Oriental and Occidental as One with Christopher Maximus

Welcome to Episode 94, in this episode I have the honor of interviewing Deacon Christopher Maximus.

Deacon Christopher Maximus – essential grocery worker by day, former Boy Scout, semi-retired Drag Queen, grateful alcoholic, human rights activist, seminarian, and Deacon.

As a teenager, Christopher found God's grace and love in his local Eastern Orthodox Church after an invitation to attend from his high school best friend. Eventually, he was baptized and chrismated in the Antiochian Orthodox Church. This is the time when he first felt a monastic and clerical calling.

After being shunned by the local Orthodox parish for his sexuality he took a 10-year break from organized religion. After seeking substance abuse treatment, Christopher became involved with a local Episcopal parish because of their inclusiveness.  He was received into the Anglican Communion at Saint Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, WA. During a moment of private prayer at his then parish, he vowed to God that if the compulsion to drink was eliminated, he would dedicate his life to the service of the Church.  He became very involved in his parish. Christopher and his husband, both became habited Religious Brothers with a dispersed Franciscan Order inside of the Anglican Communion.

In his discernment for theological education, Christopher discovered the rich history of the Old Catholic and Independent Sacramental Movements and was directed toward an autonomous Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction by a friend. In the fall of 2018, he and his husband were received into the autonomous Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction, and after some time of independent training with an Orthodox hierarch, he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on the Feast of Saint Patrick, The Enlightener of Ireland, in Toledo, OH.

In the winter of 2020, Deacon Christopher, his husband, and their two fur-children packed up and moved across the country from their home in Seattle, Washington to Toledo, Ohio in pursuit of theological education. At the beginning of summer 2020, Deacon Christopher began his first year of theological seminary formation with Saint Symeon the New Theologian House of Studies through the Community of Saint George.

Links:

Convergent Streams: The Premier ISM Magazine.

This podcast is hosted by Bishop David Oliver Kling and produced by the Community of Saint George (a Young Rite jurisdiction).