Orthodoxy on Tap

by Spyridoula Fotinis

I am 22 years old, and I am told there are not many people like me. I care about my faith, and I try, however imperfectly, to have it permeate every part of my life. Many of my childhood friends are no longer part of the Church and many of my peers finding meaning in activities and ideas outside of churches and other places of worship. However, with the growth of Orthodoxy on Tap in New York City over the last two years, I’ve met numerous people my age who share my love for the Church and the desire to be part of a community.

I grew up in a Greek Orthodox parish in New Jersey, where my grandfather was the priest. After high school, I attended the local community college, where my experience in the Orthodox Christian Fellowship chapter strengthened my faith. I joined the Student Leadership Board, and I felt empowered to serve the Church as a young woman, in a way I never had before. After two years, I transferred to the City University of New York in Manhattan, a school without an OCF chapter, but slowly grew to love the many Orthodox parishes around the city. I attended church close to school, and the parish priest and I spoke about growing an OCF presence on campus. But this idea evolved into a larger idea for fellowship. We added another priest I knew well, who had previously tried to begin Orthodoxy on Tap in NYC, and we slowly began to discuss the possibility of trying once more.

A model for this already existed: Orthodoxy on Tap, which started in Boston and later spread to Philadelphia and California. Once a month, each chapter meets at a restaurant and has a guest speaker give a presentation about some aspect of the Orthodox faith, followed by informal fellowship.

We planned our first event for January 2018 at the Olive Garden in Times Square. We invited Dr. Christos Durante to give a presentation on “Orthodoxy and Multiculturalism,” and we advertised it on Facebook and by word of mouth. To our amazement, more than 50 young adults showed up. Since then, we’ve expanded our leadership team and our online presence. We’ve held most of our events at Pier A Harbor House, a wonderful seafood restaurant in Battery Park.

Some of our events have distinct themes. Our first event during last year’s Nativity fast was called “Orthodoxy in a Pinch,” and we learned how to pinch pierogies and then enjoyed them as a group. At another event, called “Orthodoxy off the Vine,” we pressed grapes with our feet to make wine for Holy Communion. (Don’t worry — we washed our feet and wore single-use gloves!) We gifted our first bottle to His Eminence, Archbishop Michael, as a thank-you for his talk at our last OOT in May before the summer break. We also held “Orthodoxy on the Rise,” where the women’s group from Saint Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church, in Washington Heights, taught us how to make the offering bread (prosphora). And during Great Lent this year, we held “Orthodoxy on the Mind,” where one of our clergy members hosted a trivia night with his Pani, ending in an Easter egg hunt in anticipation of Pascha.

Orthodoxy on Tap is entirely grassroots. It’s not attached to any specific jurisdiction, so everyone feels welcome, whether they’re Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox. Now when I church-hop, I always run into someone I met at one of the events. It’s evolved into a beautiful community. We invite one another to our parishes and to Bible studies. For many of us, including me personally, it provides critical support during this period between college graduation and possible marriage or aging out of young adult groups. It is only one ministry, but it has begun to spark interest and motivation for young adults to begin their own grassroots ministries to create spaces to be together and continue to grow as Orthodox Christian young adults.

The organization is supported by prayers, parish donations, and contributions from our members. All donations support the renting of the restaurant space and light appetizers or funding for food and supplies for the unique events during fasting seasons. For questions, or to lend us a hand, please contact us at orthodoxyontapnyc@gmail.com.

Spyridoula Fotinis works for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in the Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical, and Interfaith Relations. She is a YES (Youth Equipped to Serve) Leader through FOCUS North America and a member of the board of Axia, an Orthodox women’s ministry. She is a parishioner at Saint Spyridon Orthodox Church in Washington Heights, New York City.