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Fr. Steven Kostoff asks, why wasn’t Bp. Job’s courageous stand for the truth during the OCA’s recent time of trial acknowled at his funeral?
Fr. Steven Kostoff
His Eminence, Archbishop Job of Chicago and the Midwest fell asleep in the Lord on Friday, December 18. His funeral services were held in Chicago on December 22 & 23, and he was buried in Black Lick, PA on Saturday, December 26. Thus, we have lost an able archpastor who served us well in the Diocese of the Midwest. This was during a time of great distress throughout the entire Orthodox Church in America, when we were forced to come to terms with a “Church scandal” that exceeded the boundaries of the merely “financial.” I have no intention of rehearsing the facts of that story beyond what would be essential here, as I offer a personal assessment as to how I now understand the role of Archbishop Job in serving the Church throughout this “time of troubles.” I believe that his role was essential, decisive, and yet painful for him personally. I also believe that His Eminence grew in stature throughout this ordeal by his principled position, and in so doing he manifested a human capacity for “self-transcendence.” Perhaps I am using this term somewhat modestly in this context, but I am referring to his ability to stay on course despite his own limitations, flaws and weaknesses, when the pressure on him was enormous to fall back into the dreary conformity of personal and institutional self-defensiveness. Yet, even with that modest understanding of the term, I am certain that Archbishop Job’s clear demonstration of self-transcendence was part of the process of theosis that we hold to so dearly in our Orthodox theology. Continue reading