Posted by Al
on 7/26/2009, 11:13 am, in reply to "Re: North American Serbs implementing full unity"
The Antiochian Archdioces is definitely facing organizational problems, but it is nowhere near a "sinking ship", as was the OCA. I doubt there will need to be the taking on of endebtedness to pay for misappropriated charity funds, for one example.
Further, I would add, the OCA has been the "Incredible Shrinking Church" since autocephaly. Such has not been the case with the AOA. The declining membership of the OCA preceeded her scandals by a couple of decades.
Since it took nearly 40 years for the membership of the OCA to figure out something was rotten and then care to do something about it, I would suggest we give things a couple of years before we claim a miraculous cure. The current direction is promising, yes, but it will need to be sustained. Afterall, the scandall arose over money, not pastoral, episcopal and spiritual neglect/misconduct. OCANews.org was not there when bishops abused and/or neglected their clergy and flocks prior to the money scandal. It came into existance when money was missing, and only because money was missing.
Repentance is not complete with the request for forgiveness. It is completed when the offensive ways are permanently changed. We are not at the "permanent" point yet. Perhaps in a couple of years. So, rejoice in the request for forgiveness and what appears to be a change in behavior, but remember that the job is not yet completed.
Al
Al
Paros Island, Greece
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