Posted by Al
on 5/3/2009, 12:23 am, in reply to "Questions"
Dean-
Sadly, we do not agree on a variety of points. "Locally elected bishops" sounds wonderful, yet the majority of the Orthodox in the US must be satisfied doing otherwise, as their bishops are not locally elected and they don't jump ship to a jurisdiction which does elect locally. And, it was not too long ago when most of the parishes in the diocese where we lived would have preferred any bishop other than the locally elected one we had to suffer under.
Cultural imperatives are not distasteful to a significant population, as, for example, I have seen parishes mimick the ethnicism of cultures alien to their own. It's one thing when people of Russian descent embrace, preserve and promote old Russian ethnic behavior, but it's a totally different thing what a predominantly Anglo-Saxon parish does it.
We have created a "buffet style" approach to the Church in the US, and most of the people like it. Like Herman, there were times when I just stopped worrying about it and turned to on the task at hand in my local parish.
Be well
Al
Paros Island, Greece
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