Any person’s conversion is by nature an individual and idiosyncratic journey, and Mr. Oren’s reflected not only his visceral sense that Orthodoxy had a “core of holy tradition” but also his intense concern over theological concepts like giving the Eucharist to baptized infants, which may not animate other believers quite the same way.
Yet in its broader outlines, his movement from the Protestant realm into the Orthodox one, specifically into the Antiochian branch, attests to a significant and fascinating example of denominational migration. Over the last 20 years, the Antiochian Orthodox Church ”” with its roots in Syria and Lebanon and its longtime membership in the United States made up almost entirely of Middle Eastern immigrants and their descendants ”” has become the destination of choice for thousands of Protestants of Northern European ancestry.
The visible shift began in 1987 with the conversion of nearly 2,000 evangelical Christians, led by Peter E. Gillquist and other alumni of the Dallas Theological Seminary and the Campus Crusade for Christ. More recently, a wave of converts has arrived from such mainline Protestant denominations as the Episcopalian and Lutheran.
Some 70 percent of Antiochian Orthodox priests in the United States are converts, according to Bradley Nassif, who, as a theology professor at North Park University in Chicago, is a leading scholar of the religion. A generation or two ago, Professor Nassif said, converts made up barely 10 percent of Antiochian clergy.
Nice write up, especially for the NY Times. The parish attended by the convert highlighted, Mr. Cal Oren, is Holy Cross Antiochan Orthodox Church in Linthicum, a suburb south of Baltimore, started by ex-TEC priest Gregory Matthewes-Green (and his perhaps more famous wife, Frederica, the author and NPR commentatot). Fr. Gregory was one of the priests involved in the important Baltimore Declaration in the early 1990s, but he left TEC way back in early 1993.
Gosh, the failure of the Baltimore Declaration to do much for the cause of orthodoxy (small o) in TEC is sobering. Fr. Al Kimel, who sometimes comments here at T19, was another leader of that early effort to rally conservatives to “contend for the faith once delivered” (Jude 3). Of course, he also left TEC, for the Roman Catholic Church. Neither of them seems to have regretted the move.
And clearly Mr. Oren doesn’t. Despite the fact that the Orthodox spend almost half the year fasting from meat and dairy products. Thanks for posting this, Kendall.
David Handy+
Several families from my former TEC parish went to the local Greek Orthodox church – unfortunately, the only Antiochan Orthodox church in the area is very far away. I think if something had been closer, they would have chosen that over the Greek Orthodox, if only because the GO is so culturally driven. And I ended up in the RCC. Not surprising that no one I know who has left my former TEC parish has ended up in another mainline Protestant denomination – it’s either RCC, Orthodox, or a community Christian church.
One of the good things about the Orthodox Church in dealing with converts is that (from what I understand), they are so structured that one or a dozen converts cannot come in and hijack the structure of the church to re-make it in their image.
I get so tired of Baptists or others coming into the Episcopal/Anglican church and trying to make it more like what they left, rather than embrace what they are entering. Often, this means a watering down of the Sacramental approach, or changing the musical styles, or even down-talking the Episcopal way of doing things (“Episcopalians don’t get Evangelism! I asked someone if they knew Jesus as Savior, and they didn’t know what I meant!” — uh, did you try talking to them about their baptismal covenant instead?).
In His Peace
Jim Elliott <><
Ancient Faith Radio…an Orthodox internet ministry well worth bookmarking.
http://www.ancientfaithradio.com
Yes, centexn, I listen to Fr. Honeycutt’s “Orthodixie” podcast weekly. In the archives, the one on “Developing A Rule of Prayer” is great. One of my favorites.
They have a lot of clergy and not many lay worshipers.
I have a deep and abiding love for Orthodoxy at its best, and have also seen it at its worst. Those who are thinking about joining any of the various (and frankly competing) jurisdictions: the Orthodox Church in America, the Antiochean Archdiocese, the biggest player of all- the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, and a number of smaller off-shoot and Old Calendarist groups, really need to have their eyes open about what they’ll find. Doctrinal solidarity is certainly a plus, but those trying to escape sexual, financial or legal scandals in TEC will soon find each well represented in the mystic East. The Antiocheans are particularly suffering under their Metropolitan who seems to have changed quite a bit since his “Y’all come!” days of welcoming Evangelicals and whose current playbook might well have been cribbed by 815! But don’t take my word for it: check out the refreshingly candid site “Orthodox for Accountability” at http://www.ocanews.org. The moral: don’t seek perfection in any Church!
Sadly, there are still too many Orthodox who would rather ‘keep their light safely protected under the bushel’ than risk being tainted by [i]Amerikansky convertsky[/i]. Please don’t let these foolish Baba Yaga’s turn you away.
Hmmm Some pluses and minuses in the Orthodox Church…
+ It is both Orthodox (and orthodox) in its Christian Doctrine. It is unambiguously Trinitarian and the Creed (the real one) is not optional.
– It is firmly doctrinal and there is not a lot of room for the cafeteria approach for those disposed to picking and choosing what they want to believe. This is a package deal.
+ It is The Church not a church.
– Some of its jurisdictions and individual parishes can be less than convert friendly. Ethnocentrism is alive and well in some corners of the Church.
+ It is firmly liturgical and sacramental.
– Same as above for you low church types.
+ We don’t build ugly churches or do ugly liturgy.
– Depending on where you are and the choices among parishes you may have to learn Greek or Slavonic to follow the liturgy. (Increasingly most Orthodox parishes are switching to mostly or all English though.)
+ The Orthodox Church firmly teaches traditional Christian morals and values.
– Orthodox Christians suffer from the same failings and vices everyone else does. We just don’t try to rename our vices as virtues. And yes that means that we do suffer from petty church politics and the occasional scandal.
+ In line with the above we teach the necessity of sacramental Confession.
– We require periodic confession, and there is no little box with a screen to hide behind.
+ We still fast.
– Boy do we fast.
+ The Orthodox Church tends to focus on the spiritual or what Roman Catholics used to refer to as the interior life.
– While we don’t exactly ignore the world, it is fairly low on the priority list.
+ We do not recognize any one person (other than the Savior) as the head of the church. The Pope of Rome (before the schism) was honored as Primus Inter Pares. But we reject any claim of “universal jurisdiction” or “infallibility” attributed to one man or his office.
– At various times many local Orthodox churches have been far too closely aligned with secular rulers and governments.
+ We don’t shortcut things.
– Depending on the service be prepared to stand for hours. Hint: If you have never been to an Orthodox service before and are going (Ladies pay attention), WEAR SENSIBLE SHOES! Many Orthodox churches do not have pews.
There are many others but this is what I will call a fair sampling.
In ICXC
John
The Carpatho-Russian Orthodox celebrate the Divine Liturgy in English. They chant with a more Western tone than the Greeks.
The Orthodox churches are ‘different’ but they are serious about worshiping God.
The fasting is not hard with all the vegan choices available.
I learn a lot from The Opinionated Tailor on Ancient Faith Radio. As a former Altar Guild leader, I am intrigued by the vestments and colors. They are different from western tradition.
-Katie in Georgia
what Roman Catholics used to refer to as the interior life
Still do in some circles, although there is a tendency these days to speak of “spirituality”, as in “Ignatian spirituality”, “Carmelite spirituality” and so on.
If the Orthodox in the United States every resolve the jurisdictional confusion and stop looking like denominations, Christianity will be much strengthened in this country.
Re # 11
Words Matter,
Its being worked on. I think church politics have trumped that issue until recently. But various events over the last year have brought the matter to the front burner. It is high on the agenda of a fairly serious Pan Orthodox Synod which is being planned for the near future.
I suspect that this is at least part of the reason for the Ecumenical Patriarch’s visit here later this month.
Of interest to this topic:
[url=http://southern-orthodoxy.blogspot.com/2009/09/historic-anglicans-orthodox.html]Anglican-Orthodox Conference[/url]
To mark the 20th anniversary of St Tikhon’s glorification — Nashotah House is hosting an Anglican-Orthodox Conference on “Identity, Ministry and Mission in the 21st Century” from October 8-10, 2009. The conference is free and open to the public. Advance registration is required. Please contact Fr Steve Schlossberg, Director of Communications at Nashotah House: (262) 646-6506.
Anglicans and Orthodox have been talking since the first missionaries met each other in California in the nineteenth century. More formal talks began in 1973, when the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Discussions held its first meeting in Oxford. Three formal statements have since emerged (Moscow Agreed Statement, 1976; Dublin Agreed Statement, 1984; and Cyprus Agreed Statement, 2008).
St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary has contributed to renewing this dialogue through its Fellowship Conference in June 2008, through participation in the Nashotah House Conference this year, and through the joint concordat that representatives from both seminaries will sign. The concordat records both seminaries’ commitment to preserving the historic record of the Anglican-Orthodox dialogue to date, and to continuing that dialogue on a theological level.
3. libraryjim wrote:
[blockquote]I get so tired of Baptists or others coming into the Episcopal/Anglican church and trying to make it more like what they left, rather than embrace what they are entering.[/blockquote]
I get so tired of Unitarian Universalists coming into TEC and actually making it more like what they left, rather than embracing what they are entering.
Ken,
Amen!