Orthodox Unity

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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By St. Andrew House, Center for Orthodox Christian Studies
www.standrewhouse.com
Board of Directors: Steve Lionas, Dean Calvert, Myke Jacobs, Warren David

Visit the St. Andrew House “Orthodox Episcopal Assembly” on Facebook

Sixteen years ago the bishops of the various jurisdictions of the Orthodox Churches in America met in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, to map out the road to a unified American Orthodox Church. Call it the “Ligonier Council” — the First Council of Orthodox Bishops in America.

The air was electric. Called by the two towering leaders of Orthodoxy in America — Archbishop Iakovos of the Greek Orthodox Church (GOA) and Metropolitan Philip of the Antiochian Church (AOCA) and courageously supported by representatives of Romanian, Serbian and Bulgarian jurisdictions, the bishops resolved to tackle head-on the vexing problems of Orthodox jurisdictional disunity in America. The Church in America had turned a corner.

It was not to last. The news upset many of the Old World patriarchates. Perhaps they saw the attempt at unity as moving too fast. Or maybe they didn’t understand the American “can-do” spirit and our native impatience with progress that moves too slowly.

Reaction against Ligonier was swift and the Ecumenical Patriarch took the lead in reversing it. The message was unequivocal: There will be no independent and autocephalous American Orthodox Church.
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HT: Orthodox News

By Matthew Namee

We’ve tried this before. Over the past century or so, there have been no fewer than five attempts to bring the various ethnic Orthodox jurisdictions in America into some measure of administrative unity. Next week, from May 26-28, we embark upon a sixth effort — an effort which, compared to its predecessors, seems remarkably promising.

First, of course, there were the Russians. In the early 20th century, the Russian Archdiocese envisioned itself as the platform for Orthodox unity in America. Its sainted archbishop, Tikhon Bellavin, articulated an innovative vision to deal with the unprecedented diversity of ethnic Orthodox Christians in the New World. He proposed that the Russian Archdiocese be organized, not along territorial lines, but according to ethnicity — a bishop for the Russians, another for the Syrians, another for the Serbs, still another for the Greeks. St. Tikhon realized that the different ethnic groups needed their own ethnic hierarchs, and his first step in implementing this plan was to consecrate St. Raphael Hawaweeny as bishop for the Syrians. Separate, overlapping administrative units were created for the Serbs, and later for other groups (e.g. the Albanians), but St. Tikhon’s overall plan was never fully enacted. The tenuous unity that existed among the Russians, Serbs, and Syrians soon fell apart, and by 1920, any notion of American Orthodox unity under the Russians was dead.

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Source: Orthodox News

By: George Matsoukas

June 11, 2006

As we celebrate Pentecost 2006, it is useful to remember Pentecost Sunday, June 2, 1985.  That is the date and feast day that the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its Holy and Sacred Synod of Bishops chose to refuse an audience with the party of 18 Evangelical Orthodox Christians whose 12 year journey to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church led them to the Church of St. George at the Phanar, Istanbul, Turkey.  Some of the details of this journey have been chronicled by Father Peter Gillquist in his book “Becoming Orthodox.”

The 18 Evangelical Orthodox Christians at the Pentecost services, the first kneeling service they witnessed, included their top leadership: Father Peter Gillquist the presiding leader, Father Gordon Walker, leader of the members of the movement from the East and Father Richard Ballew, the leader of the members from the western part of the USA.  Representing the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese was Father Gregory C. Wingenbach, presently serving in Missoula, MT, assigned to accompany the group – only hours before those from the east coast were to depart from Kennedy Airport, NYC.  He replaced then Bishop (now Metropolitan) Maximos of Pittsburgh, who arranged for the delegation to meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Synod, and who supported and guided their journey to Orthodoxy.   Dr. Apostolos Athanasakes, Chairman of the Department of Classics, University of California at Santa Barbara, was also part of the delegation and served as the guide to the group.  The Secretary to Ecumenical Patriarch Demetrios, Metropolitan Bartholomew, the present Patriarch, when pressed by the group, told them after the service that the Patriarch and Holy Synod were glad they were on a pilgrimage to the Holy Mother Church but they could not meet with the Patriarch.  This interaction took less than two minutes. 

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From: Orthodox Christian Laity
By Peter Marudas

Behold now, what is so good or so joyous as for brethren to dwell together in unity?  Psalm 132

In late May, a meeting of potentially enormous significance for the Orthodox Church in America will occur in New York City when all Orthodox Bishops in good standing in North and Central America convene for a first-ever Episcopal Assembly. This unprecedented gathering has received little attention in most Orthodox circles and virtually none in the wider religious and secular media.

Nevertheless, its implications for the future of Orthodox Christianity in the Americas are both hopeful and controversial. The historic Episcopal Assembly will take place shortly after the Great Feast of Pentecost – the Kairos – when the Holy Spirit inspired the disciples to establish the Church.

Until 18 months ago, the mere contemplation of such a meeting would have been considered unthinkable in view of long-standing and entrenched official opposition to even discussing the question of closer intra-Orthodox relations. In recent years, a few Orthodox hierarchs with some support from clergy and laity openly but unsuccessfully championed unity initiatives. But with the exception of Orthodox Christian Laity, no group has consistently or aggressively pursued Orthodox unity in America. In October, 2008 the unity landscape experienced an earthquake, when His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew convened in Istanbul, a Synaxis (gathering) of the leaders of all Autocephalous (independent) Orthodox Churches; the entire leadership of world Orthodoxy.

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