Posted by Al The reasons why jurisdictionalism continues need to be honestly identified, and paths to overcome those reasons need to be carefully prepared. And, when all is said and done, the hierarchs of the jurisdictions must tell any holdouts that there is no canonical escape route for any parish to exist outside the resulting "unified" American Church.
on 5/4/2009, 3:55 am, in reply to "Re: Questions"
Message modified by user Al 5/4/2009, 7:36 am
David-
Perhaps I should more accurately say that a majority of the Orthodox in America are "comfortable" or "not uncomfortable" with the current jurisdictional mess, as it has little impact at the parish level. However, if surveyed to see if they support "Unity" in the abstract, I would bet a majority would say "yes", as "Unity" is a socially acceptable term.
If, however, the people being surveyed were presented come concrete examples of the ramifications of "Unity", the results would be quite different, unless that "Unity" were in name only. If the Church in the US became non-ethnic territorial dioceses, then there would be the perceived threat of loss of ethnic identity at the parish level. And, of course, would the "unified" Church be more -or- less "conservative" than one's current jurisdiction?
For example, in the early seventies, the National Opinion Poll found an overwhelming percentage of the American population supported year round Daylight Savings Time as an energy saver in reaction to the Arab oil embargo. What wasn't mentioned in the poll was how late the sun would rise in the Winter. When folks in cities like Detroit found that it was still pitch dark at 8:30 AM in December, the support for the idea almost instantly reversed, and the practice was scrapped.
There are many, many reasons for the current mess, and while it is downright wrong, simply trying to right a wrong will not overcome the human factors that continue the problem. Dean often cites the benefits of locall elected bishops. I agree, but those who resist this proper aspect of canonical Orthodox polity need only mention Tikhon (Fitzgerald), Nikolai (Soriach), Innocent (Gula) and Herman (Swaiko) to point out that locally elected bishops are not necessarily guaranteed to be of benefit to the Church and its people, perpetuating a barrier to unity.
That said, there is no excuse for the abysmal job of evangelization attributable to all the jurisdictions. Not the passive reception of converts, but active witness of the Orthodox faith to the American people Even with "by the book" polity, if we fail to really execute the Great Commission, we will still fail.
Al
Paros Island, Greece
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