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George Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity

Musings of the Executive Director: The Cinderella Moment and the Assembly of Bishops

By Webmaster on October 31, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity The eighth gathering of the Assembly of Bishops of the USA took place in Garfield, New Jersey, on October 3-5, 2017. Thirty-two Bishops out of the 52 Bishops were present. The Assemblies were authorized in 2008, and it is now 2017. They were authorized by all the Patriarchs and Autonomous Heads of Orthodox Churches with the charge to make the uncanonical structure in the lands beyond the ancient Roman Empire canonical. In the United States, there exist 14 parallel jurisdictions based on ethnicity and managed by Patriarchs in foreign lands. The exception is the Orthodox Church…

George D Karcazes

Addressing the Financial and Growth Problems of the GOA

By Webmaster on October 31, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Uncategorized

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity I am struck by the comment attributed to His Eminence that there are many millionaires who can pay off the debt of the Archdiocese. I am sure that this is true. It is also true that many millionaires, and even some billionaires, have been supplementing the monies received from parishes to cover the expenses of the Archdiocese for years. The sad reality is that those donors neither requested nor were provided the transparency and accountability that their substantial financial support deserved. In a previous comment, Fr. Steven Vlahos referred to OCL’s 30 year-old educational and advocacy…

Archpriest Michael Lafoon

SOME THOUGHTS ON ORTHODOX UNITY IN NORTH AMERICA

By Webmaster on October 19, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: The Word Logically, one should probably begin an essay with this title by expounding the historical background of the Church in our corner of the world. This information, however, is easily available elsewhere. My aim instead is to discuss the current situation, and what, if any, change is on the horizon. Since my childhood (I was born in the middle of the previous century), I have been told that we Orthodox Christians (that is, the Church of the ancient Seven Ecumenical Councils) are sacramentally one, but on account of a multitude of historical factors, exist in North America in…

Essential Reading for Understanding the Crisis in the GOA

By Webmaster on October 11, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity The Recognition Programs Coordinator of iUniverse has informed George E. Matsoukas that his book, A Church in Captivity: The Greek Orthodox Church of America, is now part of the Reader’s Choice Recognition Program. Upon its publication in July 2008, iUniverse honored the publication with its selection as an Editor’s Choice book. The book is also included in the Spring Arbor database catalog of Christian Bookstore vendors. Reviews of “A Church in Captivity: The Greek Orthodox Church of America” “These personal essays … are recommended reading for any … Christian interested in the perspective of an objective protagonist of recent Orthodox Church history in America. The author is to…

Peter S. Makrias

Time for Radical Changes in the Greek Orthodox Church

By Webmaster on October 10, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Estiator by P.S. MAKRIAS Although things are transpiring in the usual secrecy, all signs point to serious developments in the Church. These events have the characteristics of an underlying crisis that reached a climax with the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s unexpected arbitrary decision not to recognize the “triprosopon” (a three-person list of candidates for election to the episcopate), and as a result, the Archdiocese’s Charter was violated in regards to filling the vacancy in the Metropolis of Chicago; the very same Charter that the Patriarchate imposed upon the Archdiocese of America, abolishing its cohesion and creating individual fiefdoms that are not under the Archbishop’s…

Peter S. Makrias

It’s Time for a Prudent Successor in the Greek Archdiocese

By Webmaster on October 10, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Estiator by P.S. MAKRIAS The matter of replacing Archbishop Demetrios was discussed last month in Constantinople in conjunction with the crisis that broke out following the Patriarchate’s decision regarding the vacant see of the Metropolis of Chicago. The National Herald reported that it was proposed to Archbishop Demetrios that he resign. The Archdiocese denied this report, but the newspaper insists on the accuracy of its information. It’s much easier for us to believe the newspaper. However, regardless of who is telling the truth, we, too, believe that it’s time for Archbishop Demetrios to hand over his position to another prelate. The Archbishop…

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Analysis: In Light of the Upcoming Greek Archdiocesan Council Meeting

By Webmaster on October 9, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Governance Top Stories

Source: The National Herald By Theodoros Kalmoukos The message recently sent by His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America to submit explanations about the Archdiocese’s finances immediately, to the patriarch and the Patriarchate’s Holy Synod, as The National Herald reported, was certainly ominous. Beyond the specific directive, the patriarch’s decision, communicated directly by him, clearly indicates that the time has come for Archbishop Demetrios to depart willingly and spend his remaining years in peace and quiet. It was a way for the patriarch to tell his archbishop to step down, rather than be dethroned,…

George D. Karcazes

Letter To the Editor of The National Herald on Church Leadership

By Webmaster on September 30, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity How is it possible that in 2017, almost a thousand years after the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks, the leadership of the Orthodox Church in the world, but especially in the United States, continues to operate as though it is still a part of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire? Our Churches have “Bishop’s Thrones” that were long-ago erected for the Emperor to sit upon. Our Hierarchs carry miters, and wear robes and crowns evocative of long-gone Emperors. While nostalgically retaining some of these displays and accoutrements may not in themselves be harmful;…

George Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity

State of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese: Musings of the OCL Executive Director

By Webmaster on September 30, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News

Source: Orthodox Christian Laity I have been on a holiday for most of the month of September and out of touch with the news that interests me… local, national and church news. After catching up with mail, emails, and quickly looking over weekly periodicals, etc. , I read about the issues of leadership, management and debt in published reports, that are being denied by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese. The issues involved go beyond what is in the reports. The crisis is systemic. It involves the Charter that was imposed by the Patriarchate. It involves the dismemberment of the Archdiocese into…

AMERICAN ORTHODOXY

By Webmaster on September 17, 2017 Governance & Unity Essays, Governance & Unity News, Orthodox News, Orthodox News Top Stories

Source: Public Orthodoxy by Richard Barrett Who gets to decide what it means to be Orthodox in America? Greeks? Russians? Converts? Foreign bishops? How do “cradle” and convert identities come together – or not? How do “diaspora” narratives that tie Orthodoxy to nationalism translate in an American context? What does Orthodoxy mean in the American religious marketplace of ideas? Is it really the fastest growing religious group in America, as some have claimed, or is it a solution looking for a problem? Perhaps the most important–and difficult–question is, “Will there ever be an American Orthodoxy?” Many Orthodox in America, of course,…

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