Pseudo-Iamblichus said...
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Fulness of the Faith? The more I get to know about my Faith, the more in awe I am of how much I don't know.
- St. James the Average said...
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Yeah, really. Actually the lady was very charitable. I hope I didn't portray her as a monster! :-)
- Father Chad said...
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In the APA alone we have at least three priests, personal friends, who are former Eastern Orthodox priests who have come to the 'fullness of the Faith' in Traditional Anglicanism.
Why join a jurisdiction with an unfamiliar and alien culture when one can be Western Orthodox, i.e., Anglican Catholic?
God bless you! - The young fogey said...
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I'd heard of born Orthodox becoming Anglicans/Episcopalians and in fact have a friend in England who did that ages ago as a young man but for a priest from that background to switch must be exceedingly rare. (I think a high but now liberal ECUSA church in New Haven, Conn. has such as its rector.)
To a born Orthodox the Byzantine Rite and ethnic culture aren't alien. Switching would be difficult just like Fr Chad says doing the reverse is for converts from Anglicanism.
I've met converts who've bounced around a few churches including a Continuing priest who was an Orthodox layman for a while. - James the Thickheaded said...
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The Continuum churches seem to be on the verge of latent Western Orthodoxy...but not quite there. Attended a Western Orthodox Vespers the other day...and you have to credit them with a lot of dedication. There is yet a lot of Westernizing that could happen in the American Orthodox churches...just in terms of garb that I think Western Rite guys have done. And ostensibly they have...what the Continuum does not: a bulwark of million of believers who have accepted the St. Tikhon Rite (basically 1928 BCP) or St. Gregory Rite - both of which are Western. Yet they have only 20 parishes nationwide. Going to the East...well, the theology, some of the prayers and hymns appeal. Even the ecclesiology...but the appeal is that it is not far from Anglicanism. If the Continuum flounders...and can't get over it's divisions....the same might be found here. I'd rather see more in common with these folks than less....and certainly more in common with Western Rite folks - a good percentage of which are ex-Anglicans...than with Rome. At least for now.
- St. James the Average said...
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Take heart, SJTH, the continuum won't flounder. I mean, maybe some weird little personality cult jurisdictions will flounder (churches with 20 bishops and no laity). And "churches" like that should flounder, as they are really personality cults. But the legitimate groups will continue to prosper as long as they remain focused on Jesus Christ. Unity will come about over time. We must be patient and pray, and be busy evangelizing. Unity, I believe, is inevitable. Unity, and a huge corporate structure with a headquarters in midtown Manhattan is not the end or goal.
One thing I learn more and more each Sunday is that people like traditional, orthodox Anglicanism. Anglicanism is far from 'dead', like certain internet naysayers sometimes claim. The Anglican Communion might be reorganizing, and rigor mortis appears to have set in in many ECUSA dioceses, but Anglicanism is far from dead.
Case in point: we had a bunch of new visitors at our parish today, and the place is absolutely overflowing with kids and families. They like the anglo-catholic ritual combined with the traditional faith and family atmosphere. If we are anything like oother mainstream continuing Anglican parishes, then I think that tradtional Anglicanism will do fine and continue to prosper in even larger ways.
Take heart, my brother, and keep the faith! - The young fogey said...
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I still find it hard to believe that somebody born into one of those cultures who's made the commitment to be a priest would change churches and cultures. (A cultural manifestation of a mid-life crisis?)
To be fair I similarly wonder about Anglican priests who ’dox.
(After all First World Anglicanism is extremely ethnic: it's English.) - St. James the Average said...
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It is difficult to imagine, but I suppose anything can happen in this crazy world... :-)
- Clement Ng said...
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Up here in Canada, I know of a Reformed Episcopal Church minister who was once an Orthodox priest (I don't remember if he was in the OCA, AOC, etc.). He grew weary of (what he perceived as) ethnocentrism and legalism in the Orthodox culture.
