[ditty_news_ticker id="27897"] Governance & Unity Essays - Orthodox Christian Laity - Page 15
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

Browsing: Governance & Unity Essays

Child of Governance

Source: The National Herald by Prof. Dan Georgakas The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times recently reported at length about the serious problems engulfing the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptists. The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese faces challenges of a different but equally dangerous nature. For more than forty years, it has experienced a steady decline in membership, constant closing of more Church-sponsored Greek schools, and a chronic shortage of priests. The peak in church membership came in the 1970s, mainly due to the impact of nearly two hundred thousand Greek immigrants (1960-1980). The newcomers were educated, mainly…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity Thank you to the thirty respondents who provided thoughtful answers to two questions in a survey distributed at the end of June 2021. The voice of the Orthodox faithful reveals a sampling of grassroots understanding and passionate opinions about this important issue. 1) In your opinion, what major obstacles must be overcome to administratively unite the Orthodox Church on the American continent? Have everyone recognize the status of the OCA. (1) The fear of losing money and “handing over ” assets to some other authority. (2) The clergy are more opposed to giving up their ethnic…

Source: The Jamestown Foundation By: Tetyana Zhurman On July 28, Ukrainian Orthodox Christians celebrated the 1,033rd anniversary of the Baptism of Kyivan Rus—a remarkable annual event for Ukrainian history and another reason for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s political speculations. After the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I, signed the Ukrainian Orthodox Church tomos in 2019, granting it autocephaly—independence from the Russian Orthodox Church (see EDM, July 26, 2018; RFE, January 23, 2020)—experts warned that Moscow would double its efforts to weaponize religious issues as an element of its “hybrid war” against Ukraine  (Warsawinstitute.org, January 31, 2019). In his recent article “On the Historical Unity of Russians and…

Source: Orthodox History by MATTHEW NAMEE Bishop Basil Essey, the longtime Antiochian Bishop of Wichita and Mid-America, is preparing to retire at the end of this year. Many Antiochians learned of this for the first time over the weekend, when the Archdiocese held a virtual convention. Metropolitan Joseph announced Bishop Basil’s retirement in his address to the convention: In particular, I would like to thank my beloved brother, His Grace Bishop Basil, for his service to this archdiocese over fifty years, as archdiocesan youth director, as a deacon, as a priest, and as a bishop. Some of you may know that, after…

Source: The National Herald BOSTON – Dr. Panos Stavrianidis, professor, researcher in Greek-American matters and the Orthodox Church and a successful jeweler in his professional life will speak at the upcoming AHEPA Supreme Convention in Athens on the topic `The Evolution of the Greek-American Community in the 21st Century and the Struggle for its Survival. He touched on those and other important Greek-American Community issues in an interview with The National Herald, which follows: TNH: How did you spend your time during the pandemic from a personal, family, and professional standpoint? Panos Stavrianidis: The period of the pandemic was an…

Source: Handwritings On the Wall — Musings of Orthodox Thinkers By Robert Arakaki, Ph.D. His address at the International Religious Freedom Summit Archbishop Elpidophoros has caused consternation among the Orthodox faithful by the speech that he gave at the International Religious Freedom Summit held in Washington D.C., 15 July 2021.  In the speech he stated: When you elevate one religion above all others, it is as if you decide there is only one path leading to the top of the mountain. But the truth is you simply cannot see the myriads of paths that lead to the same destination, because…

Source: Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative Listen Now Although women are not ordained in the Orthodox Church, many of them are hearkening God’s call to serve – as chaplains, scholars, diplomats, mothers, teachers, leaders of parish boards and ministries, and in many other roles. Dr. Patricia Fann Bouteneff, founder of Axia Women, shares in this episode what they are learning about parish support of women across the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox traditions. Recalling the Myrrh Bearing Women, they strive to care for the body of Christ and receive and proclaim the Good News of Christ’s Resurrection. Learn more about Axia Women at https://www.axiawomen.org/…

Source: The Wall Street Journal Disagreements over same-sex relationships and the role of women are heightening tensions among Catholics worldwide. By Francis X. Rocca German Catholics have been meeting since last year to consider major changes to church life, including the blessing of same-sex relationships and the ordination of women—moves that many see as essential reforms after the clerical sex-abuse crisis. But the effort has drawn fierce criticism. Cardinal Rainer Woelki of Cologne, leader of the conservative minority of German bishops, has warned that the process could lead to a schism and even “a German national church.” His warnings have been…

Source: Helleniscope by Lawrence B. Wheeler, B.A., M.Div. (Former Anglican priest, convert to Orthodoxy). It was a balmy summer day in midtown Manhattan when His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros stepped into St. Bartholomew’s Church. He was on Park Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets, where the grand edifice sits, imposing and Byzantine, yet dwarfed by the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. According to the Orthodox Church calendar, it was the feast day of Ss. Bartholomew & Barnabas, which fell on a Friday this year, the eleventh day of June 2021. The archbishop and his entourage had come to St. Bart’s, as the parish is…

Source: Public Orthodoxy by Robert C. Blitt Russia’s constitutional amendments of 2020 augur an ever-enlarging foreign policy role for the Russian Orthodox Church—Moscow Patriarchate (ROC). Constitutional entrenchment of the Kremlin’s selective understanding of state sovereignty and non-interference; a state-sanctioned vision of historical truth; the muscular protection of compatriot rights abroad; and the propagation of traditional values each tap into areas where the church has steadfastly advocated Russian civilization as a global counterweight to the West’s “ultra-liberalism.” Faced with this emerging reality, policymakers should reassess the nature and substance of their interactions with church officials and take measures to scrutinize ROC activities…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity The Decision of The Fourth Pre-Conciliar Pan-Orthodox Conference in June 2009 affirmed: “…that it is the common will of all of the most-holy Orthodox Churches that the problem of the Orthodox Diaspora be resolved as quickly as possible, and that it be organized in accordance with Orthodox ecclesiology, and the canonical tradition and practice of the Orthodox Church…The work and the responsibility of these Episcopal Assemblies will be the concern for manifesting the unity of Orthodoxy, the development of common action of all the Orthodox of each region to address the pastoral needs of Orthodox living…

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity In May’s “eblast”, we promised to share the results of the two-question survey regarding positive results of a united Orthodox Church of America. We heartily thank all of you readers who made the time to complete the short survey and share your valuable opinions and insights! Results of Survey Of 57 responses, 82.8% agreed that the following are benefits of a united Orthodox Church of America: 1) Essential ministries and programs are no longer duplicated by multiple Orthodox jurisdictions. 2) Civil government and society value the Church for its Orthodox faith and life instead of as…

1 13 14 15 16 17 54