Posted by Al
on 7/7/2009, 2:25 pm, in reply to "Patriarch Kirill - More Russians than Greeks living in Turkey"
Message modified by user Al 7/7/2009, 2:53 pm
If there are so many Russians living in Turkey, have they established a parish membership, are they waiting for Russian language parishes, or are they uninterested in the Church?
Many years ago, a group of us discussed the stereotypical behavior of the three major Orthodox ethnic groups in the US. Clergy of the three representative jurisdictions/ethnicities were amongst the group members. The consensus was:
Russian immigrant lives where there are numerous Orthodox parishes of non-Russian ethnicity,but no Russian parish. He simply remains unchurched.
Greek immigrant lives where there are numerous Orthodox parishes of non-Greek ethnicity, but no Greek parish. He tends to become Episcopalian or other non-Catholic congregant.
Arab immigrant lives where there are numerous parishes of non-Arabic ethnicity, but no Arabic parish. He will join the nearest Orthodox parish.
If the indications of Church attendance by recent Russian immigrants to the US are indicative of anything, the Russians in Turkey are not seeking Orthodoxy. Significantly more of the recent Russian immigrants to the US are either unchurched or evangelical protestant than are members of an Orthodox parish. A very similar situation exists in the UK.
Al
Paros Island, Greece
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