As has become an all to familiar occurrence, an MSM outlet recently published an attempted hatchet job on an Orthodox priest and his parish. As is the usual script, the BBC writer did everything possible to paint Fr. Moses McPherson and his parish in a bad a light. This includes, of course, constant discussion of “RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA!” Which one might justifiably find somewhat strange, since this parish is in Texas and is part of a self-governing jurisdiction that is not under “RUSSIA!” This article was a little different than the typical MSM effort, however, in that it focused on young men converting to Orthodoxy seeking guidance on how to be authentically masculine. In his video response, Fr. Moses gives us an inside look at how the BBC’s visit unfolded, and the predetermined agenda the journalistic team had coming in.
This article also provoked an unexpected response from an Orthodox hierarch. His Grace Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe appears to have responded to this BBC article after the Divine Liturgy of 25th May 2025 in the Diocesan Cathedral, London. Here is part of his homily:
It’s not often, in fact, it’s extremely rare that I ever comment from this place on things going on in the media or in the political world, because for the most part these have no bearing upon our life in Christ. But I do want to say something today that’s in response directly to something in the press. As of this morning, there’s an article that has been published in the mass media. It’s on the radio and so on, about the Russian Church, particularly in America, but more broadly about the Church Abroad, and it talks about the Church in terms of people seeking ‘masculinity’ and a ‘conservative environment’ and a political environment that’s different from the ‘liberal’ world around them. And I feel it’s necessary to say something in light of this to all of you who are here.
So there have been a few reports of late, including this most recent one currently making the rounds, about a number of young people converting to Orthodoxy, particularly young men, converting because they find in the Orthodox Church, according to these reports, an environment that preaches ‘masculinity’ and real ‘manhood’. And I want to say that if you’re here because you think that that’s what we are here to do, then you are a fool. This is stupidity. ‘Masculinity’, so far as I am aware, is not an Orthodox term. It is not a term that has any traditional place in Christianity. It is a term embraced by the secular world because this world has rejected normal concepts of humanity, in which of course there is male and there is female, there is child, there is adult. These are simply human beings. But because the world has lost sight of the basics of what it means to be human, it is forced to respond to the lack of clarity it has pushed on itself by fostering these concepts of ‘femininity’, ‘masculinity’, and so on.
None of this has anything to do with the teaching of Jesus Christ. This Church proclaims a simple reality that in Jesus Christ our Saviour, all of us discover what it means to be a human being, what it means to become a human person. And this is to live according to the Gospel after the image of Christ. If you have lost sight of what it means to be a man in this strange world, or if you have lost sight of what it means to be a woman in this strange world, this is hardly surprising. This world is more confused about these simple concepts than about almost anything else. So if you are here because you are confused and you wish to find sanity and normality in the teaching of Christ: God bless you, and may we by God’s mercy be of some help.
His Grace is absolutely right. Not only does he not normally comment on what is being said about Orthodoxy in the media, but neither do his brother bishops. It is somewhat heartening that a bishop did choose to attempt to dispel the MSM-crafted narrative that a vibrant, growing Orthodoxy in the West is an outpost of ‘right-wing’, Russian influenced ‘extremist’ politics.
However, in light of where we truly are, this response from His Grace Bishop Irenei comes across as remarkably tone-deaf to many American Orthodox men. Perhaps, as he serves in Great Britain, the response was deliberately crafted for his home country? Regardless, many American Orthodox men feel that he wasted this opportunity by speaking out in a way that was entirely too tepid, given the current state of American society.
Which brings us to a very important point. His Grace, as a successor to the Apostles, is free to respond to anything he sees fit. However, since this type of article keeps appearing about parishes in the United States, it is simply unconscionable that American hierarchs have so far had nothing to say about them. These attempted hit pieces are targeting American priests, parishes, and young male converts. For American hierarchs, this is their flock. Good shepherds would speak out forcefully in their defense, and in defense of Holy Orthodoxy’s teachings in all fullness.
Below the line are thoughts from three adult Orthodox American men on Bishop Irenei’s homily. These were gathered and sent to Orthodox Reflections by one of our occasional contributors. They are highly emotional in some cases. It has probably never been harder to be a good man, or to raise good men as a father, than it is right now in modern America. Prior to the responses are some additional articles Orthodox Reflections also recommends on related topics.
May the Ascended Christ have mercy on us all.
—OR Staff
Articles Related to Orthodox Missions, Conversions, and MSM Coverage
Response #1
Submitted humbly, in Christ, by a very concerned Orthodox Christian husband, father, and man:
(Slow, deliberate applause.)
Way… to… go. Awesome job! Congratulations, American bishops, Metropolitans, and Archbishops! Allowing a foreign representative of the Church to publicly address/redress something happening unchecked in our own back yards! Undoubtably, because it was front and center on BBC and a threat to all things UK woke, His Grace Bishop Irenei had to respond locally or face * gasp * accusations of masculinity in the Orthodox Church?!? How could Bishop Irenei NOT comment? He had to make clear that what’s happening in America, namely the growth of the Orthodox Church specifically among misguided men seeking true manhood, is misdirected and clearly NOT tied to Orthodox Tradition. Rather, this visible trend is a simple sign of the times, and a tendency to get consumed by worldliness, technology, and social media.
And where are the American bishops? Their responses?
Ghosts! Ghosts as they were during Covid…
If one has since responded to Bishop Irenei’s homily, I’ll eat crow.
My father was a Russian Orthodox immigrant who came to this country at 19 with no family and $8.00 to his name. He had thick black hair and matching mustache, with a heavy Russian accent. When I was growing up, my father worked long days in an office, doing project management work for the U.S. government… after first serving 20 years in the U.S. Army, enlisting and then becoming an officer through OCS… wounded twice in Vietnam… He valued his American freedoms and worked hard to take full advantage of them. He encouraged us to do the same, and to appreciate our opportunities in America.
Anyway, when he came home, after a long stressful day in the office, he’d eat dinner with us kids, ask us about our day at school, tell us about his day at work. After dinner, after an already long day in the office, he’d change from office clothes into work clothes and get ready to work until it got too dark outside… He’d sweat long into the heat of humid New Jersey summer evenings, getting his “wife-beater” sleeveless t-shirts soaking wet, covered in whatever he was working on… Or in Winter, sweating in the freezing humid NJ cold darkness, because he worked physically hard, in the evenings, on weekends… He was constantly working!
And he never complained, at least not in front of us kids. Even when he’d injure himself, which was infrequent, you wouldn’t hear the slightest whine or whimper. He took us with him when he’d work, teaching us… He would spend his off time clearing land he owned with a chain saw and machete, strip and lay roofs, fix vehicles, lay concrete on our driveway, because he had the initiative and skill to do so… And because, he would tell us, he was a man. That was a man’s duty. To not just work, but to work hard. Mentally and physically. And to protect his family. My Dad taught each of his kids to shoot, including my sister. When politics came up, he’d have no problem verbally cutting down the godless communists, whores and hermaphrodites in Hollywood. He’d openly explain to anyone, even strangers in public (at times to our embarrassment), how those godless communists, whores, and hermaphrodites were destroying our country. My father was a strong man. He was also dangerous, if and when he needed to be. He was fearless. He constantly reminded us kids that’s what men need to be.
Unfortunately for our country, there are fewer and fewer of these types of manly and masculine fathers in America. There are so few setting a positive example for our young men to emulate today. Leaderless and outcast for wanting to be real men, today’s young male inquirers are exactly whom our priests and Orthodox communities need to mentor and bring into the Faith!
So back to our bishops’ and metropolitans’ responses to Bishop Irenei:
Crickets.
Silence ensures survival, don’t you know? A lack of comment preserves power! Control of information… No commitment one way or another. Well, that’s even more power! Better to look like you’re not supportive of anything that could remotely be considered conservative. Why should we be surprised? Bishops and Metropolitans usually only speak to their priests once or twice a year in person. Emails or texts often occur just as infrequently. Maybe a few times a year at most, if at all?! Parishes are not visited, or even contacted, at the height of natural disasters. Why should we be surprised, then, to find ourselves leaderless?
Hierarchs. Listen. This is a time of unprecedented growth of the Orthodox Church in our country! What is fueling it? How are priests and parishes to respond? Your lack of leadership at this time is deafening! Be Men of God. Gird your loins and embrace the tasks put in front of you, as leaders, difficult though they are. Recognize what is taking place and fearlessly lead your priests. Communicate to your parishes the Truth of Orthodoxy, including what it means to be a man, in spite of today’s sick, weak and twisted societal norms.
Or, discredit the priests on the front lines. Belittle their efforts. Your choice. But for all that is cotton-picking manly, don’t just sit there as deaf and mute eunuchs!
We do not see you.
We do not hear you.
At a time when we so very much need your presence, and leadership.
Response #2
And here’s another response, from a God-fearing, God-loving man, priestly even, who knows what it is to descend into chaos, combat, and stare death in the face:
So I read (Bishop Irenei’s) homily. I think he’s missing the point. He might be out of touch with the point, or he might be reacting to negative press from that article. Hard to say. People come to the Church for many reasons, and that young man, whose masculinity is being attacked constantly by a progressive agenda, who finds refuge in the Church from having his God-given masculine humanity under assault… I find this heartening, and not cause for misplaced reaction full of platitude.
The Church is called to be salt and light. In the diesis icon we see Christ flanked by St John the Baptist, the icon of masculinity, and the Theotokos, the archetype of femininity. Because God created them male and female and called it good, the Church represents these archetypes, makes icons of them. In a world desirous of destroying these archetypes, the Church stands as sanctuary and refuge providing multiple examples of these archetypes. For this bishop to discourage men from fleeing to the Church (“keep moving on,” he said) is very disheartening, apathetic, and a refusal to acknowledge the sickness of this fallen world. He stands aloof of the problems we are called to heal. I really could go on and on. What this bishop doesn’t understand is the old phrase Qui tacet consentire videtur: he who remains silent is understood to consent. He does not want the Church to lead humanity to the Truth, and if so, only in an extremely passive manner (“the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force”). For him, the Church remains in passive irrelevance. God help us.
And “worldly visions of masculinity?” What is that? What is a worldly vision of masculinity as opposed to a righteous vision of masculinity? This also remains undefined by this piece, which further makes it a bad message.
See 2 Kings 23:7, where godly King Josiah goes on an Elon Musk-style purge, including (verse 7) the houses of the sodomites by the temple. There are many understandings of this story. The most traditional is that these were homosexual priests in the temple. Other translations say effeminate priests. Either way, King Josiah purged them from the temple.
Weak leaders. We need to get rid of them. This bishop might as well be saying, “no refuge for you here, young man.” Pathetic.
Response #3
And another exceptionally eloquent response to Bishop Irenei’s letter, from an equally Godly man, who served his flock courageously, in loving strength, setting the masculine example, as men of God should do:
The longing of young men to be masculine is a rebellion against decades of radical feminism, so it’s obviously an instinctive move to return to authentic humanity. Not sure why he couldn’t make that connection rather than presenting them as somehow incompatible.
Disappointing that it’s Bishop Irenei… as I… respect him. He’s a true theologian so the statements he makes are theologically correct, but the context of his statements is way too negating. I’d guess he’s uncomfortable with the evangelistic ‘marketing’ of Orthodoxy via the return to manhood. He should have spun it as a positive as in “we won’t only make you masculine…we even make you truly human!” Maybe he was spinning it for the UK context?
My father’s ultimate description of the Faith was, “Orthodoxy puts your balls back on.”
The unfortunate reality is that the current world population lacks a sufficient number of true leaders. And this is reflected in the church as well. Boldness and ingenuity are condemned as reckless and irresponsible. “Don’t rock the boat” is the universal rule. Like in politics, when an actual leader in the church comes along (layman, priest, or bishop), he is vilified. Hopefully the church will be improved by a generational shift as well as society in general.
OR Staff Conclusion:
Bishop Irenei’s overarching points about the Orthodox Church are true. The Orthodox Church is not a debating society, a political movement, or a self-help group taking cues from pop psychologists such as Jordan Petersen. She is the Kingdom of God made manifest in this world. However, it is also equally true that in our modern, mixed up world the enemies of Western Civilization have made many traditional Christian teachings into politically contentious issues. That is their doing, not ours, but we are duty-bound to respond forcefully and clearly nonetheless. We should be following the lead of our bishops in that response, not out here on our own.
OR Note: We highly recommend this Open Letter to Our Shepherds from Hilber Nelson
Comment copied from X from Fr. John (Azar) Claypool☦️ @Abunajohn. We copied it here to make it easier to answer as we don’t plan to give Elon Musk any money.
Original Link: https://x.com/Abunajohn/status/1928584435815096492
“How come there are no names on the letters in your article? This is disingenuous. While I understand the reason for your article, it has nothing to do with Orthodoxy. Sadly, the same thing happened in the late 1980s, a large influx of converts, new churches, but most left by the early 90s. Masculinity has nothing to do with the Holy Church. As witnessed on X, most of these fighting age males hold to misogynistic views of women and prejudice toward other faiths and ethnic cultures. There are no actual statistics showing large growth in Orthodoxy, at least, not here in the US. These young men would be best served by a formal education, the military, or a technical skill, as well as, joining the Holy Church. Not everyone can be an apologist, or Orthodox scholar, with no training, experience or wisdom. Orthodoxy is not Protestantism, where opinion alone can mean success and fame.
For you young priests; stop telling your new converts they have your blessing to teach.
For you bishops; pay attention to your clergy. There’s not a competition to acquire the largest number of catechumens. Pay attention to social media, your new parishioners are on there fighting each other and anyone that is not Orthodox.”
Greetings Fr. John. Father bless! You are being answered here, and the link to this comment will be published as a response to you on ‘X”. Hopefully you will take the time to click over here and read it. We don’t plan to pay Musk for the privilege of writing long posts on X when we have an entire blog where we can post as many words as we choose. Before responding, a word of advice. In today’s environment, having the phrase “Ex-Spook” on your X profile is not a good idea. Having served in the U.S. intelligence community is not something to be proud of. Nor something to be made light of. All over the globe, the U.S. intelligence agencies have left a trail of murder, overthrown governments, and human suffering on an unimaginable scale. Advertising your affiliation with such crimes is not benefitting your priesthood.
Now to your points.
We had a really robust internal discussion over sourcing these responses. The short answer? Many of us would get fired from our jobs for being pro-masculinity. After all, why do you want to know who the authors are? To do what, exactly? Pray for them? Contact their bishops? Harass their priests? Cancel culture is still real, and would also affect spouses and children, not just the primary authors. Contributors who have gone on record publishing here have lost jobs, been asked to leave schools, had their medical licenses investigated, and lost contracts. It isn’t even just what they published under their own name. It is what else is on our site that their work is published adjacent to. So you will have to forgive these guys for wanting to speak their minds, but not quite being ready for a sort of martyrdom. Now that is probably coming for all us regardless. No doubt the security state knows everyone connected to this site, but what we do is currently legal as it is protected speech. At least in the U.S. Pretty sure that in the U.K. we would have already been rounded up. We all know that can laws and rights can change with the magic incantation, “National Security”. Finally, how does an article by Orthodox men in response to words spoken by an Orthodox Bishop on the topic of conversions to Orthodoxy have “nothing to do with Orthodoxy?”
The first response in the article was actually (as the text made very clear) written by a cradle Orthodox man, not a convert. In any case, there has never been anything like the current interest in Orthodoxy in the U.S. The year Nicholas converted, for example, he and his wife were the only catechumens in a parish of over 300 families. This year alone that parish received 20 people into the Church at Pascha. Whatever events you are referring to pale in comparison to what is happening now.
Masculinity has nothing to do with the Holy Church? See, we beg to differ. That was the whole point of the article. We don’t agree with you that authentic masculinity and femininity have nothing to do with the Orthodox Church. All humans are either male or female, radical as that notion may be in our current age. Young men are struggling, looking for role models and help learning how to live their lives free from porn, isolation, and depression. You also need to at least acknowledge that many priests do not agree with you. On one of our podcasts we asked a parish priest in the OCA what many of his young male converts were seeking in the Church, and he responded, “beautiful masculinity”. That is a priest who is plugged into what is happening around him, and knows how to spiritually father broken young men. It is also strange to say that masculinity has nothing to do with Orthodoxy when we restrict the priesthood only to males. At some level, the Church has to see a difference between men and women, otherwise we would ordain women, right?
First of all, that is the kind of “broad-brush”, insensitive, callous language that we chided Bishop Irenei for using. We are not talking about the online X space at all. We are talking about real young men in real parishes who are really trying to connect to the authentic Christian Faith. Not X trolls. Characterizing young men, that you do not know, in such terms is absolutely scandalous. X is not real life. That is what we are talking about here. Real life. Sad to say, but your comments really are shameful. Such statements make it appear that you are anti-convert.
Many parishes with which we are in contact have tripled in size in the last three years. Or more. Anecdotal? Sure, but the only parishes we know that are really struggling are “ultra ethnic”, and even they have managed to get a convert family or two. As for hard numbers, those (as the BBC made clear) are hard to get. But seriously, to live in the U.S. right now and not see the explosion in interest in the Orthodox Church, especially the large catechism classes at our more well-known parishes, is to be willfully blind.
That’s true, though trade school is the best choice unless higher education is required for your intended job. No father figure (or father) should encourage a young man to go tens of thousands of dollars into debt to get a degree in English Literature. All apologies to English professors, but it is a crowded field and graduates of second or third tier schools end up making coffee at Starbucks. A larger point is that many of these young men have absolutely no successful, adult males in their lives to help guide them. They find those relationships at Church. Which is why joining the Church tends to precede other life choices such as whether or not to join the military (mixed bag that, better the National Guard or the Reserves) or what career / educational route to take. You do know that at coffee hour and social events us old timers actually talk to these young men about their futures, right?
100% agreed. Which is why our contributors tend to stay in their lanes. Techies tend to write about tech stuff, geneticists about genetics, doctors about medical, etc. When doing apologetics, we also tend to stay in our lanes – former Evangelicals tend to speak to Evangelicals, former Roman Catholics to Roman Catholics, former Episcopalians to Episcopalians. In terms of any kind of “deep Theology”, we only publish those kinds of pieces from seminary graduates or current seminary students. Now on this particular article, the men are Orthodox of longstanding and are fathers with years of wisdom. They are perfectly qualified to give their opinions on this topic. This was not apologetics or a work of scholarship. These are men in real parishes who are raising their own sons while helping to correct the damage done to other men’s sons. It is perfectly acceptable for them to disagree with Bishop Irenei on this topic, and with you.
That is absolutely good advice, as new converts and catechumens should be learning, not teaching. They also shouldn’t be running off to seminary, but that is another discussion. So you are not wrong, but this comment has nothing to do with the piece. No one in any way connected to it is a young convert. We are discussing young converts, but all the men involved are either cradle Orthodox or have been Orthodox for quite a long while. None of them are that “young” either. Not applicable here, and not really applicable anywhere on our site.
The irony here? The message of our article was that Bishop Irenei and our American bishops should pay attention and respond to what is happening on social media and in the MSM. Thank you for making that point in concert with us. As for competing to acquire the largest number of catechumens? That is a new one. Sure, parishes and priests do publish pics online when receiving a large number into the Church. It is a cause for celebration! We all rejoice! Well, you don’t come across as very joyful about conversions, so it does make one wonder. Besides you, it sems, Orthodox clergy tend to be very serious about the Great Commission. But competing with each other, one-upping each other or something? The whole idea is weird. Again the assumption from you that young men coming into Orthodoxy are terminally online trolls. Now should they be cautioned against being terminally online trolls? Absolutely. There is not one grown man who is active in his parish mentoring young men that has not had to tone down a kid’s social media usage. It’s the way your assumptions about who young men are that are converting come across that is wrong, not the underlying advice for bishops to pay attention or new converts / catechumens to focus more on the real world than the virtual.
I have been struggling to be a faithful Orthodox Christian man for a long time. As the dad of two sons, that reality is even more poignantly in my face every day – my boys look right to me to determine what it means to be a man, and I must reflect Jesus to them.
Father Moses is not my priest. I do not know him at all, but I do respect and admire the work he is doing for men in the church, as I respect and value the work other organizations, such as Saint Paisios brotherhood, and what they’re doing for men in the Church. It’s filling a much needed void.
When I was young, the Church was – I’ll just say it – ethnic. Very few men were in the Church who were not from the well known ethnic groups. I’ve had several friends over the years who were attracted to Orthodox Christianity but ultimately decided against it primarily due to the ethnic character of it. Now, the dynamics are totally different. This new reality is touching.
I probably have not been more disappointed with a Bishop’s response since the Covid nonsense. It is disappointing. Reminds me of a podcast Fr Tom Hopko produced years ago which I’m pretty sure was entitled “when bishops disappoint.”
It’s hard enough being a man and raising young, solid man in the context of neurotic, confused, western secular culture. Bishops need to have our back.
To be charitable, I’ll assume that Bishop Irenei, being in London, does not understand the context of modern American culture.
I’m fairly confident that we’re well past the time where western Orthodox Christianity will be staying in its ethnic enclaves. The American church from years ago has evolved into a truly American church – though still not administratively united, it’s filled with men and women of all backgrounds who are trying to live in Jesus and some of us are trying to combat the nonsense propaganda that we get bombarded with every day in western secularism – because we love our country, we’re American patriots, and we want what’s best for the nation.
I am thankful for Father Moses‘s work, and yeah, it was disappointing to read Bishop Irenei’s tone deaf response.
Thank you to you guys for having the balls to discuss this on your pages here. I hope this is not too masculine of a remark 🙂
When we married, our beloved priest mentioned in his homily that God uses different aspects of the Church to attract men – sometimes the music, sometimes the iconography, the architecture or the history, and other times, a pretty woman. After they’re in the Church, then they stay to work on their salvation. The manly online influencers are doing God’s work, and may it be blessed!! I’m mortified for the young male parishioners in Bishop Irenei’s church (or online) who heard his invitation to leave. They could just be in the early stages, still feeling out the waters or hurting with fresh wounds by feminist attacks. They will heal and grow in their Faith, if woke priests and parishioners don’t make them feel unwelcome. That sermon was unnecessary and only appeased the woke journalists trashing our churches. After having visited lukewarm effeminate dying parishes around the country in past decades, I often thank God for these young men who are a rejuvenating and stabilizing force. They bring so many gifts and so much life and courage and strength. And yes, the Church HAS spoken about “manliness” in its saints – both male and female – as a greatly desired trait. On behalf of *real* women, we want manly men to remain in our Church! Please stay!!
Out. Standing.
Glory to God for these men.
Let me start by saying that I am Orthodox, I’m male, and I’m a convert to The Faith. I consider myself to be very much a traditionalist. I actually thought the BBC article was pretty tame.
I absolutely loved the remarks from His Grace, Irenei. To burn a strawman before it gets set up, nobody commenting on this blog (myself included) has any use for the Fordham crowd. But to piggyback on the comments from His Grace, the “ortho” bro crowd is not a good look for genuine Orthodoxy. I mean, if you pay attention to Fr Moses, one would think that lifting weights is just as important as prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Sigh. I get that guys like me have been put down by society and blamed for everything. But that doesn’t change the fact that The Path for Orthodox people is self denial, humility, silence, and patiently enduring trials.
Did you watch the response video Fr. Moses recorded? Fr. Moses seems to record videos that are intentionally tongue-in-cheek. That may be a good thing or a bad things, but it does get attention and his parish is exploding with growth. It is true that the path for Orthodox is to pick up your cross and follow Christ – which requires self denial, humility, silence, and patience during trials. All teachings which tend to attract men, not just young ones. Women often find these attractive as well, having been taught the complete opposite for most of their lives and winding up miserable as a result. The fairer sex will eventually catch up to the young men in terms of interest in Orthodoxy. The interesting thing about this article is that the three responses were all written by middle aged dads, not “Ortho bros”. If you go through the responses, there was a lot of exception taken to Bishop Irenei’s comments that men who were searching for help realizing their own potential as men should keep moving. That strikes dads as callous and unfair given how much so many young men are struggling.
This statement from Bishop Irenei is the equivalent of a parent scolding a child for something a stranger accused the child of doing, without first verifying if it was true, for the sake of satisfying the stranger.