Indigenizing the Orthodox Church in America

“To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law…. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (I Corinthians 9:20,22)

With the election of a new Metropolitan, we are making a new start on our journey to spearheading the future Orthodox Christian Patriarchate of N. America. You may yourselves draw the parallel in timing with the election of a new President of the United States of America. Like Mr. Obama, we are energized with hope, optimism and change. He has the support of our nation. We have the support of the Holy Trinity. Both the nation and the Church are in financial straits, and each must find a solution to that unhappy fact. And both must build upon the uniting force of dissimilar and even divergent elements coming together for the welfare of the whole.

The Orthodox Church in America is one in faith, doctrine and objective, yet we express our faith in a variety of regions through differences in background, eras and understandings of who we are. When some reached out to the Russian bishop Hilarion of Vienna asking that he consider candidacy for the primacy of our Church, he proved his wisdom by declining to consider the offer. Among other cogent reasons, he explained that he is out of touch with the inner workings, life style and expectations of Americans. He is Russian. He understands Orthodoxy from his heritage and background, and it would not be appropriate for him to imagine ruling the Orthodox Church in America. Regardless of the same background of some, we as Americans are different from the Old World. One blessing of hope for our future is that the fatal attraction of Russomania by some of our leaders is over. St. Paul was able to become “all things to all men” because he was firmly planted in his Hebrew roots. He didn’t have to wonder who he was. Like Bp. Hilarion, he knew that well.

Looking from afar at the Orthodox Church in America, those outside often would paint us with a twelve-inch roller. They see the ways we worship uniformly, dress (at least for bishops) identically and have a similar if not the same theological approach to most topics. But we know how different we are—or ought to realize it. Just in the “lower forty eight” we belong to parishes in the Rust Belt, Bible Belt, Coal Belt, Rainbow Belt, not to mention new immigrants; then add to that Romanian, Bulgarian, and Albanian dioceses. Consider the Alaskan Church with its emergence from the recent attempt by the former bishop to convert the authentic heritage of the natives into a faux Russian expression of faith. The Canadians will work through their mosaic model to discover and express who they are to the people with whom they share a nation; and the similar situation exists for Mexico.

The new Primate has to take all that into account. He must have a sound Paul-like awareness of who he is himself, so that he can truly comprehend and empathize with all of the above, not imposing his own concept of what an Orthodox Christian is and how he or she will manifest his/her faith and work out the ways to share the true faith with the society in which they live. The former administration felt it imperative that the Orthodox Church in America strive for acceptance as one of the autocephalous churches universally. It understood its purpose was to be seen at all possible gatherings and conclaves everywhere the Orthodox Church assembled and to present an image as near as possible to that of the original Russian Orthodox Church missionaries and clergy. With the grace of the Holy Spirit, we shall find and express ourselves in all ways as both Orthodox Christian and American. It’s a new day and a new time for our own Novus Ordo Seclorum. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, that day has arrived.