Join us in fellowship
Why Agape Circle ?
We humans are social beings. We need fellowship and meaningful connection with one another and with God. For this reason, God calls us to unite ourselves to Christ and one another in love in His Church.
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“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together… but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
– Heb 10:24-25
Our Task
Agape Circle is a pan-Orthodox initiative to enable Christ-centered fellowship for growth in faith, hope and love. Agape Circle offers small group meetings ( called “DiaLogos meetings”) as well as day-long and weekend long retreats.
In Agape Circle our interpersonal fellowship is consiously centered in our spiritual communion in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are particularly mindful of our Lord’s two-fold commandment of love.
Agape Circle started in 2007 with 176 Orthodox Christian adults — clergy and laity— in different locations across North America. It was then offered in subsequent years through the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Department of Religious Education. Today Agape Circle is a pan-Orthodox ministry.
Agape Circle small groups meet in person at five different periods throughout the year. During those periods an Agape Circle also meets on Zoom on Sunday evenings 6:30-8 pm EST. Participants in the Zoom series can learn to facilitate Agape Circle DiaLogos Meetings.
In Agape Circle DiaLogos Meetings, every person gets the opportunity to express one’s voice and be heard and understood by all for the edification of the group. This is accomplished through a 4-part structure that we call “DiaLogos” which uses “active listening.”
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Help spread the love of Christ with fellow members
Why Agape Circle ?
We humans are social beings. We need fellowship and meaningful connection with one another and with God. For this reason, God calls us to unite ourselves to Christ and one another in love in His Church.
“Ecclesia” (ek-klesia), the Greek word for Church, means “called forth.” We are called forth for communion with God and with one another in God. “God is agape” (1 John 4:8, 16) and “agape is of God” (1 John 4:7). We have been called forth to love one another and all others with God’s agape love.” This is not the way of the world.
We live in a fake world in which real love is rare. It was not so in the beginning, but it has been so ever since the first sin…the first of many…and the primordial Fall from grace. Through sin, humanity lost it’s original fellowship with God. That’s the sad truth. It’s also true that God did not give up on us. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).
While always respecting our freedom, the “Hound of Heaven” has pursued us like a hound dog, to draw us back into close relationship with Him, into the fellowship of His love which is life. Throughout history, people have turned their hearts to Him and received life.
Frequently Asked Questions
- WHAT IMPORTANT HUMAN NEED DOES AGAPE CIRCLE HELP ADDRESS AND HOW DOES IT FIT INTO THE LIFE & MISSION OF CHRIST'S CHURCH TODAY?
- WHAT IS TALKED ABOUT AT AC MEETINGS? WHAT IS THE BALANCE BETWEEN FREE FLOW AND STRUCTURE?
- HOW DOES AGAPE CIRCLE RELATE TO THE GOSPEL?
- HOW IS THE AGAPE CIRCLE INITIATIVE SUPPORTED?
Agape Circle aims to foster Christ-centered interpersonal fellowship among Orthodox Christians for growth in faith, hope and agape love. Many people today feel alone and disconnected, even in the Church. Agape Circle helps address the basic human need for close relationships, meaningful conversations and deep connection with oneself, with other human beings and with God.
In every congregation, in every Orthodox parish, there is almost certainly at least one person who desires more Christ-centered fellowship. If you are one, then Agape Circle is for you.
Christ said that “where two or three are gathered in my Name, I am there in their midst” (Matthew 18:20). The goal of Agape Circle meetings is to connect with one another through Christ and to connect with Christ through one another.
Our communion with one another in Christ fortifies us for the work of active love to which our Lord calls us every day.
Agape Circle DiaLogos Meetings can be led by a Priest or by a layperson with the Priest’s blessing. By participating in an online Zoom Agape Circle Series, you can learn how to facilitate an in-person Agape Circle DiaLogos Series in your location.
Agape Circle DiaLogos Meetings can take place at the parish, in a home or outdoors at an appropriate location. Meeting places and times are decided by the facilitator in collaboration with the members of each Agape Circle and with the blessing of the Priest.
Agape Circle DiaLogos Meetings may be scheduled during the week or before or after worship services. A convenient time could be on Saturday evenings before Great Vespers or on Sundays after the Divine Liturgy, perhaps starting half-way through the Refreshment Hour in a comfortable side room.
Agape Circle DiaLogos Meetings have a clear structure, content and focus. They consist of Prayer, Scripture Readings, Questions for Reflection, DiaLogos (a special kind of group dialogue), and Take-aways. We pray for one another in our daily prayers.
After the opening prayer, passages from Scripture are read. We listen closely to the reading and then to our inner responses to the reading. We ask ourselves: How does this message relate to me today? What strikes me as I hear it, here and now? How can I relate to it and apply it in my current life?
In DiaLogos, we listen closely to one another and explore points of similarity and connection. As the discussion ensues we create together a shared web of inner exploration and understanding. It is a collaboration. We return periodically to the text to draw further insights as the process unfolds.
Through Prayer, meditating on Scripture, listening to ourselves, and DiaLogos with one another, we draw closer to God, to each other and to our own deeper selves.
Agape Circle meetings compleent and supplement Bible Studies.
Whereas Bible Studies involve close textual analysis, knowledge of the texts’ historical context and reference to scholarly and patristic commentary, Agape Circle concentrates more on personal response. Whereas Bible studies focus on the meaning of the text, Agape Circle DiaLogos focuses on the text’s meaning in our present life.
We could say that Bible studies help us understand the Scripture whereas Agape Circle DiaLogos helps us better understand ourselves in relation to Scripture.
If a parish has an existing Bible Study that is led by the priest, the Agape Circle DiaLogos Meeting format could be utilized for a few weeks (i.e. the length of a series) by the Bible Study group.
There are at least two benefits to incorporating Agape Circle DiaLogos into ongoing Bible Study groups and other existing Church fellowship groups.
First, priests often find themselves pressed for time due to the many demands and duties of parish life, especially in large parishes. Agape Circle DiaLogos Meetings can be led by lay people who have learned the method.
It is often a challenge for the average Orthodox priest to find sufficient time to not only lead worship for a full liturgical cycle (Vespers, Matins, Divine Liturgy plus Paraklises, Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals, etc.), and also to prepare substantive sermons, hear confessions, visit the sick and shut-ins, get to know and guide the youth, teach catechumens, have time with their wives and children, pray and rest. It’s good when priests wisely delegate some things to responsible lay members.
By temporarily incorporating an Agape Circle DiaLogos Series (facilitated by a lay person) into an ongoing Bible Study group, a priest could gain a few hours to put toward other important priestly duties while enabling the group to maintain continuity.
Secondly, Agape Circle provides an opportunity for lay people to use and strengthen the gifts that God has given them for service to the Lord and His Church.
As the saying goes, “many hands make work light.” For the Church to thrive, the diverse gifts and talents that the Lord has distributed among His people must be put to used for the edification (“building up”) of Christ’s Church in the world. Facilitating Agape Circles is a contribution that certain lay people can make today toward building up the Body of Christ for the life of the world.
We pray, read a passage of Scripture from the lectionary, listen closely to the message, listen also to what is sparked within us, and connect with one another from there according to a structured format. What follows after that — in terms of content –is not totally predictable. It depends on what comes up for people and what they choose to explore.
This is where the free flow comes in. The Spirit moves. What invariably arises is awareness of God’s love in our lives and of His call to us to love Him and extend that love to others.
By starting with prayer and then meditating (melete, is the Greek patristic word for this) on the words of Scripture, we orient ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the “Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
Connecting first with God prepares us for proper relationship to one another.
Through prayer and reflecting on Scripture we create a space for interpersonal communion (“common union”) with one another and with the Lord Jesus who is present with us by the Holy Spirit.
What follows next we call DiaLogos (dia = through, logos = word).
Logos (“word”) here has four meanings . Logos refers to the Word and Wisdom of God, the eternal Son of the Father, who became incarnate, Jesus Christ.
Logos also refers to the Gospel, the preaching or “kerygma” of the “Good News” of God’s redemptive, saving, healing love in Jesus Christ.
Logos also refers to the Biblical text, the words of Holy Scripture that are read in the meeting.
Logos refers also to the words we speak and hear as we talk with one another.
We call our conversation “DiaLogos” to signify that it is a particularly structured form of dialogue.
Along with structure and order there is, as we have said, also flexibility and openness to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth.
We aim for a balance between freedom and order, akin to the balance of those that is present in Orthodox worship and ecclesial life generally.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17). And to the same flock he wrote: “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor 14:40).
Like the balance between freedom and order, there is a balance in Agape Circle between multiplicity and unity in Christ.
Communion in Christ is harmonious. It’s not a homogeneous sameness but a differentiated oneness.
We experience “the One in the many and the many in the One.” We experience that we are part of the “whole” and that whole is “greater than the sum of the parts.”
At first, the DiaLogos structure — like any method — must be learned. The DiaLogos method may at first feel unnatural. This is true of any discipline at the beginning.
Think of choral singing or chant, for example, or iconography, wood-working, bread-baking, wine-making, or indeed any craft, game, sport or method. These all have an order, a recipe to learn, some instructions to follow and, typically, a “learning curve.” The “rules of the game,” once learned, soon become second nature, and the benefits are revealed.
The order and structure we follow in Agape Circle DiaLogos Meetings do enable greater depth of expression and connection than would happen without the method.
Both structure and flexibility are necessary as we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit. Like the wind, the Spirit “blows were it wills” (John 3:8). When the Lord is present, the divine wind catches our “sails” and transformation happens.
“The Gospel (eu-angelion, good announcement) is God’s message of love for us all manifested in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ unto eternal life to which we are called. The Father (“Source”) speaks his Word (“Logos”) by his Breath (“Spirit”). His message is that God’s love is stronger than death.
Jesus Christ is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). He is “the Word, Wisdom and Power of God” (1 Cor 1) through whom the Father, by the Holy Spirit, spoke all things into being. In Jesus of Nazareth, the “Anointed One” (in Hebrew, Mashiach, Messiah, in Greek, O Christos). God has become one of us and one with us. He has entered His creation and joined Himself to the human race. In Jesus, God has entered the human condition. He has united His divinity with our humanity. It happened in time, two millenia ago, in a place, Palestine.
In becoming human, the Author of the Book of Life wrote Himself in to His own story. He is the hero of the story, but His heroism is enacted in the most unexpected way. He empties Himself. God Himself, in the Divine Person of Jesus Christ, took on the plight of His creations’ suffering, entering into that suffering all the way to death on the Cross and a battle in the depths of Hell. Death and hell could not hold Him down. He defeated them from the inside. “And On the third day, He rose from the dead.” Christ is risen and now nothing can separate us from God’s agape love, “the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38).
God’s love for human beings and Man’s love for God come fully together in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the “link” between God and Man, the “bridge” between heaven and earth.
In Jesus Christ, we humans are able to be received into the eternal life of the Holy Trinity, to live eternally with Christ in His Kingdom which is “not of this world” (John 18:36). The Holy Trinity, one in essence and inseparable, is the eternal “circle of divine agape” which contains and transcends all space and time. The Son of God Who is “begotten of the Father from before all time, Light from Light, true God from true God” calls us each to turn our hearts to Him in metanoia (repentance, noetic transformation).
In the mystery of God’s redemptive love and through the transformational mysteries of Christ’s Church, we can be united to God through the divine-human Jesus Christ, and receive His Holy Spirit. United with Christ we are adopted into Christ’s Sonship with the Father. In the circle of agape, the Holy Spirit draws us to Jesus Christ. Christ unites us with His Father and fills us with His Holy Spirit “Who proceeds from the Father” (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit enlightens us, guides us, dwells within us and “Christifies” us. This is our Christian calling.
God calls us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and wed ourselves to Christ freely. Often, sadly, w fail. When we sin (“miss the mark,” err), we get spiritually weaker. When we turn to Him in repentance — and Holy Confession both facilitates and seals this — God in His mercy and forgiveness restores us to life. This is how we give ourselves to Christ Who gave Himself for us on the Cross, once and for all. He still gives Himself to us, crucified and resurrected, in the Holy Eucharist and in every sacred mystery of His Church. It takes only a moment to open our hearts to Him and receive His saving agape love.
The Lord Jesus summons us to turn to God, that is the first priority. Secondly, He calls us to a mission in the world. He has work that needs doing, and He calls us to partner with Him in His sacred work. This, too, is part of the Gospel. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
We have been created “according to the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:26-31). Each of us is unique and has something unique to offer the world to the glory of God. God wants us to work with Him as He works with us and in us to bring our gifts to fruition, gifts that gave us.
The work to which the Lord calls us cannot be done apart from Him. When, in the holy Mysteries of Baptisms and Chrismation, we were born “again,” “anew,” “from above” — the biblical Greek word anagenesis means all three –– we were gifted with spiritual gifts in addition to our natural God-given gifts that every human being is bequethed. Repentance and spiritual purification energizes the charismata that we received mystically in the anointing of Holy Chrismation, the “seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit.”
God invites us to partner with Him in the work of agape, the work of transforming this fallen world into the communion in love that is Christ’s Kingdom for which we pray “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We all have the capacity to give and receive love. The Holy Spirit enables us to collaborate with God in the divine work of agape in the world, for the world’s reunion with it’s Source, one piece and moment at a time.
Agape Circle reminds us of the centrality of God’s love in Christ’s gospel, in the mission of His Church, and in the meaning of our lives here and now. By strengthening our bond with the Lord Jesus Christ, with Holy Scripture and with one another for the purpose of fulfilling the divine call to active love and service especially to those who are in most need, Agape Circle helps us fulfill the divine purpose for which we were created.
The Agape Circle Initiative is supported by prayer and by voluntary participation. Your prayers and participation are very much welcome and appreciated.
Agape Circle is an effort to connect us more deeply to Christ and to one another, to edify the Church and to support one another as fellow Orthodox Christians in our spiritual life in doing Christ’s work of active love in the world.
There is no fee to participate.
Like any project or ministry, for Agape Circle to happen an investment of time and labor is needed on the part of dedicated people. Most of all, beyond our own efforts and practical support, we need God’s grace.
Please keep this ministry in your prayers. Please pray that, through it, our Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit — one God — will be glorified and His people strengthened to share His love in the world.
The circle of God’s agape embraces and sustains all creation. Our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to join with Him in sharing this love. God knows people in our world today need His love. They need also to experience Christ-centered fellowship such as that which Agape Circle fosters.
At this time we are not requesting any monetary support for our work. If we need it in the future, we’ll let you know. How you can support Agape Circle right now is by your prayer, by participating in our meetings and by spreading the word. Please join us.
“Whoever does not love does not know God; because God is love. And the love of God was made manifest among us especially in this, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him…. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in them” (1 Jn. 4.8–9, 16)
Contact Us
(315) 941-1116
agapecircles@gmail.com
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Contact Us
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Contact Us
(315) 941-1116
agapecircles@gmail.com
Links
Our Locations (soon)
Subscribe to Our Newsletter (Coming Soon)
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