Summary of online lecture

Stylianos Tsompanidis

“THE CHURCH DOES NOT LIVE FOR ITSELF”:

THE INCARNATE FUNCTION OF THE COMMUNITY BEFORE AND AFTER THE LITURGY

The online lecture of Professor Stylianos Tsompanidis “‘The Church does not live for itself’: the incarnate function of the community before and after the Liturgy” took place on Thursday, March 20, 2025. It was organized by the Volos Academy for Theological Studies, as a part of the series of events “Time for Action”, and also as a part of the “Liturgy after the Liturgy” series, organized by the Holy Metropolis of France and the Vicariate of French-Speaking Parishes (Ecumenical Patriarchate), in collaboration with the Volos Academy. The event was moderated by Fr. Amphilochios Miltos, PhD (Sorbonne University), Archimandrite of the Holy Metropolis of Demetrias and Research Associate of Volos Academy.

The speaker referred to the work of the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church and the earlier understandings of the fact that the Church should not behave in a self-referential manner, ignoring the world as a calling and mission and degenerating into a “Church of Sundays”. He spoke about the establishment of the term “liturgy after the Liturgy”, that is, the dynamic involvement of the Eucharistic community in the world, emphasizing that social mobilization and ministry are not an option, but a necessity of this community. He referred to the history of understandings of the social mission of the Church, and emphasized the fact that real and substantial reconciliation with one’s neighbor is a necessary condition for the common prayer, as emphasized in the Gospel and in several texts of the Old Testament. The Church has to be helpful in figuring out and really resolving the problems and conflicts inside the community. “Entering the kingdom of God is not a matter only of correct faith, but also of the implementation of this faith and of the essential messages of the Gospel in concrete realities: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven (Mt 7:21-23),” concluded the speaker.

The videorecording of the event in Greek is available on the Academy’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/y_sZRpcLia0

and in French, respectively, on the Vicariate’s channel, https://youtu.be/WplXKE3Oh_8 .