Source: Estiator Magazine By Peter Makrias An announcement issued by the Holy Synod affirms the fact that the time has come for our Church in America to separate itself from the Ecumenical Patriarchate and declare its autocephaly. Based on its references to the meetings of November 27th and 28th, the Phanar considers us to be its subjects and takes us for little children. “During these meetings, all the issues on the daily agenda were reviewed and appropriate decisions were taken on all items.” But what were the topics on the agenda? What happened with the “triprosopon” list of three candidates to fill the…
Browsing: Governance & Unity Commentary
Child of Governance
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity State of Orthodoxy in the U.S.A. Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) completed its 30 years of service calling for transparency, accountability, unity and advocating to maintain the voice of the laity as an equal in the administrative life of the Orthodox Church, thereby contributing to Church renewal. As we have seen and experienced in 2017, disrespect and disregard for this principle has contributed to the disorder, financial mismanagement and disunity that has furthered the decline of Orthodoxy in the USA. The census statistics, surveys, research on the status of growth, retention and development confirm this decline. Since…
Source: The National Herald By Theodoros Kalmoukos BOSTON, MA – Rev. Christopher Metropulos, President of Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology (HCHC) refuted the news that had been widely circulated around the campus, in the Greek-American community, and also in Greece, that Theological School Dean Dr. James Skedros has resigned. Dr. Skedros did not respond to The National Herald’s request for comment. Skedros was appointed to School’s deanship in May, 2014. TNH has learned that Skedros mentioned his intent to resign during a faculty meeting some time ago. Fr. Metropulos expressed his disappointment that TNH revealed…
Source: Public Orthodoxy by Mark Arey As the last General Secretary of SCOBA (the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas) and the first Secretary (albeit for less than an hour) of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, I have always marveled at the ‘Golden Age’ syndrome around “Ligonier” of many Orthodox Christians when it comes to Orthodox unity in the Western Hemisphere. There are still many who believe that the Ligonier gathering in 1994 of most of the Orthodox Bishops in America (represented by SCOBA primates) was an inflection point for Orthodoxy in…
by Rev. Fr. Charles Joanides Twenty years ago, I was hired by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (GOA) to develop an outreach ministry to intermarried couples and their families, otherwise labeled with descriptors like interfaith, inter-Christian, inter-Christian and intercultural couples. The reason why this subject was given special attention was because 85% or more of Greek Orthodox were intermarrying. Today, this static has not dramatically changed. One of my first tasks was to review what information existed from an Orthodox perspective on the subject. What I discovered was a small body of literature written essentially by theologians for other theologians. Conspicuously…
Source: Observer.com By John R. Schindler Originally published on November 29, 2017 One of the more interesting aspects of Cold War 2.0 is the ideological struggle between the postmodern West and Russia—a struggle that most Westerners deny even exists. President Barack Obama, after Moscow seized Crimea in early 2014, pronounced that there was nothing big afoot: “After all, unlike the Soviet Union, Russia leads no bloc of nations, no global ideology.” Obama’s statement was wrong then, and it’s even more wrong now. As I’ve explained, there is an undeniable ideological struggle between Vladimir Putin’s neo-traditionalist Russia and the post-modern West—one that prominent Russians talk about all…
Source: Orthodox Christian Laity “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) was organized 30 years ago in the Northbrook, Illinois home of Jim and Mary Koulogeorge. Orthodox Christians from different parts of the USA gathered, because they had concerns about accountability and oversight in matters of Church governance based on events occurring in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese during the 1980’s. Together, they established an independent, educational ministry, dedicated to promoting renewal in the Orthodox Christian Church. By 1993, the blueprint for such a renewal was published in book form as Project…
Does Christianity Need Another Luther or Another Reformation? A Catholic Perspective Source: Insidesources.com Posted on October 29, 2017 by The Rev. Andre Brouillette Martin Luther was a man passionate for God and the Word of God. As an Augustinian monk, a Catholic priest, and a theology professor, he scrutinized and taught the Bible, and was enamored with Scripture. His intellectual endeavor met with existential questions he was harboring. A central quest for him was that of salvation: What do I need to be saved? This question pursued him as a man aware of his sinfulness; what is the meaning of one’s struggle…
Source: The National Herald By Theodoros Kalmoukos The issue of the salaries and benefits of the clergy comes up very often for discussion in many if not all parishes, and certainly at various gatherings of Greek-Americans through the country. Something has to be done to review this issue, because the way we are going, fewer and fewer parishes will be able to afford the high salaries and the demands of many of our priests. Let me say that I have great respect and honor for those faithful, humble, and ethical priests and bishops, no matter in what corner of the…
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…
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…
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…