Dr Kelly Fleming

If money didn’t matter, the most important thing I would do is create a school system that had no fees for students.

My school system would start with your children aged 4 and go right through to university. No costs to parents and no costs to teenagers who wanted a university degree or go to college to learn a trade.

Parents wouldn’t be in debt trying to pay for their children’s education. Young adults starting fresh in the world would not be burdened by excessive debt before they even begin to start life as an adult.

Additionally, I would make sure there was a strong Orthodox Christian education system where our Orthodox children would be educated in our values, our way of life and be completely immersed in our faith. In most cases today, Orthodox children go to public or Roman Catholic schools which do not teach our faith. They do not teach our values. Our children attend Church school and they are involved in Orthodox youth programs but they learn so many things at school and from their non-Orthodox friends that go against what we believe. Some of our children are homeschooled. There is a growing movement in the Orthodox Church for homeschooling. It would be wonderful to have Orthodox schools.

Our communities do not have a lot of money, it’s difficult enough to build our church buildings and sustain the needs of our community. We do not have the financial resources that many other faith communities have.

Many of our communities are in countries where they are greatly persecuted. So many Orthodox communities have been wiped out or displaced over the past century. In Europe, from the time the USSR was created, the Orthodox community was forced into hiding their faith and observance. Orthodox Churches and monasteries were closed en masse. Slowly since the USSR fell in the 1990s, Orthodox communities have started to rebuild in countries that were once behind the Iron Curtain. Many Orthodox Christians from these countries have moved to countries where they aren’t persecuted when they are able, often leaving behind elderly family members.

In recent years, the Orthodox community has been decimated in many countries by political movements, leaving behind only tiny communities who have survived persecution in some countries. In other places, the Orthodox community no longer exists.

If money didn’t matter, the Orthodox community would be able to rebuild and sustain itself. Education would be available. Freedom would be available for all Orthodox Christians to live in peace without fear. Churches and monasteries would be rebuilt.

My belief in education, no debt and freedom, are a foundation of my faith. Orthodox Christians do not fight wars except to try to defend themselves. They have always been outnumbered. Their survival, their deaths, their freedom unacknowledged in the larger world environment. We are a minority but we are building our communities up again. We have seen many individuals in recent years in North America and Western Europe, converting to Orthodoxy, thanks be to God. Our faith is built on the legacy of martyrs from the beginning and it continues to this day with so many Orthodox Christians martyred for their faith, refusing to turn their back on their faith. May their memory be eternal.

If money didn’t matter, these are my dreams that I would like to see become a reality.