Drum roll please…
There are so many items we’ve been checking off our list lately as we move closer and closer to our goal, and usually they are just the little things that don’t seem like much at the time, but when we step back we realize the mountain of work that has already been accomplished. Every now and then, though, something gets checked off that’s really big. The kind of thing that makes it all seem more real.
This week we are so pleased to share our logo! We hope you love it as much as we do. Speaking for myself, I’m already dreaming up all of the school merch I’ll be able to emblazon with this logo, but I digress. If you’ll humour us, we’d like to share a bit of the symbolism behind our logo.
Most, if not all, of you will recognize the “fish” as a symbol of Christianity. Some of you may not know the full story, though. The fish symbol was used as early as the first century by persecuted Christians to mark meeting places and tombs. Since it was commonly used by Greeks, Romans and other pagans long before Christians, it did not raise suspicion. The word “fish” in Greek is “ichthys”, from which early Christians made an acrostic: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, which is translated Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.
The symbol in the middle of the HKOA logo is known as the Chi Ro. The Chi Ro is one of the earliest forms of Christogram, which is formed by superimposing the first two letters of the Greek word Christos. It was important to us as a team to design a logo using the most ancient symbols of Christianity, since our mission is to serve all Orthodox families from all Orthodox traditions. We aim to acknowledge and celebrate our “small t” traditions, but focus primarily on the core of our faith – our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.
In other exciting news, we have also officially launched our Facebook page. We know that there is a lot of “noise” out there, so will be very intentional about the content we post. We will be able to share little snippets more regularly in that space, and keep it lighthearted, fun and informative. We will continue to write up these weekly newsletters as well, because we believe there is value to slow news, too!
If you’re interested in following our FB page, please click on the link below, or search up Heavenly King Orthodox Academy:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/486667616098073
Thanks again for being part of our growing community! We’d love to hear your thoughts on the logo… and you can let me know if you want some school merch, too. Kidding not kidding.
With love in Christ,
The HKOA Team
