Our little church in Linthicum had a blaze of press coverage over the weekend. This is unusual in a year when Western Easter and Eastern Pascha fell on the same Sunday, but we were happy for the publicity, which was very positive.
First, the Baltimore Sun's Anne Arundel County section featured a front-page shot of my husband, along with some other parishioners. I was just to the left of the lens, in the choir. (I was actually worried they might use one of the shots they took of me chanting -- my posture was terrible and I'm sure I would have caught some flack from my voice teacher about that!)
Both Rob and I are quoted extensively in the article. I spoke for several hours with the reporter, both on the phone and in person after Vespers, and I think there was just too much information for him to put together a coherent narrative. He also misspells my middle name (anyone who has gotten a personal e-mail from me knows that) and makes it sound like I'm a different person from Emily Lowe. But whaaaatever. I'm happy to promote my church in any context.
Second, we got front-page billing (next to the giant headline about the slots) in the Maryland Gazette. The online version doesn't show the photo, which is also great. My husband's godfather is quoted in this one, but neither of us were there (it was the only Holy Week service I missed, actually -- trying to save my voice for the marathon weekend.)
That's all, unless you missed the TV spot last year, filmed on Lazarus Saturday; here's the post and the video.
It's so interesting, as a writer and an Orthodox Christian, to watch people try to make logical and journalistic sense of such a complex and mysterious faith. The thing is, though I'm glad for the publicity and hope it drives seekers to investigate Orthodoxy, you just can't understand what we're all about by spending five minutes reading or watching a news blip. Any issue worth debating can't be covered accurately and quickly, I suppose, but Orthodoxy is particularly visceral; a paragraph, photo or even video can't convey what the experience is like. That's why the experience is one worth having.
First, the Baltimore Sun's Anne Arundel County section featured a front-page shot of my husband, along with some other parishioners. I was just to the left of the lens, in the choir. (I was actually worried they might use one of the shots they took of me chanting -- my posture was terrible and I'm sure I would have caught some flack from my voice teacher about that!)
Both Rob and I are quoted extensively in the article. I spoke for several hours with the reporter, both on the phone and in person after Vespers, and I think there was just too much information for him to put together a coherent narrative. He also misspells my middle name (anyone who has gotten a personal e-mail from me knows that) and makes it sound like I'm a different person from Emily Lowe. But whaaaatever. I'm happy to promote my church in any context.
Second, we got front-page billing (next to the giant headline about the slots) in the Maryland Gazette. The online version doesn't show the photo, which is also great. My husband's godfather is quoted in this one, but neither of us were there (it was the only Holy Week service I missed, actually -- trying to save my voice for the marathon weekend.)
That's all, unless you missed the TV spot last year, filmed on Lazarus Saturday; here's the post and the video.
It's so interesting, as a writer and an Orthodox Christian, to watch people try to make logical and journalistic sense of such a complex and mysterious faith. The thing is, though I'm glad for the publicity and hope it drives seekers to investigate Orthodoxy, you just can't understand what we're all about by spending five minutes reading or watching a news blip. Any issue worth debating can't be covered accurately and quickly, I suppose, but Orthodoxy is particularly visceral; a paragraph, photo or even video can't convey what the experience is like. That's why the experience is one worth having.
