangelization. Select videos from the conference may be found on our YouTube page.
We are also grateful that so many people travelled on their own dime (including our speakers) to be a part of the conference. We had attendees from as far away as England, California, and the Republic of Texas! It was your prayerful presence that made the conference a success. We hope to see many of you again, as well as some new faces at our next conference.
Speaking of which, we are currently in the process of planning our second conference. We have tentatively set the date for the weekend of September 7, 2024 (the weekend after Labor Day). We have decided that future conferences will last longer than one day. Our first conference was a resounding success, but meeting for only one day simply did not give us enough time for discussion and fellowship. Keep an eye on our webpage and social media accounts for forthcoming details.
In many ways, 2024 will be a year of transition for us. Not only will we be enlarging the conference, but our own Rebecca Dillingham will be handing off the baton as “Get-things-done-and-bottle-washer-in-chief” to the capable hands of Ben Dixon. Do not worry, Rebecca remains on the board and will be intimately involved in the Fellowship’s activities. But, after two-plus years of hard and (mostly) uncompensated work, Rebecca needs to reorient her own priorities. I cannot possibly express how much Rebecca has meant to the Fellowship. It is no exaggeration to say that without her drive and determination, the Fellowship would have never gotten off the ground! Many thanks and MANY YEARS to our dear friend!
Our first priority for the coming year is to apply for and achieve 501(c)3 status. This will enable you to make tax-deductible contributions to the Fellowship. The wheels are in motion and we will let you know once we have formally applied. In the meantime, if anyone would like to make a substantial donation and need it to count as charitable giving on your own income tax forms, please contact us. There is a legal way of doing this until we have our own status confirmed, and we will be happy to discuss this with you.
Unfortunately, filing for 501(c)3 status is not inexpensive. There are considerable filing fees involved as well as legal/consulting expenses. In addition, we would like to have some money on hand before the conference so that we can a) keep costs low and b) pay for transportation and lodging for guest speakers. Everyone paid his own way last year. We have ideas for some really exciting speakers for the next conference, but it will be easier to get speakers if we can offer travel/lodging expenses. All of which is to say, that we need your help. We have a few people who make regular monthly contributions, and we are grateful for each one of them! However, we need more supporters. Please follow the SUPPORT links on our webpage to find out how you can help!
Lastly, our inaugural conference generated some controversy—from the usual suspects! Furthermore, some of our members have recently been the target of scurrilous attacks in the media. I think it prudent, then, to repeat what I said in our 2022 Lenten Letter:
If you are wondering if we [as a Fellowship] are going to respond to these attacks, the answer is an emphatic, “No!” Those people can rage all they want (as is their wont); we are simply going to continue doing what we have been doing from day one. However, so that there can be no misunderstandings or misapprehensions among our friends and supporters, I want to reiterate what is written in our mission statement and what I have emphasized before on various podcasts: The Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship has one purpose, and one purpose only: to facilitate the evangelization of the South by exploring the ways in which the traditions of the Orthodox Church can be enculturated here and now. Or, as our motto has it: “nurturing the roots of Orthodoxy in Dixie’s Land.” One of the primary ways of doing this is to search for those things within traditional Southern culture which are expressive of the eternal verities—i.e. the true, the good, and the beautiful—and which are, therefore, capable of being “baptized” and becoming bearers of an authentically Orthodox tradition.
The LOF is not a Southern heritage organization. Nor are we an historical association, much less a Civil War remembrance society. Ironically, it is our detractors who are obsessed with the Confederacy. As our co-founder Don Livingston never tires of pointing out, the Confederacy lasted for all of four years. Yet the South, as a unique culture, has a history spanning more than four centuries! We are neither obsessed with the Confederacy, nor are we ashamed of it. It is not our task either to defend history or to apologize for it, but to learn from it. No, more than that: to understand all the ways in which we ourselves have been shaped by our history, and to consider the ways in which this complex story— our story—enables us to respond to and live according to the Gospel today.
It was wonderful to meet so many of you at our first conference, and I look forward to making many new friends at our 2024 conference! May God grant us all a profitable Lent and a blessed Pascha, and may we all continue steadfast in our devotion to bringing the truth of Orthodoxy to our Southern Homeland and its people.
Asking for your prayers for us and for the work of the Ludwell Orthodox Fellowship, I remain,
Yours in Christ,
Clark Carlton
Editorial Director
The Philip Ludwell III Orthodox Fellowship
From Dr. Don Livingston: “The Ludwell Southern Orthodox Fellowship is applying for 501 (3) c tax exempt status. In the meantime, we urgently need support to help fund our upcoming conference in September and other expenses.”
To donate now, click here
If you prefer to make a tax-deductible donation, please contact Dr. Clark Carlton at ccarlton@southernorthodox.org
For general questions and inquiries, please email the fellowship’s operations manager, Benjamin Dixon at BenDixon@southernorthodox.org
