Helping families grow in faith, love, and resilience through
Orthodox Christian wisdom, fellowship, and resources.
Questions about marriage and family life are often among the most personal — and the most challenging. What does it look like to build a home rooted in Orthodox Christian tradition? How do husband and wife grow together as a “little church”? How do parents raise children in the faith, especially when navigating it for the first time themselves?
This site is a space to explore those questions honestly. Here you’ll find reflections, resources, and real stories from Orthodox families — including many who came to the faith as adults, just like you might be doing now. We talk about the sacrament of marriage, the rhythms of family prayer and fasting, raising children in the Church, and the everyday joys and struggles of living out Orthodoxy at home.
There’s no pretense here that any family has it all figured out. Instead, this is a place to learn alongside others who’ve walked the road from inquiry to faith, and who now live out that faith in the ordinary, sacred work of family life.
WHAT WE DO
Our Mission
The Orthodox Family exists to strengthen marriages, nurture families, and support the Church of the home by bringing the timeless wisdom of the Orthodox Christian faith into conversation with sound pastoral care, psychological insight, and practical guidance.
We seek to accompany families through every season of family life, offering teaching, resources, and community that help couples, parents, and families grow in love, faith, resilience, and healthy relationships.
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How we help families
Our Vision
We envision families becoming living witnesses of God’s love—homes where faith is practiced daily, marriages are strengthened, children are nurtured in Christ, and generations are formed in hope.
Our vision is to be the resource for couples, parents, and individuals seeking to navigate daily life in the light of the Orthodox Christian tradition. Through podcasts, programs, resources, and conversations, The Orthodox family seeks to build an online community that nurtures and supports a deep connection between households and their local Orthodox Community.
Our vision is for everyone to experience their home as a “little church”: a place where each person is known and loved, relationships are strengthened and restored, and the life of Christ is woven into the joys, struggles, and ordinary rhythms of family life.
Rooted in the Orthodox Christian faith, The Orthodox Family, a team of Orthodox faithful and marriage and family professionals, brings together the wisdom of the Scriptures, the lives of the Saints, and Holy Tradition. We approach these conversations not as experts with all the answers, but as fellow pilgrims—shaped by the journeys we have walked and lessons we are still learning along the way.
We Educate
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We Help
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We Build
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We Connect
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Caring for you and your families
The Orthodox Family Team
Meet the voices behind this ministry — Orthodox husbands, wives, and parents who know firsthand what it means to build a family and a marriage centered on Christ.
Dr. Philip Mamalakis
Founder and Chairman
Dr. Philip Mamalakis with his wife, Georgia, has seven children and three grandchildren and live in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr Mamalakis is the Associate Professor of Pastoral Care at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, where he teaches classes on pastoral care, marriage and family, grief, death and dying, mental health, and pastoral counseling.
He has a Master of Divinity from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and a Ph.D. from Purdue University in child development and family studies, specializing in marriage and family therapy.
Publications
Together with Fr. Charles Joanides, Dr. Mamalakis has published the 2nd Edition of, The Journey of Marriage, (GOA 2023) a resource for couples preparing for marriage in the Orthodox Church and is the author of Parenting Toward the Kingdom, Ancient Faith Publishing’s bestselling Orthodox parenting book (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2016), as well as, “The Companion Guide to Parenting Toward the Kingdom,” (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2024) for parents to gather together for support and guidance.
Outreach
In addition to his teaching and writing, he was the founding Vice-Chair of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of America Mental Health Ministries, the former President of OCAMPR, the Orthodox Christian Association of Medicine, Psychology, and Religion. He is the Founding Chairman of the Board of Agape Wellness Collective, an Orthodox non-profit dedicated to helping people find and afford Orthodox mental health care.
He enjoys offering lectures, seminars, and retreats throughout the United States and internationally on intimacy, relationships, marriage, parenting, and family life, as well as Orthodoxy and psychology.
Holly Leclercq
Director
Holly Leclercq lives in Montana with her husband, Chris. Together they are parents to seven and recently became grandparents. She is a member of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Missoula and continues her studies in Orthodox Christian formation and catechesis.
Holly is grateful to serve as Operations Director for The Orthodox Family, helping bring together the people, ideas, and resources that support its mission. Her background in executive administration, real estate, and hospice & palliative care has shaped her particular interest in how faith is lived within the joys and struggles of family life, and in what it means to remain rooted in Christ through it all. She is especially drawn to accompanying others as they grow in their life with Christ. Outside of her work and studies, Holly enjoys traveling and pilgrimage, gardening, discovering hot springs, and spending time with her family.
Sarah Brangwynne
Contributor
Sarah Brangwynne is a wife, mother, psychotherapist and writer. She loves being with her family, gardening, exploring the natural world, reading, creating and dancing. A native of New Hampshire, Sarah lived, studied, and worked along the North and South Eastern United States, the West Indies, and Germany. Working in community mental health and school counseling in the past, Sarah now has a private psychotherapy practice focusing on life transitions (especially new parenthood) and perinatal mental health. She a co-author of a Sacred Beginning: Nurturing your body, mind, and souls during baby’s first forty days. Sarah is grateful to be co-creating an Orthodox Christian ministry for families with such a talented and dedicated team and will be focusing on all aspects of Parenting. She can’t wait to answer questions families have in “Ask the Orthodox Family.”
Athanasios Williams
Contributor
Chaplain Athanasios Williams is a New Jersey native and was a standout high school athlete before attending The Ohio State University. He enlisted in the Army in 2001, later joining Ohio State’s Buckeye Battalion ROTC as its first outright Chaplain Candidate, graduating as a Distinguished Military Graduate and commissioning in 2004. He earned degrees from Trinity Lutheran Seminary (Columbus, OH) and later completed ThM and Diaconate studies at Hellenic College Holy Cross (Brookline, MA) in 2024. An Army Chaplain, he has deployed to Kuwait, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria, specialized in Combat Medical Ministry and Military Marriage and Family Life. He retired from the Army after 25 years of honorable service and now serves as the Pastoral Care Manager at North Austin Medical Center (Austin, TX). Athanasios enjoys public speaking and writing in his spare time. A former book publisher and best selling author his greatest passion is in helping families look forward to the fruitful legacies they can build.He is married to Crystal Williams where they reside in Central Texas with their children. The Williams family are proud members of Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in Austin, TX.
Fr. Vasili Hillhouse
Contributor
Fr Vasili was raised in the Santa Cruz mountains of California. He and his wife Presvytera Maria have five boys and have been serving at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church in Anchorage, AK since 2011. Fr Vasili has an M.A. in History from San Jose State University, an MDiv from St Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, an MTh in Pastoral Counseling from the University of Balamand, and recently received his PhD from the University of Essex in the UK. His doctoral dissertation was a study of the best of modern secular couple’s counseling (Gottman Therapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy), and Saint Sophrony of Essex’s theology of personhood and relationships. Fr Vasili serves as a member of the Family Wellness Ministry of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, with a special focus on marriage and the science of attachment theory as it relates to marriage and parenting.
Tatiana Baier
Marketing
Tatiana Baier was born in Moscow, Russia, and baptized at the Holy Trinity–St. Sergius Lavra, where her godfather, Fr. Benedict, has served as a teacher at the Theological Seminary. Her Orthodox faith and Russian heritage remain an important part of her life and family. Tatiana has lived in the United States since 2016, when she married her husband, Paul. Together, they are raising three children in the Princeton, New Jersey area. She holds a Ph.D. in Sport Science and brings more than 20 years of experience in communications, marketing, wellness, and international sporting events, including the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. At The Orthodox Family, Tatiana brings together her professional experience, international perspective, and family life to help create meaningful resources and connections for Orthodox families.
Mary Barber
Communications
Mary Barber attends Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church in Shoreline, WA, where she serves on the Parish Council and helps lead the production and distribution of the monthly E-Bulletin and Holy Apostles Corner Podcast. She also creates and edits video content for parish events as well as the weekly sermon recordings shared with the community. By day, Mary is a Senior Manager in technology at a professional services firm, overseeing onboarding operations and managing device lifecycle logistics. As Content Editor for The Orthodox Family, she brings her editorial and communications experience to helping shape resources that support families in growing in Christ and sharing the beauty of the Orthodox faith and the sacred gift of family. A lifelong Orthodox Christian, Mary lives in Seattle with her 13-year-old dog, Charlie, and loves hiking, camping, and paddleboarding.
Marilyn Gardner
Grant Writer
Marilyn Gardner is a registered nurse and writer who lives on the North Shore of Boston. After a long journey, Marilyn entered the Orthodox church in 2014 along with her husband and youngest son and has not looked back. Marilyn grew up in the country of Pakistan and as an adult has lived in Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, and the United States. As a woman who has birthed and raised five children on three continents, she is deeply committed to seeing Orthodox families grow in integrating their faith into daily life in our fast-paced modern world. Marilyn has written two books—Between Worlds: Essays on Culture & Belonging and a memoir, Worlds Apart: A Third Culture Kid’s Journey. She loves her passport, family, and faith in reverse order.