Source: Orthodox Christian Laity A short video produced before the 20th Anniversary Conference in Illinois summarizing Orthodox Christian Laity’s history, mission, and impact.
Browsing: Governance & Unity Essays
Child of Governance
Source: The Orthodox Evangelist by Joseph Abbate / President – St. Symeon the New Theologian Orthodox Evangelism & Renewal If you are a member of the Orthodox Church in the United States, you cannot help but notice the large increase of people in the Church. In fact, Orthodox Christianity has grown substantially just in the past few years. Unlike the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska, which had been there for hundreds of years, many Greeks and Armenians came to this country in the early 1920’s because of the Asia Minor Disaster, when these communities were being all but wiped out…
Check your email to confirm your email address immediately after you sign the Declaration to complete the verification process. You will receive an email from Civist (info@civist.com) with the subject line: “Petition: Please confirm your signature” Otherwise, your signature will not be recorded. Thank you! CLICK HERE to view all signatures to date (updated daily) https://widget.civist.cloud/?api_url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.civist.cloud%2Ft%2F4a938619-ef43-4fa4-934c-71395afaaed1%2F#/RW1iZWRkaW5nOmMzODIyMTJiLWM0YjMtNDkyYi05YzIxLTY0ZGE2MTM3NDc4YQ== https://widget.civist.cloud/?api_url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.civist.cloud%2Ft%2F4a938619-ef43-4fa4-934c-71395afaaed1%2F#/RW1iZWRkaW5nOjJhNDNlMTBjLWNmNjItNDVhZi04MGUzLWJhYmRkOTQ0ZGFhZg== CLICK HERE to view all signatures to date (updated daily) View the Declaration’s inaugural publication in the July 5, 2022 editions of The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times Over 460 Signatures to Date – Be One of Them! See the live count…
Source: Orthodox History by Matthew Namee Originally posted on August 20, 2024 Father Alex Karloutsos may be the most influential Orthodox priest in modern history. He has spent time in every Oval Office going back to Jimmy Carter, culminating in a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Joe Biden. His connections are extraordinary – the presidents, of course, and every patriarch you can imagine, but also a range of twentieth century giants like Henry Kissinger, Elijah Muhammad, Pope John Paul II, and Blackstone founder Pete Peterson, to name four at random. Karloutsos is also incredibly polarizing, with critics viewing him as a…
Source: Orthodox Reality Do you wonder what American Orthodox Church members think of and want from their bishops? What changes in their Churches do U.S. Orthodox Christians desire the most? If so, download and read this newly released article: https://ocl.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/KrindatchLaityOnDesirableChangesInBishops.pdf You will find why fewer than half of U.S. Orthodox parishioners (47%) fully approve of their bishops and express positive sentiments towards them. The article offers many insights into what bishops “should” or “should not” do from the perspective of Orthodox Christian laity. The findings presented are based on the analysis of answers to the survey question, “If you could…
Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) begins its 38th year as an independent movement, a catalyst, working in synergy with the hierarchy and clergy to develop a canonical self-governing church governed by a synod of all the canonical bishops of all jurisdictions presiding in the United States, which elects its head. OCL supports the work of the Assembly of Bishops, established in 2008, which has a similar goal. OCL believes that the clergy and laity must work synergistically with the hierarchy in church governance. Many incredibly gifted hierarchs, clergy, and wives of clergy support the OCL movement. Some serve and continue to…
Source: Amazon A new book by educator and former Illinois elected official Michael J. Bakalis is causing a growing discussion and debate among religious leaders of the Eastern Orthodox Church in the United States. Bakalis has served as Illinois State Superintendent of Education and Illinois State Comptroller. President Carter appointed him deputy undersecretary to the United States Department of Education. He later became a professor at Northwestern University and is currently the president of a not-for-profit educational management and consulting organization. Michael Bakalis’ book, A Church at the Crossroads: The Crisis in American Orthodox Christianity and the Decisions Needed for…
Source: The National Herald Analysis by Theodore Kalmoukos The passing and particularly the Funeral Service of the late Archbishop Anastasios of Albania offers a unique opportunity to begin a new chapter in the restoration of the unity of the divided Orthodox Church in the world. Let me address the issue: Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was the first to express his intention to travel to Albania for Anastasios’ funeral service—a decision both correct and commendable. In the face of the enigma and universal reality of death, everything else must take a secondary position, or relationships and stances must be reassessed. I am…
By Steven P. Stamatis, M.A. The mid-December edition (2023) of the National Herald featured an analysis by Theodore Kalmoukos regarding the “Drama at the School of Theology.” The author is correct. The continuous theater at Holy Cross School of Theology has reached the level of a Greek tragedy. Sophocles, an ancient Greek dramatist, would be proud to witness the maneuverings of hierarchy and administrators and observe the resetting, disarray and decline of the only Greek Orthodox institute of higher learning in America. Kalmoukos calls to our attention the dismissal of key professors who have added prestige to the school throughout…
Source: Peter Anderson, Seattle USA On December 19, President Putin held his annual end-of-the -year question-and-answer session. This year it was a combination of a press conference and an “open line” where the Russian public could telephone and ask questions. The session lasted for more than four hours. The official transcript of the entire session is found at http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75909. During the session, there was a question relating to the religious situation in Ukraine. The question was asked by Alexandra Suvorova, one of the moderators of the session. The question and answer are as follows: Suvorova: There was also a question…
Source: ACADEMIA Bohdan Hladio 2021, Master of Theological Studies Thesis Publication date: 2021 Publication name: Master of Theological Studies Thesis Autocephaly is on the one hand normative in regard to Eastern Orthodox Church polity, yet due to the lack of clarity within the canonical legislation of the Orthodox Church as well as specific historical exigencies the construal or understanding of autocephaly has varied widely in different historic eras. On April 10th, 1970, the Patriarchate of Moscow issued a Tomos of autocephaly (“independence and self-governing status”) to the Russian Orthodox Greek-Catholic Church in America (now called the Orthodox Church in America or…