Posted by from Photini Henderson (dcalvert) on 7/24/2007, 1:01 pm, in reply to "Re: Repose of Abp Kyrill" In any case, from a distance, I've been probably more free to speak But the OCA's transparency, even if critics may still find flaws, is But this letter from Archbishop Nathaniel reminded me of my best hope We are in America. I appreciate the Greeks taking care of the So Archbishop Nathaniel's reminder that hte mission in America is to Anyway, I thought it was a good letter. I don't know where he got In Christ, Photini
As you know, I am neither fish nor fowl, hubby lost his assignment
for no canonical, immorality, apparently this happens, and no one's
stepping all over themselves to get him assigned, so though you've
always known me to be active and verbose, this involuntary detachment
has given me distance and a kind of liberation -- sort of like
Hester's ignominy.
freely about my observations. Though the OCA has provided the
internet some of the most watched jurisdictional inhouse struggles, I
would much more prefer that struggle then the shame of sex abuse,
which my jurisdiction has grossly mishandled. Our diocese alone will
probably subsume all its assessments to the National Offices for the
next three years or more for settlements, legal fees, to mention
nothing of other measurable losses -- 20% loss at the instant church
itself -- and to mention nothing of the public good will, the loss of
morale, and the erosion of public trust in our outreach and
evangelism, to say nothing of our various child charities.
fresh air by comparison. Not only that there's some channel of
accountability, which we don't have in our eparchy, but that there's
more dignity and respect afforded laity -- the priests aren't silent,
and the hierarchs aren't lock step -- yet all are clearly devoted to
the church and bravely, head down, trying to sludge forward.
for the OCA, what I've always desired, if I dare desire anything:
one Orthodox Church in America ... and this letter responds to that
goal -- reminding us that the point is not to homogenize everything
into one typikon, one rubricon, one language (though I would really
like one English translation so we don't all sound like mewling fools
in a mixed crowd on Holy Friday) ... The OCA has Albanian, Ukrainian,
Bulgarian, and is inclusive and respectful of the dignity of its
traditions. Again, we don't have that in the GOA -- where Orthodoxy
without Hellenism is a deal breaker, and that is our justification,
the GREEK church, and we are bound to that. That has been the most
stifling of all in mission work, wherever we are -- here in the SW
Texas, where traditional Hispanics live and work, giving up their
identity for a Greek association is alien and unexplainable. It
reminds me of the 70's when converts were more Russian than Russian,
almost like they fell out of folk story blended with Russian babushki
and San Francisco hippies. It was a dishonesty that didn't ened to
happen.
Greeks, the Bulgarians taking care of the Bulgarians, the Albanians,
the Albanians, the Serbs the Serbs, etc., but that will dry up
eventually as the Greeks are finding out with their sharp decline in
membership, the rising exodus of members to other churches,
jurisdictions due to mixed marriages or that the second and third
generation Greeks cannot reconcile, despite every heart string, their
ethnicity as having equal or superior status to the faith itself.
be inclusive, gentle, fatherly ... not fascist ... one church, one
people, yes, but honor and respect to all. That's the hope I would
hope to have if hubby were ever assigned anywhere ever again in his
life -- to be able to reach out and evangelise and serve the people
in this community. Its simple Gospel.
it -- perhaps oca.org or ocanews.org -- but it was posted on o-f.
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