We had an all-hands meeting for my company on Roman Catholic Ash Wednesday. Multiple Catholics showed up with their foreheads decorated with ash crosses. During our breaks, I gently teased my friends and co-workers that they were a week early. We all had a chuckle over that. A week later, as a Western Rite Orthodox Christian, I would be wearing my own ash cross. The timing may have been different, but we were all participating in the same ritual to mark the beginning of Lent. The same ritual our ancestors had participated in. They understood me, and I understood them. It was just one more way that becoming Western Rite, after 20 years of Orthodoxy, had grounded me in my own culture.
I grew up Evangelical. Even as a child, I realized that I was disconnected from the historic Christian faith. For a child who read history for fun, that was pretty easy to figure out. For a kid in a small town, however, there really was nothing to be done about it. Every church available to me was one flavor of Protestant or another. I drifted way from any faith during college. After graduation, I taught for a few years in Eastern Europe. It was there that I truly fell in love with historic Christianity. I talked about that in this post. My second year in country, I started regularly attending mass and learning more about liturgical Christian worship. The Roman Church there was very traditional. The spiritual life of the people was amazing. They’d stop off at the cathedral to pray on their way to work. Their faith was profound.
Coming home to the United States, I first tried to convert to Roman Catholicism. That did not work out as I discussed in this post. Almost everything that had impressed me about the Catholic Church in Eastern Europe was missing at the parishes I visited. The worship reminded me of Evangelical sing-alongs. Many of the people seemed indifferent to their faith. The clergy abuse scandal had not yet broken as a story, but it was clear that not all was good with the Roman Church in this country. As much as I tried, I simply could not overlook all the issues.
By the grace of God, I found a local Greek Orthodox parish. Between the Greek Archdiocese and the OCA, I spent 20 years in Eastern Rite parishes. I was married in the Eastern Rite. Five children and two godchildren were baptized in the Eastern Rite. I am very grateful for the blessings I received.
In fact, had COVID not intervened, I may never have left my Greek parish. Like most Greek parishes in the U.S., my local parish went full-blown COVIDian. Closing for far too long, then re-opening with massive restrictions, including masks on 2 year-olds. It was quite disheartening. It was then that my family and I reached out to the Western Rite parish in a nearby, heavily Republican, county. They were fully open and operating perfectly normally. I wrote about that in this post.
It was tough at first to attend liturgy in the Western Rite. My only liturgical experience for the past 20 years had been the Eastern Rite. For my cradle Orthodox children, everything was different and confusing. Our oldest son eventually went back to the Greek Church, even though as we discussed in this post, it was still full-blown COVIDian well into 2021. The Western Rite was just too different for him to handle.
The rest of us persevered. Despite the disorientation we felt each Sunday, we really wanted to go to church as normally as possible – kissing icons, lighting candles, open attendance, no masks, no social distancing. So we stuck with the Western Rite. Then something amazing happened. I came to realize that I was understanding the roots of my own American culture much better than ever before.
The Orthodox Church is the foundation of Western Civilization. Christendom, East and West, for 1,000 years was together in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The map below shows Christendom at the beginning of the 11th Century.
Christendom in 1000 A.D.
All these Christians had a common chalice. A common Faith. Even so, liturgical practices differed geographically. That was perfectly okay in 1000 A.D. It should still be perfectly okay. Unity in Faith does not necessitate complete uniformity in practice. Never has. Never will.
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Unfortunately, over a long period of time, the Orthodox Faith was largely lost in Western Europe. The replacement was what we now know as Roman Catholicism. Despite the accumulation of errors introduced by Rome, much of the patrimony of the Orthodox Faith was still there. In the 16th Century, the Roman Church had strayed so far from Orthodoxy that it provoked the Protestant Reformation. That “reform” movement led to the birth of many “churches” who dispensed entirely with what remained of Orthodox Faith and liturgical practices. Not everyone followed that course.
Given the way history is taught in the United States, many of us have simply missed how important Anglo-Catholicism was to the founding of our nation. A high percentage of English colonists were Anglican prior to 1776. In multiple colonies, the Anglican Church was officially established by law. This state of affairs continued, by the way, in some American states all the way to the mid-19th Century. (The Federal Constitution did not prohibit states from having officially established churches.)
The Anglican Church at that time was very “Catholic” in practice and Theology, which was greatly distressing to the Puritans – a group that gets entirely too much focus in our history books. The Anglo-Catholic tradition was so strong in America that 57% of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were Anglican. Our national cathedral in Washington, The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is a Neo-Gothic design closely modeled on English Gothic style of the late fourteenth century.
The Roman Catholic Church was also important in the development of the United States. Its cultural influence has been vast. The Roman Church is the largest Christian body in this country and has been for decades.
Anglo-Catholicism is the cultural blueprint of America, even for those of us that grew up Evangelical. It is in the background at all times, even affecting our use of words. After all, why call it “Christmas” when you don’t have a mass? That is just how our language, English, works because of the Western Orthodoxy that shaped it. Many more examples could be given.
Had I never become Western Rite, I would never have understood how deeply embedded Anglo-Catholicism is in our culture. History is my passion. Very early in my first year of attending a Western Rite parish, I realized that I was participating in feasts and liturgical practices I had previously only read about in history books. I found myself exploring, for the first time, the rich history of Saints from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and France. These are the nations from which my ancestors had come to America.
For me, it was like having a cultural blindfold removed. The Greek and OCA parishes had taught me how to be an Orthodox Christian. Thanks be to God for that. But they had done so within a foreign cultural context. At those parishes, Orthodoxy went hand-in-hand with cultural practices that were totally alien to me as an American. The traditional feasts unique to the Western Church were neither celebrated, nor even mentioned. The Western Saints simply did not exist. The “West” and its religious tradition were often denigrated as being lesser than the “East”.
Several Russian and Greek friends have, mostly out of curiosity, visited our Western Rite parish. They did not care for it. In the slightest. I took no offense. I understood completely. While it may be their Faith, it is not their culture. It is alien to them and always will be. Whether it remains alien to their children and grand-children growing up in a Western cultural context is an entirely different question.
Becoming Western Rite allowed me to keep the pure Orthodox Faith within the context of my own cultural heritage. Instead of constantly learning about someone else’s culture, I now get to learn about and experience my own.
Western Civilization is a wreckage. Largely so because the Churches that should have guarded its cultural patrimony have given up on it. They have become the churches of “what’s happening now”. Even the once mighty Roman Church has fled the field of cultural battle. After Vatican II, Roman liturgy, art, architecture, faith, and morals are mere shadows of their former selves.
Eastern Churches cannot save Western Civilization. You can’t save that which you don’t love. Many of the Orthodox jurisdictions in America do not love Western Civilization. They seek to shelter their flock from it by keeping alive what are, for this country, foreign traditions. At the same time, progressive, “Orthodox” academics seek to surrender the true Orthodox Faith to a modern, debased version of Western Civilization in the name of “democracy” or “LGBTQ rights” or “feminism” or whatever.
Both approaches are wrong. Surely, the Eastern Rite Orthodox parishes should continue their work for Christ and His Kingdom. The academics should be ignored. But, at the same time, perhaps we should consider how best to rescue Western Civilization from its current malaise?
I have often read that the Western Rite should be kept around for former Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Lutherans, etc. That is an important reason for the Western Rite’s existence, but far too limited in scope. The Western Rite is the reclamation and purification of Western Civilization by the Orthodox Church. It is a mission of ultimate importance given to us by God.
Nicholas – member of the Western Rite Vicariate, a part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America
I would love to see a concerted, overt outreach campaign by the Western Orthodox to disaffected traditionalist Anglicans and Methodists.
As an Eastern Orthodox priest who is interested in the Western Rite, I wish I knew where the disaffected traditionalist Anglicans, Methodist and Catholics were concentrated.
They are out there. Many have fled to ACNA, but in areas where this is not an option, this would be extremely appealing. I am a catechumen at a local Orthodox mission and while I love Orthodoxy, I definitely miss the Western Rite worship. I can totally relate to this author.
Which rite is right?
While this—for me—is an important issue, there are many things to contemplate.
Backing up for a moment, at the Reformation, reformers reached out to the Orthodox for help sorting the issues of rebuilding from the ground up, but the East, occupied with the Saracens were unable or unwilling to help.
Without any help from the East, reformers leaned on the Jewish synagogue system as a model. But that system came about during the exile to maintain a cultural and faith distinction from the locals in the absence of a temple with priests, which previously had been the core. Coming out of exile the synagogue system remained alongside a new but inferior temple. Hence, Protestantism (built around the preacher) and Judaism (built around the rabbi) make Faith more academic rather than spiritual or mystical. So the question is always: would you rather have academic Christianity or Mystical Christianity.
However, the Anglicans differed from the continental Reformers because their whole structure moved out from Rome intact preserving the priesthood. Not only had the continental reformers reached out to the East, but they also reached out to Britain if they could spare some seminary teachers, priests, and help, and Britain had none to spare. So, each succeeding reformer added something new, rather than unpacking something old.
It was this priest based Anglican system that had the most impact on America during its formative decades. The Puritans had totally apostatized (Unitarianism) by the time of the Declaration of Independence and had little to nothing to do with anything except in modern elementary school classrooms taught by Baptists.
Within Anglicanism—even the most classic—there is a schizoid problem that I have noticed. If you take the Thirty-Nine Articles doctrine statement, it largely tracks with Reformed theology of continental Europe which is based on a judicial definition of salvation. But, if you are versed in using the BCP (79-and prior), you find a spirituality very much in keeping with Orthodoxy because of its ancient Celtic thread which relied upon—among other things— the Desert Fathers and Mothers.https://uscatholic.org/articles/201905/12-celtic-spiritual-practices-that-celebrate-god-in-our-world/
When liturgies were standardized, there were as many as a dozen in the west and a dozen in the east. Standardization came about largely because of the printing press. At the same time, most all forms had all the same basic elements (as I had learned from Fr. Irenei) because they were all things clearly common in Hebrew/Jewish systems of worship. But differed from one place to another, much like the pre-temple days for the Hebrews before worship became centralized.
If Western Rite can retrieve that ancient Celtic spirit, you would have a very mystical and robust (spiritually active) form of Orthodoxy that would be very appealing to Charismatics, faith-er, people aggressive about their faith. etc; and seekers roaming eastern religions.Bottom line, I don’t think it’s so much about the rite by itself, as it is the men running the drills and how they chose to dress out the ethos. Every liturgy is in the context of a community of people.
Because America has so lost touch with its own identity, nobody would know the difference or take to WR because it had any familiarity unless they were 60s+ Episcopalians—and that market has dried up. And because American culture has become everything else instead, all at once, it needs redefining anyway. So, if we plant a church, we can peg it how we want as long as it’s in reasonable parameters.
The Anglican parishes in colonial America were not Anglo-Catholic. Most, especially those in the large colony of Virginia, were what we consider today to be low-church Calvinists dressed up in cassocks, surplices and tippets (scarves). The normal Sunday service was Morning Prayer with a sermon from the pulpit. The proper name for what is now TEC was the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The Anglo-Catholic revival of the Church’s high church mentality didn’t occur until after the 1831 Assize sermon by John Keble. That sparked the Oxford Movement in England but took a while to reach our shores. Catholic rituals weren’t practiced until the late 19th century when the Episcopal Church was developing a kinship with the few Orthodox on our continent. The visuals changed as priests vested in albs and amines, stoles and chasuble for the mass. Candles increased in number on the altar and incense was loaded into thuribles. Ceremony became more elaborate in dioceses like New York.
However, Anglo-Catholicism never took route in some dioceses.
Of course, even the TEC of today looks positively popish when compared to the modern development of the typical American megachurch and megachurch wannabe. The evangelicals that Nicholas is familiar with are the heirs of the tent revival meetings of the 19th an 20th centuries where the radical Reformation had run full course. That religion had cast off any vestige of Orthodoxy or Catholicism. No clergy in apostolic succession, no sacraments, no Tradition but the Bible alone.
“Because America has so lost touch with its own identity, nobody would know the difference or take to WR because it had any familiarity unless they were 60s+ Episcopalians—and that market has dried up.” John Lee
I’m a former Episcopalian in his late sixties, a rare breed and one slowly dying away. I would feel right at home in a Western Rite parish, I’m sure. But, I agree with John Lee that there are few younger people who would consider the Western Rite home due to a nostalgia for the church of yesteryear. However, some may find it appealing on its own merits, as some will find Byzantine Rite Orthodoxy appealing.
In the end, what matters really is faith in God through Christ and a return to Orthodox traditions, either Eastern of Western.
Lawrence: you make some excellent points. Its refreshing to hear from someone who has enough depth of history to bring some perspective.
In my mind, one of the many bizarre anomalies in Protestantism is Methodism. Having a heart for the commoner, the Westley Brothers set out to reach those lower parts of society the High-Church Anglicans ignored; social stratification was much more entrenched. The only way to do that was to go outside the established church with revival type settings. It was never their intention to create another denomination and after they passed, the followers did in fact create another denomination. Just like Luther, it was his intent to reform from within. But the pent up collective angst against RC made it a powder keg.
Regarding piety, the Wesley brothers were remarkable and the product of an extremely prayerful mother: Suzanna.
While I would not necessarily want to duplicate what they did, I think there is a good take-away in that if any church–high or low–becomes channeled into one economic stratus, the need to reach the rest brings about those who go outside the established church to evangelize. In some sense, St Paul did exactly that as in the beginning the first converts were Jewish who looked down on everyone else. St Paul’s–and St Peter’s preaching to Cornelius–established the Church also among the Gentiles. While the comparison may be vague, the need is still very real, that of reaching everybody with the Gospel. Interestingly, the mega-church free worship actually does that but at the expense of liturgy which is the rhythm of the cosmos. Why not have both?
I actually think there is room–and the need– for Evangelical/Gospel style meetings preaching in the public square, free style prayer meetings in remote places where gifts can be expressed, and home prayer meetings (like Acts 12;12 for St Peter’s release) but never (never) as a replacement for Liturgy. Again, when we take an either/or approach we fall into out-of-balance and in some cases heresy (Christ is both fully God and fully Man). For Orthodoxy to regain some of its primal freshness and Holy Spirit Fire, it’s time to round out the expressions with those things thought only to be Protestant expressions and therefor not Church; but why not?
What has happened–in my opinion–is after the Reformation in the west, it created a polarizing in all Christianity in that everyone else–east and west–avoided looking anything that might be construed as Protestant and in so doing gave up a lot of ground to the Protestants that was from the beginning Orthodoxy. Over the centuries, Orthodoxy has narrowed its focus to the things not-Protestant to preserve uniqueness from what it wanted to avoid–looking like or even become like them. In understanding fully orbed Orthodoxy, it requires first digesting the earlier fathers and documents to assimilate the spirit-of-the-Faith. Bottom line: gospel meeting, home prayer meetings, the “charismatic” expression of the gifts are not contrary to liturgy but the two can never go on at the same time in the same place.
Your final comment really makes sense: “what matters really is faith in God through Christ”.
Errata – Keble’s Assize sermon was given in 1833. “Albs and amines” should read “albs and amices”. Chasuble should be pluralized. Oh, McGoo!
What church is that in the picture? The one where it looks like they’re serving Liturgy. Whatever church that is, it’s beautiful. I have to admit, one thing I like much better in the WR is how open the altar area is. Fr. Pat has said that the early churches were built on a refractory model, and while there were icons, there was no iconostasis until after the 7th Council. That the attempt to make the altar area the Holy of Holies from the OT temple is not accurate. I go to a ROCOR church and it’s great. But between the iconostasis, the royal doors being shut, and a little curtain being pulled half the time, I can’t see what the heck is going on. And how am I supposed to tell my kids, “Ok, watch what Fr. is doing here,” when none of us can even see. I understand the necessity of the priesthood. But isn’t the Liturgy supposed to be the “work of the people”? I feel like more and more the people are being backseated and we’re going into clericalism. Just my opinion.
In this article, the fog of “religious correctness” lifts and now we are getting somewhere with sorting the core issues. With the mishandling of COVID and the obvious sell out to social “agendas”, more GOA parishioners are reading the handwriting on the wall and looking for the exits. Beyond that, from the beginning, the foundation was missing and in no way was it ever sustainable because it ever refuses to become indigenous by still placing its advertised identity on being “Greek”. When the mission of an ethnic Church becomes preserving and educating the world of the glories of Greek culture, history, and undeniable genius (noble in itself) it is—as St Paul put it—, “preaching another gospel.” (Gal 1:8) Unavoidably, for the non-Greek, this always degenerates into “better than thou” as St Paul reprimanded the Corinthians for being “I am of Apollos” (ironically, a Greek name).
By definition, every ethnic church is a temporary missionary endeavor put forth only for the benefit of non- English speaking immigrants and all “missions’ must at some point either become “native indigenous” (shedding the ethnic identity, because the second generation are not immigrants, but natives) or willfully go out of business because the purpose for their existence is over when immigration slows or ceases altogether.
No potential convert hard pressed in their search for God and faith of real substance will ever take a GOA church seriously (Seriously? Seriously). For them, the Greek church experience becomes synonymous with going to a Greek restaurant or watching “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. It’s great fun…for a short while, but it can never take the place of knowing God and forging real spiritual growth. That many Greek churches are much dependent upon the “Greek” festivals bringing in outside money to balance the budget clearly demonstrates most non-Greeks relate to the Greek Church as an amusement park ride creating a momentary thrill.
Knowing they have a church in a downward spiral because of its inherent missing foundation as indigenous, hierarchs have resorted to making an appeal to a much broader segment of Americana, those naturally with deep pockets (LGBTs are usually rich). But by doing so, they are turning the GOA into another ecumenical bottom feeder driving out the families that are the backbone of any church. This is suicide.
Without a doubt, for many GOA presbyters who genuinely love their people and the Faith, this is extremely grievous, to watch the GOA becomes the new TEC. With no sign of a change in trajectory, unfortunately, the only escape would be to bail.
John Lee, I understand the points you are trying to make, and why you would draw these conclusions, but I cannot agree with them all because most of them are misinformed and unfair. Having never lived the trauma of the Greek experience, or the Russian, Georgian, Serbian, Romanian etc. experiences which are similar, I would not expect you to understand, so please permit me to shed some light on a few things …
“…from the beginning, the foundation was missing and in no way was it ever sustainable because it ever refuses to become indigenous by still placing its advertised identity on being “Greek.”
Born in Greece and having emigrated from there to Canada at a preschool age with my parents, not because they wanted to, but because they were basically pushed out of the country for political and economic reasons, I have a very different vantage point than you. So do all the other cradle Greek Orthodox faithful of my genre and vintage. The Greek Orthodox churches in Canada at the time of our arrival in the sixties, were founded and built by hard working Greek Orthodox immigrants. These churches had, as their foundation, the confession of the Orthodox faith, which was not missing, and which, of necessity, was practised and preached in the Greek language as to be understood by the newly landed immigrants and their children. Unlike their children, however, the parents struggled for years to sufficiently learn the English language and many of them never did as they had never even learned their own native tongue well enough. My parents’ cohort had survived the ravages of WWII during their childhood. Because of this, their formal education had been interrupted or terminated and most of them never attended or finished grade school. Fortunately, my own parents were the exception, as they managed to return to school after the war, and finish a College education.
Our first Canadian Greek Orthodox churches never advertised their Greek identity as they never needed to. Founded and funded by struggling Greek immigrants, their purpose was not to missionize to the indigenous people, but to catechize and sustain their own displaced cradle Orthodox, most of whom were sufficiently unschooled as to preclude any proper understanding of the Bible or the Church Fathers, all of which were written in the “higher” New Testament Greek at that time. One had to have at least completed a High School education to meaningfully comprehend these texts. Everything had to be simply explained at the discretion of the more educated parish priest, who literally taught the faith in his Greek sermons. “ When the mission of an ethnic Church becomes preserving and educating the world of the glories of Greek culture, history , and undeniable genius (noble in itself) it is – as St Paul put it -preaching another gospel (Gal 1:8)”
Back then, the mission of the Greek Orthodox Church in Canada, was our spiritual and psychological survival. We had to survive before we could thrive and missionize to the indigenous people or the rest of the world. Back then, and even now, the church was and for many still is, the only place where we had or still have no language or cultural barriers in this new country of ours, and where we all felt accepted, not strange, comfortable, and safe … safe from losing or forgetting our language, our culture, and our identity through the process of assimilation.
For many Greek immigrants, this insecurity, brought on by an accumulation of trauma, created a type of xenophobia, which made most of the adults cling to their native language because, understanding that one the best, it became the key to preserving the Orthodox faith and the Greek culture and identity which no one wished to lose. For economic reasons, church premises were used to host Greek language schools for the children, Sunday Schools, which were also taught in Greek, and fundraisers, which were often linked to feast days (such as meat-fare or Palm Sunday) and other cultural or national events, naturally, Greek ones. Fundraisers were necessary for the upkeep of the churches, and they also became a means of fellowship.
The glories of Greek culture, history, and undeniable genius were naturally taught in the Greek language schools. These things were sometimes mentioned in the sermons when it was relevant to do so – such as, during memorial services that commemorated victims of genocide such as the Pontians by the Turks or the massacre of whole villages by the Nazis. March 25th which commemorates a joint celebration – the Annunciation of the Theotokos and the Greek and Orthodox liberation from the Ottoman Turks in 1821, is a perfect example of the indelible intertwinement of both Church and Country, which makes it impossible to ignore the culture, the history, and even the genius in some instances of worship. For example, Socrates, who is sometimes mentioned in sermons, not because of national pride, but as an example of courageously standing by his monotheistic beliefs in a pre-Christian pagan world, is considered by some to be a type of pre-Christian martyr.
The mission of these ethnic churches was never the preservation or education of the world of the glories of Greek culture, history, or genius. Their mission was, rightly or wrongly, first and foremost, the preservation of the Orthodox faith of their own people, in an alien land, and to do this, they used all the tools at their disposal, including language, history and culture, and anything their people could relate to – something Greece and the neighbouring nations had grown accustomed to doing during their not-so-long-ago 400-or-so-year occupation by unorthodox and hostile forces which did everything in their power to discourage, suppress, and even annihilate Orthodoxy by obliterating anything Greek, Serbian, Georgian or any other Christian peoples. The glories of Greek culture, history, or genius, many of which occurred during pagan times, never became another gospel, and it saddens me greatly if you think that this is so.
It was the immense and repetitive trauma of the Greek and Eastern European Ottoman (and/or Communist) experience that drove these immigrants to North America, bringing Orthodoxy with them. I believe that God used their personal and collective tragedies to bless them with freedom of religion, and the people who welcomed them with enlightenment and a rediscovery of their original roots, purpose, and true calling to be, not something they are not (Greek), but something they were always meant to be – Orthodox.
A poorly educated immigrant, struggling to raise a young family, was never expected to missionize, although many of them did by their Orthodox example and lifestyle. Traditionally, missions to indigenous peoples were spearheaded by bishops, priests or monastics who traveled to new territories to establish an Orthodox monastery or church and introduce Orthodoxy to the community by carving out a life alongside of them.
“… for the non-Greek, this always degenerates into “better than thou” as St. Paul reprimanded the Corinthians for being “I am of Apollos” (ironically a Greek name).”
There was a saying among ancient Greeks: “whoever is not Greek is a barbarian,” where the word “barbarian” has meant different things along the course of history. According to the Book of Maccabees, however, it was the Greeks who were the “barbarians” due to their hostile paganism against the monotheistic Jews. Old and New Testament books referred to all non-Jews, especially Greeks, as “gentiles.” Back then, many Jewish Christians considered themselves “better than thou” and tried to impose circumcision upon the Gentile Christians. The “better than thou” attitude is not specific only to Greeks. Besides that, you overlooked the fact that all the Corinthians at the time of St. Paul were Greek, so your “I am of Apollos” argument does not apply to Greekness (the irony that Apollos is a Greek name was not lost on me) because the Corinthians were vying with each other on a different, more spiritual level.
Personally, I do not believe in this “better than thou” but I understand it from the perspective of the impoverished, persecuted, displaced and utterly humbled immigrant, who has nothing left to be proud of, but the laurels of his heritage, history, and his Orthodox faith, which he knows as a reliable, two thousand year old constant that has gotten him and his ancestors through thick and thin. This identity, when you have lost every material thing and every opportunity in life – who you are, rather than what you have (because no one can take that away from you) is the Greek pride that (fair enough) is difficult to compete with. In many instances, the “better than thou (because I’m Greek)” attitude comes from “resting on one’s (ancestors’) laurels” because one’s own laurels never had a chance to materialize. If you pay attention to the characteristics of the people who give you that vibe, you may find that this is so. It is sadder for them than it is for you.
“By definition, every ethnic church is a temporary missionary endeavour put forth only for the benefit of non-English speaking immigrants and all “missions” must at some point either become “native indigenous” (shedding the ethnic identity, because the second generation are not immigrants, but natives) or willfully go out of business because the purpose for their existence is over when immigration slows or ceases altogether.”
I don’t know which definition of temporary missionary endeavour you are looking at, or if there even is such a definition, because in Ontario, the first ethnic Greek Orthodox Church to be established was St. George’s in 1909. Since then, 13 more have been established in Toronto and another 25 in the rest of Ontario, all of them thriving parishes. Rather than going out of business, they continuously increased in number to supply the increasing spiritual demand for them. Today, attendance is multi-generational, consisting of older (and more recently, young but much more sophisticated and better educated) immigrants, their immigrant children (now adults) such as myself, their first-generation grandchildren (my children), and their second-generation great grandchildren (which I hope to be blessed with soon). After the immigrant children (such as myself) learned the English language better than their native Greek, and increasingly more mixed marriages started taking place, Divine Liturgy began utilizing both languages, and Sunday School long ago switched over to English only, to accommodate children who did not attend Greek language schools, and the friends of students who were curious about the faith. Our Sunday School students were always encouraged to invite their friends. In many parishes, the Epistle, the Gospel and the Sermon are read in both languages, as are many other parts of the Liturgy.
Regardless of which language we hear or speak, our identity is and always will be the same – Greek-Canadian – for that is who we have become, with our still Byzantine iconography that is still inscribed in Greek and sometimes English or other languages. We are no longer non-English speaking immigrants as most of us now speak English much more fluently than Greek, but we could never shed our ethnic identity any more than we could shed our life experiences or our DNA. Even though our language continues to evolve and may one day change to a new language, it does not define our identity. Neither does becoming a Greek-Canadian make us native or indigenous any more than it makes you a Cree Indian, unless you actually are one. We were different at the beginning, we changed, and we are still different, and there is nothing wrong with that.
While other heterodox churches have gone out of business, standing empty or being repurposed or sold, ours have increased because the purpose of our existence – holding fast to Holy Tradition and the Gospel of Christ – is far from over, and is not dependent upon the rate of immigration, as you put it.
Language is not and should not be an obstacle to the serious Orthodox Christian. Between 2000 and 2010, when there was an influx of Georgian Orthodox people to Toronto and they had no church of their own, they worshipped alongside the Serbians in their churches, with their Georgian liturgy books in hand, until they ordained one of their own a priest and organized themselves to rent and then purchase a church building of their own. In 2020, after the introduction of the multiple spoons, many Greek Orthodox faithful flooded the churches of other jurisdictions which welcomed them with open arms. These Greeks were not looking for language or ethnicity, but Orthodox authenticity. One Serbian parish worships and chants in three languages now – Serbian, English and Greek. Those parishioners have a choice of three languages by which to worship and converse with one another after the service. There is no language barrier and no “better than thou.” Other ROCOR and Serbian parishes hold additional services in Greek and English for the benefit of their Greek Orthodox “refugees.”
“No potential convert hard pressed in their search for God and faith of real substance will ever take a GOA church seriously (Seriously? Seriously). For them, the Greek church experience becomes synonymous with going to a Greek restaurant or watching “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. It’s great fun…for a short while, but it can never take the place of knowing God and forging real spiritual growth. That many Greek churches are much dependent upon the “Greek” festivals bringing in outside money to balance the budget clearly demonstrates most non-Greeks relate to the Greek Church as an amusement park ride creating a momentary thrill.” Seriously? John Lee, times change, people evolve, and the Church adapts, both locally and more broadly. If the Church could not adapt, she could not survive 2000 years of persecutions, massacres, heresies and so on, let alone missionize to anyone. And as for the people, Greek Orthodox “refugees” would not have sought refuge in other jurisdictions if language was more important than Truth. It is both the faithful and the converts who are hard pressed in their search for God and faith of real substance, who will take any ethnic church seriously that is available to them, provided it is authentically Orthodox. The sad “better than thou” few do not constitute the Church! Nor do the non-English speaking immigrants! Now that most Orthodox writings have English translations, language is a small obstacle for serious potential converts – it is a much greater obstacle for ethnic immigrants with no English language skills, who still need their ethnic language to meaningfully worship at all.
To hear you say that the Greek church experience has become synonymous with going to a Greek restaurant or watching “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is utterly shocking and borderline blasphemous! What is your evidence for a statement such as this??? There is nothing Orthodox about Greek restaurants or about that movie which was entirely about Greek culture, customs, and family expectations. It was completely devoid of any Orthodox message or meaning. How can you liken the experience of the Divine Liturgy in any language with such secular experiences, when so many heterodox people have converted to Orthodoxy after experiencing the Grace of God at an Orthodox service they could not even understand?!!! If you are speaking from personal experience, I will pray for you.
If anyone wants to join a church just to have fun, they should not even think about joining in the first place! If anyone wants to convert to Orthodoxy, within any jurisdiction, they should do so to know God and forge real spiritual growth; fundraisers and festivals should have nothing to do with this decision, unless someone wishes to participate, to financially support the cause, and one does not even need to participate to provide financial support. Fundraisers do not take place during Divine Liturgy, unless there is a collection plate for a special need, and this certainly bears no resemblance to anything like an amusement park ride creating a momentary thrill. Those who just want to be entertained will attend the fundraiser or festival and will by no means attend Divine Liturgy, so your association between the one and the other is irrelevant, nonsensical, and highly offensive to say the least.
“Knowing they have a church in a downward spiral because of its inherent missing foundation as indigenous, hierarchs have resorted to making an appeal to a much broader segment of Americana, those naturally with deep pockets (LGBTs are usually rich). But by doing so, they are turning the GOA into another ecumenical bottom feeder driving out the families that are the backbone of any church. This is suicide.”
There is something very wrong about this. The inherent foundation of the Orthodox Church is not the language, ethnicity, or indigenousness (as you put it) of its people. The foundation of Orthodoxy is Christ, the Cornerstone – and by the way, He was Jewish. To then suggest that your erroneous understanding of what the foundation of the Orthodox Church really is, has caused the ecumenical mistakes made by unworthy hierarchs, and that these are going to destroy the Church of Christ by driving out the families that are the backbone of the GOA – the very families you already negated in importance because of their non-indigenousness – is ludicrous. The term backbone means strength. I take it that by “backbone” you mean the truly faithful Orthodox Christians, which should have nothing to do with their language, ethnicity, or indigenousness in the first place, despite all that you erroneously assumed about them. If these wayward hierarchs and those who follow them want to go the way of the devil so as not to commit financial suicide by their own secular estimations, let them commit spiritual suicide instead. Although I wish for neither, they have their own God-given freedom, and power, to do as they choose.
We, on the other hand, do not have to follow them, any more than we had to swallow multiple spoons or co-worship under the LGBTQ flag. Our job is to follow Christ, and if this means joining ROCOR or the Georgians or the Serbians, or moving to Timbuctoo, then that is what we will do because we have our own God-given freedom to make our own choices; and neither ethnicity nor language will stand in our way, any more than it stood in the way of those immigrants who gave up everything to embrace the unknown, hoping for lesser things than Orthodoxy. We will just do what it takes, what needs to be done, as we have always done, and in this regard, the immigrant experience becomes our strength. Regardless of our country of origin, this planet is not our true home. As we are all sojourners in a foreign land (and this includes your definition of indigenous), we will move, evolve, and change for the One Unchangeable God who said, “and upon this rock [of faith – not language or ethnicity] I will build my church; and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
Irene: I absolutely love your response!! Thank you for filling out my perspective. Keep on fighting for your Faith and you will be fine. Your sense of belonging to something generational is remarkable and even rare. I love your story. Never forget it. While I cannot relate by personal experience, I have had close relations that have.
My wife’s grandparents were Italian immigrants and for them it was a double whammy. Not only did they leave their native country to escape the terror of the Mafia, but they also left the Roman Catholic church and became Pentecostal. There used to be an Italian Pentecostal church, but all integrated into all English denominations by the second generation. In America they were repulse by RC because they saw the integration of RC and the mafia in Italy. While watching American TV, if there was gun violence with pops, they would have something like a flashback (e.g Viet Nam vets) because of the Mafia vengeance often happened at a funeral when all were processing in morning (think “God Father”) were mowed to the ground. One of their three daughters was my mother-in-law (rest in peace).
Having immigrated right before WW2, Dom’s ham radio was confiscated by the American police because they thought him subversive, but it was his connection with other Italian speaking people. Offering to join the US military to fight in that war, he was refused.
Having a close relationship with him, I absolutely adored him because he had the most amazing sense of humor that came over totally delightful in broken English; in Italy, he was in vaudeville. I have hours of video (1985) of him showing me his expertise in gardening, and tree grafting from the Italian old school as well as his grape vine twenty+ feet long; oh, and of course the fig trees. Moving to Texas from Wisconsin, they fully attended the English church of my denomination with their daughters –no Italian Pentecostal church there.
When we were dating, the surest sign, I had made the cut with the family—I was check out by all of them— was when her mother said, “Oh, he (me) loves Italian food.” I never ate better in my life. “mangia, mangia, mongia!”
Here is what I learned about the Italian mamas. If you refuse their first offer to cook you something they don’t quit but up the ante. If you turn down eggs, they then offer rigatoni. If you turn down rigatoni, they offer lasagna, then comes hamburgers. If you turn down hamburgers, they break out the steaks! No matter the time of day. Have you ever tried to convince an Italian mamma that you really are not hungry.
Interestingly, when “Big Fat Greek Wedding” came out, I fully related because of the family dynamic was remarkably the same. Wife’s brothers and cousins constantly picked on me, even wrestled me, but I overcame, I was bigger. Our wedding was huge, and while only my mother came to my wedding on my side (I was away at college), I had many college buds show up. But, I met so many Italians who most all were bilingual, and owned their own business.
Now, in the youngest generation, most of the Italian constant consciousness has been lost, perhaps because of intermarriage; they all pretty much identify as American. But for me, I got a full dose at the very tail end, before the full integration.
As for my own heritage, there was a time in my 30s where I had to go back and revisit my roots to give a more complete identity for my children. For whatever reason, one of my cousins felt inspired to do the research and provide for the rest of us a more complete story and family reunions started up again. On my dad’s side (rest in peace dad), they were German immigrants not once, but twice.
Under Katherine the Great, Russia extended an invitation to other Europeans—especially Germans (given special treatment)— to move to Russia to accelerate development of the vast Russian world. A young German couple had been planning to take the offer and make the trip for many months when the husband was killed in a war. Seeking to fulfill her husband’s wishes to relocate for a better life, his wife started the trek with her two very young sons (John and Jakob). During the journey—mostly by boat—the boy’s mother got sick and died. Upon arrival in the Steppes region, the other German families raise the boys to manhood. One of those boys—not sure which—was my ancestor.
After several generations of dry land farming the Steppes, my great grand father abandoned his land, the safety of what was an enclave of Germans who clung to their German language, culture, and way of Christian life (mostly Lutheran) in a foreign land to immigrate to America along with other Germans in Russia. Arriving in St Francis Kansas in 1880, what they had learned from the Russians in dry land farming suited them just fine. In America, their challenge was not cultural discrimination, or linguistic, so much as the shear harshness of getting the farm up and running even though some land was given them to start. (have you seen western Kansas?) The older cousins told the stories of great grandfather telling his sons to hunt rabbits for food or they would not eat, and were told one bullet per rabbit because there were none to spare. With a few rabbits, they could eat and trade for more bullets in town.
During the Russian revolution most all remaining Germans in Russia were sent to Siberia and never heard from again.
I love your stories, and can identify at least by knowing immigrants. But, I have a few questions. When immigrants stop coming to America and many Greek offspring intermarry with Protestants, how long will the “Greek” church endure as it has been? As I understand it, the GOA has the broadest acceptance of Greeks marrying non-Orthodox and even non-Christian. Another question: how is the current obvious movement of GOA hierarchs toward ecumenism going to play out on the local level. Will not this further washout—not just the cultural—but the Christian foundations of Greek American Orthodoxy? I am looking to the future, if we are to have any future, some very hard choices must be made now. Got any ideas?
As you can see, I am not just picking on just the Greeks, but on others as well. My impetus is driven by the signs of the times that without shoring up the integrity, there may be nothing left in the Americas that even resembles Orthodoxy. In that case, the Russians must once again send missionaries to reseed our continent. But, goodness dear sister, I do feel a kindred spirit.
wow, thank you for sharing this story. You know, so many Americans have no idea the hardships and struggles the peoples in Europe have gone through. Your story of your Italian ancestors and the author above about his Greek heritage are truly inspiring, a little haunting and sad as well.
John Lee,
While it is true that Greek Identity has never been a pre-requisite to enter the gates of Heaven, it is also true that the reason there are so many Protestant denominations in existence is a direct result of historical misunderstandings, misinterpretations, and even dismissal of the original Greek texts, of both the “sola scriptura” variety, as well as the “patristic” texts. In fact, Luther was well aware of Theophylact’s commentaries on the New Testament (Byzantine Orthodox Study Bible), and yet he ignored them in favor of creating the chaotic disorder we have now (salvation by faith alone / sola scriptura / etc)…Whether we like it or not, we have yet to see a “perfect” translation of original Greek scriptural text into English, or almost any other language. Therefore, as a result, whether people like it or not, it’s actually quite important to preserve liturgical practice in the original Greek language, just for this reason. This doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be liturgical practice in other languages. This also does not mean that the majority of “GOA attendees” even understand the original text, but I also doubt that many of them understand the translations, either…As a simple example of this, let’s mention the terrible practice that started in the large cities (Athens) in the mid to late 1800s of the majority of faithful exiting the Church immediately after the Resurrection, and not staying until the end of liturgy…In a most unfortunate manner, they start exiting at the same time as the following verses are chanted “Let God arise, and his enemies be scattered….” “As smoke vanishes they too shall vanish, as wax melts in the face of fire…” etc…
So you see…it’s not about language, or even culture… in the end, when people don’t listen, when people prefer to invest years in Bachelor and Masters degrees, or learning other languages, but not a day studying the meaning of a mere 200-300 core, repeatable words in liturgy, or even their own faith…when the ignorant faithful become the manifestation of the prophetic Psalm 134… “they shall have eyes, but they will not see…they shall have ears, but they will not hear…” That’s the real problem here…
The sins of “spiritual apathy”, “slothfulness”, and general lack of interest in “cradle GOA” learning about their faith has been a problem for decades for sure, and you correctly point out that there has been an unacceptable corresponding compromise perpetrated, a degradation in the area of “sticking to authenticity” by the official GOA Church hierarchy in an effort to “keep attendance up”…certainly, COVID revealed unimaginable spiritual weakness that has sent away many of those who do not like compromise, and who now seek refuge in jurisdictions that exhibit more of the “authenticity” that they are seeking.
Abandonment of liturgical and patristic authenticity is a mistake. Reversing this mistake wherever it occurs should be our focus. And by the way, preservation of authenticity includes the study of the original Texts, so that we can be sure our translations are not deviating…
Markos, you make some excellent points on different levels. As to Church texts, we are so disadvantaged as English speaking Orthodox we have had to rely almost totally on Protestant and Catholic scholars to give us our own documents in English.Largely, a proper preparation for Orthodox expansion in the Americas has yet to happen.
While Greek preservation is important, I’m not so sure doing Greek liturgy it is the best way to preserve the Greek language and biblical scholarship anymore than doing it in Hebrew would be. Consider Protestant scholars: no where in the English speaking world will you find more Greek dictionaries (I have at least five (5), three of which I can see without getting out of my chair), I have had more than 20 yrs, and some software to boot), Greek lexicons and Greek next-to-English translations. I would suggest there are more Protestant scholars versed in biblical Greek than there are Greek scholars in America (probably the world) versed in biblical Greek. Every single Protestant seminary and Bible college (like mine) offer both Greek and Hebrew. Among them, it is in fact a pride issue that when any Protestant teacher is first time introduced, his expertise in biblical languages is always published up front so the rest of us ignoramuses can lust. At the same time, they do not have the paradigms to really digest what they find in the Greek and the Hebrew, but they will go down trying and no one can fault them for the abundance of ambition in getting to the bottom of what is really there in those Greek and Hebrew expressions. Protestants are obsessed with Greek because if the Bible is the only authority, they will torture it until it confesses whatever they wish and that always includes loading the canon with Greek definitions to prove a point. Protestants always take other Protestant to task by using the Greek. It’s quite hilarious. Not only have I watched it, I have done it myself.
Under 400 years of Turkish occupation, where the Greek language was not allowed to be taught, and people were persecuted if they didn’t convert to islam, somehow it was the raw zeal of illiterate Greeks who continued to attend the original Greek liturgy (without understanding the words) that allowed it to survive…
And now, in the “land of the free”, where most people earn a college degree, and one of the pre-requisites for that degree is to learn a foreign language, you suggest abandoning this zeal?
This is not a logical argument, in my opinion. Liturgy only has about 300 repeatable words…it’s not a terrible burden to ask someone to learn 300 words. I too have attended Romanian / Slavonic services without “understanding” the words, but I was perfectly comfortable because I know exactly what was being said at every point along the way….The weekly (non-repeating) Gospel and Epistle readings are already being read in English, and the sermon can be in English, too, without the need to disrupt the rest of the flow….
Markos, no, no, by no means abandon the zeal. The problem in the GOA is not too much zeal, but, too little. That is, for the pure exercise of the Faith. If that zeal that stood by you during the Islamic persecution would surface again, Elpi and all his nasty pro-LGBT acolytes would be in short order flipping burgers some where. Its your job, Greeks, to put your own house in order, not mine. But because I am outside, I can point out that your house is burning to the ground and it might be time to either put the fire out–excise these faux-orthodox–or find the life boat. Show me that zeal for the true Church and the landscape of the GOA would change overnight and nobody will have to explain to the youth the actions of the Metropolitan in PG-13 terms. The GOA is dying from the inside out and those of us who watch the horror are screaming like maniacs. No doubt, we look like fools, but then again, its your house thats burning, not mine; and it wasn’t me who is torching the place. The men at the top did this. As for me, I’ve found a solid Orthodox Church with a rock solid priest and I have seen some drive 130 mile one way to get there. If you want to see your future, go visit some TEC churches, but in most places, you may want to leave the children at home.
Once the LGBT get their foot in the door, at some point they start showing up. Once, the families leave, then they also move on to other hunting grounds.The tactic is well proven not just in the TEC, but among Methodists, Presbyterians, and now the GOA.
I forgot something to mention: Does the name Spiro Zodhiates ring a bell? His biblical Greek dictionary is by for head and shoulders above the rest. For me, this is the go-to source for the best Greek definitions.
The Orthodox Faith from the very beginning has absolutely nothing to do with American history.
Just because your Greek Church shut down, and muzzled people, etc….does not at all mean that every Orthodox (Eastern ) Church, or Jurisdiction did that. My Church NEVER imposed restrictions of any kind.
Glory to God for all things.
Do you agree or disagree that the foundation of Western Civilization was the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church – both East and West – which is the Orthodox Church? Rome in the first century was known for its rigorous Orthodoxy, even during times when Constantinople was fallen into heresy. If the US is an outgrowth of English culture, which it is, then is not the root (however obfuscated by Roman error) of that culture not the Orthodox Church of the 1st Millennium? A question I have for you is why are you so dismissive of traditional English / America culture? You do recall that at the turn of the 20th Century, the Anglican Church and the Orthodox Church were genuinely discussing uniting into one Church. Kallistos Ware was advised by an Orthodox priest not to convert, as they hoped to join the churches together anyway. So why are you so hostile to idea that Orthodoxy could have informed Western Culture, of which America is a part?
Never said all of them did. The point was that neither my family nor I were looking for Western Rite Orthodoxy. We were fine in the Greek Archdiocese. We stumbled into Western Rite as the only local, fully-functioning parish at the time. We had issues adjusting, but eventually we came to see real value in the Western Rite.
Awesome, though having written about this topic for years and seen the surveys, your parish is in the minority. Still, good fortune for you. How does that relate to the article, which really wasn’t about church closings or restrictions?
Orthodoxy, the true Faith, which God established from the beginning of time, has everything to do with all of history, from Genesis onward.
Sorry to hear you went from Catholicism to Western Rite, really not too much of a change. You didn’t fully “cross the bridge”. This has nothing to do with ethnicity and everything to do with True Orthodox praxis. The WR is made up, a guess of how things might have been, as there was nothing surviving from the pre schism in existence. St. John Max tried an experiment for a small group in France and was disappointed how it turned out, and then those without Orthodox fronema and discernment took it and ran wild. Seems your son has the better idea.
Nicholas was never Catholic. He spent 20 years in Eastern Rite. Since his parish is canonically Orthodox, going to an Eastern Rite parish just means driving to one. Of course there were surviving liturgies and practices. That is how we got the Liturgy of St Tikhon which we use on most Sundays.
Spot on Nick! Totally agree. By nature the Church is territorial in nature. ANYthing that boasts an ethnic label will never identity with those they are trying to evangelize.
BTW: before become Orthodox, I trained as an Anglican postulant under the most conservative Anglican mind in the Americas, if not the world (although Packer and N.T. Right are right there as well); Bishop Ray Sutton. Anglican was my first love when abandoning Protestantism because of the beauty of the litergy. While I adored Sutton, for some reason we did not get along, and I believe it was providence. Having taken seminary classes under Sutton through Cramner House, I came to appreceate British/Celtic Christianity and spirituality.
As it turns out, the BCP was the most brilliant thing next to Scripture. QE 1 mandated Cramners prayerbook through out England standardizing the English language launching Britain as the worlds first super power after Rome, and making Britain the most prosperous producer of literature the world has ever seen.
Bottom line: America is Britain’s child. Our system of laws was based squarely on “common law” of Britain. And this post is correct, nothing with an identity outside America will ever tip the scales bringing America back to her Christian roots. Yes, if there is an “American” Orthodox Church it would be Western Rite BCP–not Tridentine mass as that has always identified in the Latin cultures of the world.
The wierdest thing in all of this jurisdictional mess is that the OCA has no Western Rite and they claim to be the only true “autocephelous” church in America. St Tihkon got it, he authorized the Orthodox version of BCP, what is the OCA’s problem?
Ok, who wants to move to Colorado Springs to plant a Western Rite Orthodox Church? Any extra WR priests just hanging out, that can be spared?
I really agree with this. I was Anglican but left because they just got so weird and apostate, but I will always love the BCP.