Comments on: Priests Don’t Answer Emails

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 23 May 2018 23:43:42 +0000

So I am very late in coming to this, but yes, still in 2018 of course, this problem of priests not answering emails still exists. I do not regularly send emails, only when I really need advice. Maybe that is the whole problem, though, that I email about things that might cause him to have to write a paragraph rather than simply telling me what time a service will be. Since I work full time, it doesn’t work to set up an appointment to meet with him. Maybe I should bring these things up during confession? I guess it is so much easier for me to write than speak on the spot about things that might be more complex. But, anyway, my idea is this – would it make a difference if we all just contacted the deacon instead? Is that part of the deacon’s role and ministry?

An added thought: I also think that this might be one of the reasons why people go to the Orthodox internet forums and ask a bunch of strangers/laity – their priest doesn’t have time to discuss the issue/question. I am considering it myself….except some of those forums scare me, I feel like I’d be torn to pieces by hawks. The priest is always, well, pastoral, when present.

By: Fr. Johannes Jacobse

Fr. Johannes Jacobse — Fri, 02 Aug 2013 03:12:41 +0000

In reply to James. Well, that would be me. I'm pretty good at answering stuff but maybe this one fell through the cracks. Try resending it.

By: James

James — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 23:32:48 +0000

How ironic. I sent a message to the administrators of web site (via their “contact us” link) well over one year ago concerning publishing an essay and never got a response! A case of not practicing what they preach (or at least what the author of this piece preaches)?

By: Isaac

Isaac — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 19:19:38 +0000

My priest spent a lot of time answering my emails and meeting with me in person. Our parish is now filled to capacity and there is talk of building another sister parish in the same city. It makes a huge difference to have a responsive priest.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 18:09:39 +0000

I see this from both sides. Sometimes I think if our priests had better support from the parish (more involvement) our priests would not feel so overwhelmed. That also goes for sponsoring seminaries so we can have more priests and deacons. Sometimes we converts take for granted how much work the priest must also do outside the walls of the parish (visiting the sick, attending to the dying, house blessings, births, traveling to mission parishes, etc). In my city of one million residents all the priests in all our Orthodox parishes are American-born and as such most are responsive, although in our fast-paced, smartphone world I’m sure everyone would like answers in seconds. Despite the ethnicities in my local parishes I’ve never been once told to go to another parish. In fact, it has been the opposite. Those with other ethnic backgrounds have often been the kindest to me.

Perhaps, Father, you could enlighten us on communication with monasteries? Is it a natural hesitance that monastics feel toward lay people that makes them slow to respond and sometimes seem awkward to me in church? Seems like I read somewhere once that monks and nuns are taught not to develop close friendships with lay people. I understand from the perspective of maintaining peace. But, I do not understand from the perspective of not answering emails, even just a courtesy answer, for their wisdom is much needed by us who live in the world.

By: --

-- — Wed, 29 May 2013 02:05:24 +0000

Priests who don’t answer emails are doing a great disservice to their ministry and to the Church. A few years ago I moved away from an Orthodox OCA parish in Cincinnati, OH that I really loved but had to leave because of my move to California. I had felt guilty for not keeping in touch with some of the members and the priest, but life was difficult for me in many ways after my move. When you are depressed about your life, the last thing you want to do is call up people you used to know and tell them, so I admit I hadn’t kept communication lines open. This always bothered me in my heart that I did not keep in touch, so during Lent one year I decided to email the priest. Frankly I felt awkward for trying to start up an email with someone I hadn’t talked to in years, but don’t forget I confessed to this priest and spent two very formative years in his parish. Frankly speaking all I was really looking fo at the time was, at the most, a blessing or at least an acknowledgement of some kind as one human being to another. I remember how he preached in his sermons about the Prodigal son and felt like on some level that was me, you know? Anyhow I didn’t even get a response back. I wasn’t asking for a golden ring or a fatted calf, all I wanted was a “Glad to hear from you God bless you during this Lenten period” or something like that. I was pretty bitter about the thing and felt how hypocritical it was for him to not even send a 1 sentence email. Does that take too much effort on the part of clergy? It would have made a big difference to me in my life at the time to have received some kind or otherwise words from an old friend. Anyhow I ultimately forgave him but I didn’t forget the lesson that it taught me about how important the little things are in dealing with people, especially with regards to a pastor and his flock.

By: M. Stankovich

M. Stankovich — Mon, 13 May 2013 05:16:01 +0000

In my circle of schoolmates, acquaintances, and friends of varying jurisdictions, they all tend to be scrupulous in returning calls and electronic communication. Likewise, those priests, who by necessity were required to have secondary employment to support themselves and their family, some even made the arrangement to have the “parish office” phone transferred to the home of a pious parishioner so as not to miss a call. Those that met in locations other than their own facilities tended to have “rituals” – signs & guides or “greeters” – directing newcomers or visitors to the correct entrance. And while I’m not attempting to “cover” or provide an excuse for anyone, I can vouch for those who maintained a “parish within a parish” (a small, even miniscule, faithful group who attended Vespers & Matins, the Vigils on the eve of the Feasts, the weekday Liturgies, and the Lenten cycle) and forgetting to identify the proper door to enter if only because they had never expected anyone to attend. But I can also tell you of when I was a resident in the ER in lower Manhattan and took in a man a young Russian priest brought in because he was intoxicated & needed stitches, only later to be kicked out of the church by parishioners because he “smelled” (i.e. he smelled black); or when, in a Russian Cathedral in San Francisco, when I asked in my lousy Russian when Vespers began, I was told in impeccable English by an elderly man, “You don’t belong here,” directing me to the “English church”; or my poor friend friend in his first parish assignment, who sat in the front pew with his wife, holding her hand as they quietly wept at the fact that not one single person came to the liturgy to celebrate the Raising of Lazarus.

Andrew, Christ is Risen! I greet you in the Feast. I am of the type that believes that the most respectful course of action is taking one’s concern directly to the person in question. If I may use myself as an example, I am engaged in a “chaotic” environment whereby much of my time is focused on “containing” those who are disruptive and difficult. I rely and depend on those who are “stalwart” and consistent – and this is not to say I take them for granted or am unappreciative – but I am at times forgetful in expressing my appreciation. It seems to me you will best serve yourself, your family, and him by meeting with him privately and telling him what you need and how he may support you in guiding your family. I do not believe you will resolve this on the internet!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 10 May 2013 19:20:16 +0000

Our family talks about this a lot. We are a family with children under 40 and blessed with a nice income. We make it a priority to attend liturgy every week together showing our child that Church is important at all times. You would think clergy would be supporting our efforts left and right and doing everything possible to keep us involved. However, our priest is so “busy” that we are at the point where we simply give up trying to communicate with him in any capacity.

Honestly, I question the value of what we are doing sometimes. You would think going to church would make us feel safe and renewed but sometimes we have to worry about protecting our son from all the garbage in the parish. In the meantime, I question the pastoral wisdom of ignoring people who faithfully attend liturgy to chase after folks who simply want to use the church for an event or two and then just walk away until the next “important” event rolls around.

I suspect I am not the only one who feels this way. Everything is upside down.

By: Priests Who Don’t Answer Emails — Good Guys Wear Black | Discerning Your Vocation In The Orthodox Church

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:05:42 +0000

[…] Source: American Orthodox Institute […]

By: Orthodox Collective

Orthodox Collective — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:37:59 +0000

[…] https://www.aoiusa.org/priests-dont-answer-emails/Thursday, May 9th 12:30 pmclick to expand… […]