You are right. It will take patience and preparation. And it will take faith that planting seeds now may not yield for years. But they may be ready to hear, at the very least.

No, he is not the first. And yes it falls on all of us to do the same. But it is an imperative that the bishop preach the Word of God to everyone, regardless if they are Orthodox or not.

The dialogue begins the conversation. Then those who have ears to hear will respond.
But if Metropolitan Jonah isn’t there to plant the seeds for those who are ready, then there can be no harvest. We have no way of knowing who in the ACNA will respond positively to Met. Jonah’s message but the important thing is, he is delivering it, regardless of who or how many continue on to learn more about our faith. Even if he is only planting seeds that someone else will harvest years from now, he is doing what God wants him to do. My priest became Orthodox years after he first became acquainted with it. Have faith and trust God.

They were Episcopalians before they were ACNA. And he grew up in that same church.
There is nothing to be stretched here. The Episcopal Church put Metropolitan Jonah on his path to Orthodoxy.

Try to have a little faith in what he is doing.

Sorry for the twisted noun/pronoun issue – I was trying to be brief and the resulting compression did muddle it up. The Nobel Peace Prize is supposed to be awarded for the work done for the previous year. In the President’s case, his major accomplishment was a very effective campaign to be elected (obviously). My point for mentioning it is to clarify what has been absent from most media reporting – it was not and could not have been for anything done this year, and certainly not for the ten days between inauguration and the formal submission deadline on Feb. 1. Applying this to the Metropolitan, the equivalent recognition would celebrated the work he accomplished prior to being elevated.
Hopefully this was clearer – though the length belabors the point a bit. The wit of your comment was still appreciated.
I agree that the enthusiasm is based at least in part on the promise of things to come. I think one needs to take into consideration that some of the enthusiasm represents the better-than-hoped for leadership the OCA now finds it has relative to the awful situation it recently endured. The combination of hope, supported and amplified by the gestures and statements made so far, combined with relief, goes a long way to understand what can seem excessive from outside.

I want to be absolutely clear, my remarks were in now way a swipe at Metro. Jonah, but rather the “misplaced” enthusasism that seems to have shifted from Metro. Herman, to Metro. Philip and now to Metro. Jonah. The remark rather was towards those who have “nailed” the cross of unity to him before he has had any time to acheive anything but a lot of regular statements.

I’m happy to see you picked up my my play of words “bare” . I was wondering if anyone would or just see it as a mispel.

On the other hand your final statement is difficult to follow, perhaps because of the poor noun/pronoun agreement.

If you were first referring to the recent recipient to the Nobel Peace Prize, he was my senator and state congressman I assure there was no credilbe work the previous year that merits him to be in the same company as Nelson Mandela, Mother Thersa, Bp Tutu, or Dr.’s Without Borders

Every heirarch needs our support, but a great deal more needs to be accomplished to warant Metro. Jonah the enthusasim and accolades he has been receieving for mere expression of positions and priorities.

Indeed we should be supportive of Metro Jonah and all of our heirarchs,

He is not the only heirarch nor is first to evangelize. And indeed evangelization falls equally on all of us, first in our own homes.

When our families live fully an Orthodox lifestyle, we will become icons of the church and the unchurched will be naturally drawn to us ( or persecute us), And should want to be what we are.

“Save yourself and thousands around you will be saved.” St. Seraphim of Sarov

You funny! The ice gets thinner.

He was all of 19 years when received into the Orthodox Church.

Let’s streeeeeetch our imaginations.

The fact is that it will take an immense amount of patience. And then it will inevitably come to a point of decision. I think putting the welcome mat out is excellent. But it is a long road to move from separating oneself from a church that saw itself as the penultimate church… the “chivas regal” of churches someone called it… to come to the point where the natural next step of attaching oneself to the Living Body of Christ as a physical and real incarnate institution in a way that has not been seen as important to their theology. It’s a big step, and babies don’t move from crawling to running the pole vault without a lot of preparation, growth, and grit.

Have they got the spiritual muscles for Orthodoxy? (Sometimes I’m not sure I do either!) They may need a breather. Institutionally this would be the norm. On the other hand, they are on the move and maybe can see the importance of settling into firm foundations. I’d love to see them become Orthodox.

Point #2 is anachronistic. There was no ACNA – or predecessor group – before 1996. (The ACNA was found at the end of 2008.) So – when +Jonah was growing up, the future members (if they were alive) would certainly have been part of the same organization. So, yes, he could reasonably be expected to know enough about them to have some understanding of who they are and what they might be looking for.

I am all for being supportive and I too “feel” for these Anglicans.

Some assumptions are made:

1.) “Anglicans who are trying to find their way” – really? We should ask them if they are “on their way” to another home. Or, more likely, they are comfortably on the via media.

2.) “+Jonah’s childhood years were spent in this church.” – no, sorry, he was a member of the Episcopal Church, not ACNA. Two hugely different outfits!

3.) “He understands them and knows what they are looking for” – Possibly, not so sure about that one. See #2.

4.) Evangelizing? – since when is dialogue considered evangelizing? Let’s hope ACNA members don’t read AOI combox entries. 🙂

I really feel for these Anglicans. They need a home and I am thankful the Metropolitan is seeking them out. Let’s not forget, +Jonah’s childhood years were spent in this church.
He understands them and knows what they are looking for. He is perfectly suited to evangelize them.

Many of them have lost church property to the national church and have made great sacrifices because they want to follow the true faith. God is seeking them out and Metropolitan Jonah is allowing God to use him as His instrument to save those who are trying to find Him.

Let’s be supportive when one of our bishops plays the role of evangelist.

While I agree that time will indeed tell (as it always does), one of the reasons that +Jonah has generated such enthusiastic support is that he has regularly made statements and shown a willingness to pursue goals that serve the mission of the gospel rather than just his jurisdiction.
While time will indeed “bare” (i.e., expose) what is walk and what is talk, it will also bear witness to the actual priorities of his leadership – as it invariably does for every leader. At this point, however – at least to those of us “outside” of the OCA (in my case, GOA) what he HAS said and HAS begun to do seem to give us good reason for hope.
I appreciate the snide humor of the the Nobel Peace Prize. However, since that was awarded to the recent recipient for work done during the previous year (with an application deadline just 10 days after assuming office), he would have had to have received it a few months ago for work he did before he was Metropolitan – for promises of hope and change – which doesn’t really apply. No one I have read is supporting him for any pre-elevation promises, but for the positions and priorities he has expressed since. Since a Metropolitan does not, as “Uncle Joe” Stalin famously noted, command any armies, it is difficult to see how much more he could or should have done than he actually has done in his first year.

Touche, good one!!

Have we given Metro. Jonah the “Noble Peace Prize” when he has barely been in office as well.

Let time and actions bare witness.

In the meantime he has a lot of wounds to heal in his own household and they won’t be difused by assimilitating them in to a larger group