Posted by by Abp Nathaniel (dcalvert) on 7/14/2007, 5:00 pm “Blessed is the kingdom of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Inasmuch as many of you are new, new delegates to the Congress, I will steal a little of our time to give some background into our position, our relationships and our activities as an Episcopate or, if you prefer, as a Diocese. In order to understand these relationships, we must reflect on what it means to be “Church.” By this, I do not mean the building in which we offer communal prayers to God, as we like to call our local parish place of worship. In Canada, before 1902, immigrant faithful in Saskatchewan and Manitoba came together in homes, in the fields, witnessing to that same grace from God which unifies people into his witnesses and who acknowledge his presence in their lives. In 1902, St. Nicholas in Regina, and St. Elias in Lennard were founded and, in 1903 Holy Trinity in MacNutt, and Saints Peter and Paul in Canora. Recall what happened in Cleveland in 1904, when the faithful met on the shore of Lake Erie. They were “Church” even though they had no material structure. “Church” refers primarily to people and secondarily to buildings. “Church” is those individuals called together by God to be witnesses to his truth, to his actions in human history and to respond to him. Those few faithful individuals who met at the edge of Lake Erie were called together by God’s grace to come together, to celebrate Pascha as much as they were able to recall and thus they remembered his mercy to them in Europe and they implored him for his mercy in their lives in this “New World”. The Church is the unique Body of Christ in this world. She is not a mere human institution nor is she established by man-made laws but she does respond to civil obligations. The Church bears witness to Divine Truth. I make this introduction as a reminder that the Church, being in this world, is always under some form of pressure to conform to the ways of the world, to the laws made by men, in different times, various places and even under various creeds. The Apostolic Church began under the pagan Roman Empire, and spreading the good news throughout the world also lived under other forms of government, including the aggressive Turkocracia and atheistic communism. She has lived in an exalted position under czars and monarchs and more lately, is experiencing life under “democratic” forms of government. The universal Church outside North America has her own unique and varied historical experiences in living in some form of co-existence with various expressions of government. Historically, the Church and State each recognized the value of the other and in “Orthodox” nations, there was some form of peaceful co-existence, although not without some tension. Our Church in North America has her own experience of more than 210 years of witnessing, first in Alaska under the Czars, and then under the British Crown in Canada and the Republican form of Government in The United States. These modern forms of co-existence, mutual respect for one another, Church and State, has allowed the Church to be relatively independent and free of government intrusion and the State remains unassailable that it has not pronounced government preference for any particular faith community. The universal Church, the local Church in North America and each diocese, continue to bear witness to Divine Truth. Even as North American societies become more and more complex due to recent establishments of faith communities new to this continent along with their particular forms of governance, the Orthodox Church continues to have her own historical place and influence on this vast continent, a presence which continues to grow and become a major voice. Although Church and North American societies each has its own recognized and honored status, the governments of Canada and The United States have become more and more scrutinizing of the administrative operations of faith communities vis-à-vis civil laws. Although there are some who would say that governments are becoming “anti-religion,” it is also likely that this scrutiny can be attributed to abuses by non-profit organizations. The Episcopate parishes and mission are incorporated locally, that is, in the province or state in which the parish is established. The civil governing bodies must observe that non-profit organizations are following their own corporate by-laws and government regulations. It is to these bodies that the Church does owe vigilance and responsibility over her administration. In the US, a parish can become a recognized 501 (c) (3) body which means that individuals may receive the prescribed federal tax deduction for donations made to the parish. This also means that the federal government has the obligation and right to monitor the operations of the parish according to the standards established by the government for the 501 ( c ) (3) as does the state or province have its own responsibility to monitor the parish/mission as a local corporation. There have been and are, and one can suppose that there will be, financial mismanagement and abuses for personal gain in faith community operations. Read Acts of the Apostles, chapter 5 of the fraud of Ananis and his wife Sapphria. Fallen human nature is a universal reality and it knows no faith community boundary, just as it is not foreign to the corporate and political worlds. Fallen human nature is universal and its negative reality is found in all spheres of human life. North American governments, in general recognize two forms of ecclesiastical forms of governance: hierarchal and congregational. No one would deny that the Orthodox Church is an hierarchal church. On the other hand, congregational churches are those which are totally locally governed. The uniqueness of Orthodoxy is that there is co-operation between the hierarchy, clergy and laity in the administration of the Church.
THE ADDRESS OF HIS EMINENCE, ARCHBISHOP NATHANIEL
TO THE 2007 EPISCOPATE CONGRESS
now and ever and unto the ages of ages.”Reverend Fathers and Lay Delegates, honored guests: Welcome to the 75th Annual Congress of our Holy and God-protected Episcopate. Some of you are “old-timers,” like Mr. Avram Srbu who has attended as delegate or guest every Congress for the past 41 years! Many of the clergy and lay delegates have also been representing their parishes, on and off, for many years. Some of you are here for the first time and therefore, we welcome you in particular.
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