Source: Orthodox Christian Laity
In his October 29, 2020 letter to Orthodox Christian Laity, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros kindly responded to OCL’s invitation to provide a greeting for OCL’s 33rd Annual Meeting and Program held on November 13, 2020. He also responded favorably to OCL’s request to be a part of the process in the drafting of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s new charter (see letter below).
We invite your input, suggestions, and feedback as we prepare OCL’s response to Archbishop Elpidophoros’ invitation for “ideas or proposals you may have for the betterment of our Church in America.” Please use the “Leave A Reply” section at the end of this article to provide your comments, or send an email to [email protected].
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5 Comments
Why would you enter into yet more agreements with parties who historically and unilaterally break those agreements?
It makes no sense and defines “stupid” (i.e.making the same mistake over and over again and expecting a different result).
Jesus Christ gave us The Charter. It was the Lord’s Prayer, the Golden Rule, and the Last Supper. That Charter was delivered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
We need Charters with Greco-Turkish Pharisees like we need more Chinese viruses.
I think it’s time that the American church looks after its own affairs without foreign interference…I have no problem with an association with the Phanar and helping them financially, but if we are going to grow the church and bring into the church thousands of converts to replace the thousands lost, then I feel we need an American Orthodox Church in union with all the other Orthodox churches in this hemisphere.
I admire the Antiochians who have established hundreds of mission churches using a language we all understand .
Any charter should be sent to each parish to examine and make suggestions..It is the parishes who pay for the priests, the bishops, and headquarters , seminary… I cannot stress this more intensely.
I agree wholeheartedly with what sentiments You have offered. We need an American Orthodox Church with no interference from abroad!
Times up. No more negotiations with our captors. We need something akin to the Lincoln Project to raise awareness regarding how officials in Turkey and our own metropolitans in the Goarch have done us a disservice for decades.
Does anyone else find it surprising that laity in the Goarch have not harnessed the internet to create websites to publish information and mount a resistance? Why aren’t there several websites being used to get the word out about the disconnect between foreign hierarchs and the laity in America and the damage being done by apathetic Goarch metropolitans in America?
I am only aware of two websites and one of them doubles as a forum for wacky Trump conspiracies. There should be more websites posting documents and telling stories.
The use of the internet would even the playing field so that the laity no longer “brings a knife to a gunfight”. If there is one thing foreign hierarchs and American Goarch metropolitans dislike more than cultural assimilation, it is transparency.
Please, do not be duped into believing that LP and the Phanar are genuinely interested in Orthodox unity. The goal of the Phanar is to bring the Orthodox churches in the USA under its hegemony, which is far different from Orthodox unity.