On Looking into “Xenophobia in the Cloak of Progress – How English Liturgies Hurt the American Orthodox Church” by Katherine Kelaidis A Response by P. Stamatis, M.A. The above article appeared on the Public Orthodoxy site on March 12, 2025. At first glance, the intriguing title pulled me in to read, only to become confused by the attached sub-title: “How English Liturgies Hurt the American Orthodox Church.” If the author ascribes to the Orthodox Church in America the moniker “American,” how can using the English language hurt the Orthodox Church? That’s like saying: “How Greek Liturgies Hurt the Greek Orthodox…
Browsing: America
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…
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…
Source: St. Phoebe Center Document to be Reviewed at September Zoom Event August 23, 2024 – The St. Phoebe Center for the Deaconess has released a new set of proposed guidelines for ordaining women as deaconesses in the Orthodox Church today. In a Zoom event to be held September 23, 2024, three St. Phoebe Center board members — Dr. Carrie Frederick Frost, Dr. Teva Regule, and Dr. Helen Creticos Theodoropoulos — will introduce and comment on this new version of the “Proposed Guidelines.” They will review the document section by section and explain the incorporated feedback. St. Phoebe Center Advisory…
Source: Hartford Institute for Religion Research Hartford, CT — A new report examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Orthodox Christian churches in the United States reveals a unique approach to crisis management, characterized by adherence to traditional practices and resistance to change. The study, which draws on data from the Faith Communities Today (FACT) survey and two Exploring the Pandemic Impact on Congregations (EPIC) surveys, offers insights into how Orthodox churches fared compared to other U.S. religious congregations. Key findings include: Orthodox churches were more likely to maintain regular activities, particularly in-person services, despite pandemic restrictions. These churches showed greater…
Source: Orthodox History Originally published on May 29, 2024 by MATTHEW NAMEE As you may have seen, Ancient Faith recently published my book, Lost Histories: The Good, the Bad & the Strange in Early American Orthodoxy. If you like this website, you’re the target audience for the book. And while reading it should give you a good handle on the early history of Orthodoxy in America, I wrote it not just to educate but — hopefully — to amaze and surprise you (even if you’re a longtime reader of this website). With that in mind, here are fifteen random, amazing facts from…
Source: Public Orthodoxy Katherine Kelaidis National Hellenic Museum (Chicago) While it is fashionable of late to talk about the influx of racist actors into the Orthodox Church via conversion, we should probably admit that Orthodoxy in America has always had a race problem. Early 20th-century urban immigrants from the Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern Europe were not exactly famous for their enlightened attitudes about race. Some of America’s worst racial tensions have been between Black Americans and the very sorts of immigrants who form the core of Orthodox Christian America. Of course, whenever this comes up, people like to deflect by…
Source: Orthodox Studies Institute Originally published November 2023 by Matthew Namee “For at least the past quarter-century, Orthodox jurisdictions in America have been discussing the ‘priest shortage’ problem. The OCA addressed this at its All-American Council in 1999 and again in 2005, when it observed that 400 priests would soon retire and 100 new missions were expected to open over the next decade, with only 20-25 priests per year being ordained. The same year, 2005, the Greek Archdiocese also addressed the priest shortage problem. Then in 2020, the OCA website reported that 30% of active OCA were aged 65 or…
Christ is risen! I just saw all these emails! Roula and I appreciate all of your prayers and good wishes. We love all of you. OCL’s mission is inevitable. It is what God wants. A single Autocephalous Orthodox Church in America. It is up to us to make it happen. Do not give up! — Love, George (May 31, 2024) This is the message that George Karcazes sent from his hospital room a few days before he fell asleep in the Lord on June 6, 2024. For the last 37 years, he devoted himself to the mission of Orthodox Christian Laity…
Source: N.H. Scott & Hanekamp Funeral Home (August 11, 1938 – June 6, 2024) George Demetrios Karcazes fell asleep in the Lord on June 6, 2024, in the presence of his wife and children, and surrounded by their love, devotion, admiration, and their great comfort in knowing that their husband and father had lived a life of consequence, courage, and commitment to his ideals. George’s life was marked with the achievements of a clear-eyed idealist, in his roles as a longtime Chicago attorney, bank builder, community and church leader, and indefatigable volunteer for a host of endeavors in which he…
Source: Orthodox History by Matthew Namee In 1894, Pope Leo XIII issued a papal encyclical on the “Eastern Rites” — that is, the Uniates, those groups who use ancient Orthodox liturgical rites but submit themselves to the Pope of Rome. In 1898, St Raphael Hawaweeny, then an archimandrite in New York, published a response in a periodical called Faith and Reason, and […] Click here to read the article
Source: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary On October 27-28, 2023, St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (SVOTS) student Mihailo Vlajkovic (M.A. ‘24) represented the Seminary at a conference hosted by the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University. The two-day conference, titled “The Apostolic Ministry”: History, Theology, and Ecumenism, offered an exploration of “the ways in which churches claim ‘apostolicity,’ and what this ideal means for broader questions of ecumenism and inter-communion.” Eighteen presenters from the US, Canada, and Kenya joined the conference, representing a range of professions and viewpoints, including “theologians, historians, ordained ministers, canon lawyers, ecclesiologists, ecumenists, and students and seminarians.” Mihailo learned…