Posted on 05/04/2015 6:31:57 AM PDT by NRx
...Metropolitan Athenagoras, a Chicago native, had no intention of seeking to spread the Orthodox faith to local communities. Still, they came, and the church began to grow.
Of its 550,000 members, only 5,000 are Greek, according to Maxwell Dotson, executive director of One World One Community, a non-profit co-founded by Metropolitan Athenagoras. The vast majority are natives of that region who are seeking a spiritual identity within the transplanted Greek church.
The Greek Orthodox Church in the archdiocese now has only three clergy members of Greek descent, of the 52 who are serving.
Metropolitan Athenagoras said the local communities were attracted to Orthodox Christianity -- its liturgy and way of worship.
(Excerpt) Read more at huffingtonpost.com ...
Interesting article. Not sure why the Huff Post would run it though.
Yeah, I was a little surprised when it popped up in my Google alert.
Arianna Huffington is at least nominally Greek Orthodox, her politics notwithstanding.
“Arianna Huffington is at least nominally Greek Orthodox, her politics notwithstanding.”
Have the Xenoi now brought a political litmus test to Orthodoxy in this country?
Doubtful, but Huffpo is filled with Christian-hating and overall nastiness.
Part of the growth of Met. +ATHENAGOROS’s flock in Central America has been a result of mass conversions among the Mayans of Guatemala and southern Mexico (which interestingly happened independently of the earlier conversion of a convent of nuns in Guatemala City who run the main orphanage in Guatemala).
Actually orphanages seem to be playing a role in the spread of Orthodoxy in Latin America — besides the Hogar Rafael Ayau in Guatemala City (under Antioch, not Constantinople) there is the St. Innocent Orphanage (I think OCA) near Rosarita, Mexico, basically rescues boys who would otherwise be left to grow up on the streets (or worse).
No, but certain political positions, notably regarding abortion and the nature of marriage, are actually contrary to the Faith.
IOW, only 1% of its membership and 5% of it's clergy are ethnically Greek. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not seeing a problem here, unless it's considered a fundamental part of the mission of the GOC to spread Greek culture in addition to the Gospel.
I have to agree with David on this one. There are some moral issues that are cut and dry. I don’t know Ms Huffingtton and it’s God’s job to judge. But broadly speaking I don’t see how one can be pro-abortion rights and or gay marriage and still be Orthodox.
Far from a problem I think it is an extremely positive development. One of the occasional problems in Orthodoxy (your mileage will vary) is that some jurisdictions (and I have seen this a few times at the parish level too) can put too much emphasis on ethnicity. Ethnocentrism is not as bad as it once was by any means. But one can still run into it here and there. I remember visiting a Russian parish once and there was not a word of English in the liturgy. I kind of got the third degree (who are you and why are you here?). When I explained that I was Orthodox and not Russian they asked if I was Greek and I said no, I’m of Irish descent. Thereafter every one kind of looked at me like I had just landed in a flying saucer and quietly kept their distance.
I would agree, and that's why I found the article confusing.
One of the occasional problems in Orthodoxy (your mileage will vary) is that some jurisdictions (and I have seen this a few times at the parish level too) can put too much emphasis on ethnicity. Ethnocentrism is not as bad as it once was by any means. But one can still run into it here and there.
Ethnocentricity is one of the unsurmountable hurdles I have with Orthodox churches, because in my limited exposure to them I've never not encountered it.
I remember visiting a Russian parish once and there was not a word of English in the liturgy. I kind of got the third degree (who are you and why are you here?). When I explained that I was Orthodox and not Russian they asked if I was Greek and I said no, I’m of Irish descent. Thereafter every one kind of looked at me like I had just landed in a flying saucer and quietly kept their distance.
Good illustration of what I'm talking about, above. The Gospel and the ethnicity are so intermingled that one never knows if they're becoming a Christian or an Expatriate.
I’m half Irish and would probably get the same reaction. But Church-ianity is a problem everywhere I guess.
I don't see how one can be pro-abortion or support institutionalized sodomy and still be Christian. It seems to me that committing sins means that one is a sinner in need of a Savior. It seems to me that promoting sin as a good or acceptable thing places one outside of the Church (even by the broadest definition thereof).
Didn’t Arianna sell the HuffPo years ago for a huge profit, having never paid the writers. I recall its being a major news item at the time.
“No, but certain political positions, notably regarding abortion and the nature of marriage, are actually contrary to the Faith.”
I’m glad to hear that, seeing what the politiziation of religion has done in the West. The last thing Orthodoxy needs, or wants, is that sort of trouble tagging along like a heresy on a string behind American converts. In any event,these matters are between an Orthodox Christian and his/her spiritual father.
You may be right, but seemingly out of deference to their founder they still cover Orthodoxy a little more than most leftist media outlets.
“I have to agree with David on this one. There are some moral issues that are cut and dry. I don’t know Ms Huffingtton and it’s God’s job to judge. But broadly speaking I don’t see how one can be pro-abortion rights and or gay marriage and still be Orthodox.”
Like I said, these are matters between an Orthodox Christian and his/her spiritual father. Quite simply, it’s not your call.
Orthodoxy, like Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, is filled with people who take advantage of “abortion rights” (can’t says as I know an Orthodoxer who thinks The Church should conduct gay marriages, though I know plenty who are neither surprised at nor care that the World allows such things). Are the sinners? Yup. Are they Orthodox? Yup.
“The Church is a hospital, and not a courtroom, for souls. She does not condemn on behalf of sins, but grants remission of sins.” +John Chrysostomos
When Orthodox ask about my ethnicity, I usually tell them “Varangian” with a grin and a twinkle in my eye. (My ancestors came from all over northern and northwestern Europe.)
And had the opinions of Arius or any of the other notorious heresiarchs been merely privately held doubts of the Orthodox Faith, they too would have been a matter between himself and his spiritual father. There is a matter of publicly and unrepentantly advocating positions at odds with the Faith which is a bit different than merely sinning. At some point in such cases, historically the faithful have objected and bishops and Holy Synods, not just spiritual fathers, have gotten involved.
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