Month: May 2010

By George E. Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity

To all constant bloggers, ecclesiastical colonialists, ecclesiastical bureaucrats, enablers of foreign domination — i.e. journalists, lobbyists, and other special interest groups dedicated to keeping the church in disunity, disorder and dependent — I say: KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE that Christ’s Orthodox Christian Church would be free to become the Church in the Americas. 

The real heroes bringing integrity to the Chambesy process and meaning to the Episcopal Assembly are Archbishop Demetrios and His Beatitude Jonah.  Archbishop Demetrios is a man of prayer, who personifies the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.  He is wise and worthy to convene the Assembly of Bishops.  

So too is His Beatitude Jonah, who was born and nurtured in America and not a prisoner of Old World History and the Roman Empire, and free of foreign domination.  He is an example of the servant Bishop and through humility brought the bishops of the OCA to the discussion as canonical bishops. 

Archbishop Demetrios and His Beatitude Jonah, by their example of love by giving something up for the greater good, have made the assembly representative of the Bishops of America so that the first steps can be taken to develop the blueprint for a unified multicultural Orthodox Church in the Americas. 

We must remember whatever is decided must be accepted by the People of God who so far are not part of the process which is just beginning.  Renewal of the Church is the work of all the People of God especially in our pluralistic world that is free of kings and emperors.  

So for all of this to come together we must pray together that the Holy Spirit fills the meeting rooms of the bishops with the Light  so that the integrity of the Chambesy process is revealed to all of the People of God.  If there is no integrity in the process of developing the blueprint the  consequences will be far reaching and far lasting.  

George E. Matsoukas   

Read below and you’ll see one reason why we need a unified Orthodox Church in America. Wesley J. Smith, human rights activist and occasional contributor to AOI Observer, warns about a bill winding through congress that will surreptitiously fund human cloning. We could have something to say about that.

A friend of mine, an Orthodox priest who studied under Leon J. Kass, one of the great public thinkers in America today (see: Smith on Kass), was asked by Dr. Kass when the Orthodox are going to make their contribution. The Orthodox, he said, have the most developed anthropology of any religious tradition in the world.

We’re Americans. The debates will be raucous — it’s the American way, but they will substantive, fruitful, and when they are done something better will emerge from it — that’s the great promise of America and it is still fulfilled for those who understand freedom and are willing to take responsibility for it. And when unity comes (it can and it will), the important words will ring with more clarity — especially on the great questions of human value and purpose.

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Stealth Legislation to Federally Fund Human Cloning

The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network

By Wesley J. Smith

Wesley J. Smith

Embryonic stem cells aren’t much in the news these days. President Bush’s embryonic stem cell funding restrictions are history and the invention of induced pluripotent stem cells may allow scientists to obtain the benefits of embryonic stem cells without destroying embryos.

But that doesn’t mean the struggle over our biotechnological future is over. To the contrary, the current relative quiet is merely a pregnant pause before the real storm descends that will decide—in the CBC’s pithy phrase—whether we will allow doctors and scientists to “take, make, and fake” human life.

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By George Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity

Behold how good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity — Psalm 133:1

During the week following Pentecost, May 26-27, 2010 sixty five Orthodox Christian bishops, who have their sees in North and Central America, have been invited to gather at the Helmsley Park Hotel. The bishops will convene as the Episcopal Assembly which is an interim-transitional governing body of the Orthodox Christian Church in this New World territory. The purpose of the Assembly is to begin the process of developing the foundation for a canonically ordered unified Orthodox Church in the Americas. The blueprint that they develop for a canonically United Church will require more than this initial meeting. This process must eventually involve the whole body of the Church including clergy and laity. The final product, fashioned through a conciliar process and representing the work of the people of God will be presented for approval by the Great and Holy Council of all Orthodox bishops. This Council is part of the process of Orthodox Christian renewal and will be convened in the near future. This first meeting of bishops is a step in the process of developing working relationships with each other, asking the appropriate questions, defining the geographic territories of the Church, identifying resources available to them and setting up the appropriate committees.

This first Episcopal Assembly is different from other meetings of Orthodox Bishops such as the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas SCOBA or other Episcopal Meetings because this meeting has the blessing of all 14 Old World Primates of Orthodox Churches. It is the result of the Synaxis of Orthodox Primates that met in Istanbul/Constantinople October 2008 in response to the call of His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. At that time the Primates declared that canonical order needs to be established in the so called Diaspora. In Orthodox Christianity all of us are in a Diaspora waiting to go home to the Lord. This unfortunate term has been used to describe people not living in traditional Orthodox lands – i.e. lands beyond the Old Roman Empire. Orthodox canonical order relates to the fact that there should be one bishop in one city. All 14 old world Primates signed the document authorizing the establishment of Episcopal Assemblies that will take place in the New World, Western Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. The Episcopal Assemblies are meeting with the blessing of all the Primates.

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