Coming to Orthodoxy and St Andrews has been amazing for myself and my wife, Brittany. I suppose the path was a series of coincidences. I have a podcast that tends to center around right wing and liberty based politics. 2020 changed my views on a litany of issues. I was an atheist but had grown up nondenominational Protestant. A few fellow podcasters in my orb mentioned Orthodoxy several times. One was my friend Vin Armani (now Baptized as Cyprian) and one was my fellow catechumen at St Andrews, Matt Erickson. After realizing that there were so many evil things happening, in 2020 and 2021, I started thinking that there must be something more than the physical world at play here. I asked Vin Armani more about Orthodoxy and he pointed me towards “God’s Revelation to the Human Heart” by Fr Seraphim Rose. I was blown away. That lead me to “Nihilism“ also by Fr Seraphim. Then! I think I’m free to say this- Brother David reached out to me on Twitter and invited me to St Andrews. I couldn’t believe it. I had been driving by the church and was hesitant to go in due to my lack of knowledge on the long tradition of Orthodoxy. I felt it would be disrespectful. And here’s a random guy that followed me on Twitter inviting to this very church in my little town. I mentioned that I had been reading Fr Seraphim and David was really floored. I said I’d check it out. I then wrote to Vin and told him and told me that this was God at work and that in no way this was a random coincidence. My wife agreed and so we went! And we love it. I’m obsessed with reading and learning about a topic when I get into it, and the depth, beauty and history of Orthodoxy are things I find to be wonderful. My biggest problem is gathering too many reading materials at once lol. We are stoked to be catechumens now. We love Fr Iggy, David, CeCe and all of the good people we’ve met at St Andrews. It’s also pretty cool that Matt and Amy (and Eastwood!) not only moved to Texas but are now catechumens as well. The other stuff: we have been in Lockhart since October 2020. I’m a lieutenant in the Austin Fire Dept and have done that for 24 years. I’m a drummer and have toured around the US and Europe several times, although I’ve definitely slowed down on that front. Brittany and I have been married since 2011 and have two French Bulldogs, Lux and George. Thank y’all for welcoming us ”home”. Its a true blessing and we love it. -
Buck Johnson
Wonderful to hear you share this! Yes, feel free to share our connection. I didn't follow you on Twitter but your post (via Pete Q) about running for a local office was put in my timeline so I looked at your Twitter account. I saw your interest and decided to reach out to you. There is no coincidence here, God used Blessed Fr Seraphim's work to put you exactly where you (and your bride) needed to be. Celia and I are truly so happy to have y'all as a part of the family at St Andrew and it is an honor for us to sponsor y'all into the Church. May God continue to bless your family!
Great photo and introduction, Buck! We are happy to have you both at St. Andrew's!