Using the body of Christ as its shield the OCA with its open-door format welcomes all to drink the cool aid elixir settings the tone for the loving embrace (choke hold) of the OCA's mass undertaking to hi-jack the discussion of Orthodoxy in America. It slanders all peoples of non-American culture.
The OCA has refashioned the congregationalism of their former faiths. "Within this Eucharistic context the OCA strives to be both hierarchical, with authority rooted in mutual love, and conciliar, with clergy and laity working together for the life of the world and its salvation." Why do I say former faiths because the OCA is overwhelmingly a church of converts.
While the OCA wishes to rant about jurisdictional anomalies and canonicity concerns they continue to intentionally plant mission outposts which satellite thriving Greek Orthodox parishes. Rather then seek out the unchurched or under-served they poach membership. They feed stereotypes and disgruntled visitors. More to the point they intentionally engage in overarching other jurisdictions and interweaving OCA parishes amongst GOA parishes. It would appear at least for the moment, a suspension within the OCA of conscience for canonical concerns. A leave of absence if you will.
Additionally members have misunderstood the zeal of the convert for wisdom; like youth who envision a world without hunger yet have never grown a single fruit or paid a single debt. Likewise too many if their clerics come from the ranks of converts who failed to pastor in their former sects. They are still infected with an anti-papal sentiment, anti-establishment and in a last ditched attempt to show the Pope and Catholicism, they have a 'religious' conversion outside the Papacy. They now unconsciously refuse foreign patriarchates fighting old battles which do not apply.
The OCA leadership and membership alike continue with the phronima of the Great Commission faulting 'the Greeks' for not proselytizing, in the way the OCA with their limited understanding has commanded. The OCA has distorted the sharing of the Gospel which demands the suspension of good sense and practice. What they do differently then their heretical counterparts is reject the Greek. They find it offensive and outlandish to their sensibilities to expect clerics to learn the language of the New Testament. God saw fit to bring His son at a time when linguistically the Lord's message could most widely be received, at a time when language had reached its zenith; and we reject it and marginalize it finding it an offense! Even heritics-hetrodox (protestants) reference the Greek!
In their rush to lead they have fore-gone the surety of a proper Orthodox catechism, seminary study or training!!! Thousands of people where assimilated into the orthodox faith without any appropriate pastoral direction. Are we succumbing to political pressure to make nice and include everyone?
If exceptions are being made then it is assumed they are done for the overall economia of the church. I don't know if caving to disorder or an ambush is well and good. What makes this more interesting is the OCA's consistent posture that the EP is somehow misguided and disconnected. Canon 34 is occasionally referenced, cherry picked, and without reference to future concern about addressing Canon 28 irregularities, the Golden Tomos, or the provisional status of the OCA's autocephalous status. The fact is that it is absent from diptychs.
While former hierachs of the OCA were looting the treasury, the future custodians cleaned up the accounting and set the sights on power; shoring up their position and linguistically hijacking and controlling the rhetoric as their agenda moves forward. Meanwhile the GOA developed all the flourishing ministries of SCOBA while almost dismissing but certainly marginalizing the OCA; who seemed perpetually embroiled in scandal; or defending their irregular past to explain away their illegitimacy with new resolutions and sweeping statements. The OCA machine with their non-official media groups have started to reframe the debate and have doubled their propaganda efforts and revisionist history. Hiding behind the pure cloak of service it seems only like the OCA is helping themselves to second helpings. Gross.
The notion that the OCA is the indigenous church in North America is ludicrous in fact sadly the only indigenous 'church' (to use the term loosely) is the Church of Mormon.
Given the choice between leaving my Mother Church and following a makeshift assembly of lesser hierarchs I'll have to pass. The Mother Church is the foundation for the faith, the keepers of the faith: time tested, esteemed and established by our Lord. The OCA leadership is but a hiccup in the history of our church and will either come to its senses and get on board with the whole of Orthodoxy or it will fail to even be a footnote 100 years from now. If that offends don't let the door hit you on the way out.
1 comment:
"Why do I say former faiths because the OCA is overwhelmingly a church of converts." So was the Church of the Apostles. You speak as if evangelization is a bad thing. Rather, it is our raison d'etre.
"While the OCA wishes to rant about jurisdictional anomalies and canonicity concerns they continue to intentionally plant mission outposts which satellite thriving Greek Orthodox parishes. Rather then seek out the unchurched or under-served they poach membership."
Can you provide an example? Here in Chicago, I've seen no such thing, although we have a fair amount of OCA and Greek parishes. Where is all this "poaching" going on? Can't be all that succesful: you just said the OCA is overwhelmingly converts.
"They find it offensive and outlandish to their sensibilities to expect clerics to learn the language of the New Testament. God saw fit to bring His son at a time when linguistically the Lord's message could most widely be received, at a time when language had reached its zenith; and we reject it and marginalize it finding it an offense!"
He spoke Aramaic, not Greek.
And the OCA doesn't take offense at clerics learning Greek. Just at making that a requirement to embrace Orthodoxy.
"Even heritics-hetrodox (protestants) reference the Greek!" and the Hebrew, and the Aramaic. In fact, they have abandoned the Greek OT for the Jewish Hebrew one.
'What makes this more interesting is the OCA's consistent posture that the EP is somehow misguided and disconnected. Canon 34 is occasionally referenced, cherry picked, and without reference to future concern about addressing Canon 28 irregularities, the Golden Tomos, or the provisional status of the OCA's autocephalous status. The fact is that it is absent from diptychs." not from the plurality of diptychs. The EP was in Russia when our EA opened. Fr Arey made the statement that at that service Met. Jonah wasn't commemorated. Word got back to Moscow, and he had to retract, and admit that indeed Met. Jonah had been commemorated. There's nothing to address about a "provisional" Tomos: all Orthodox here will join it, or it will unite with and into an autocephalous Church of North Amerca. Enough said.
As for the Greek mythonlogy over canon 28, no one but the Greek Church believes it. No need to dwell on it.
"Given the choice between leaving my Mother Church and following a makeshift assembly of lesser hierarchs I'll have to pass. The Mother Church is the foundation for the faith, the keepers of the faith: time tested, esteemed and established by our Lord. The OCA leadership is but a hiccup in the history of our church and will either come to its senses and get on board with the whole of Orthodoxy or it will fail to even be a footnote 100 years from now. If that offends don't let the door hit you on the way out."
You're the one who should go back home to mother.
The Phanar is FAR from the whole of Orthodoxy.
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