Exodus from the IOC
My recent posting on ICON:
Dear all:
The mass exodus from the Church has been an often lamented subject on this and many other forums. We’ve identified the problems and are aware of the solutions. Clearly, we need all of our liturgies, hourly prayers, and other services translated into English (or any other local language) as soon as possible. We know we need an effective youth ministry for high school and university students staffed with qualified teachers and clergy. We are also well aware of how instability in the Church administration has had a devastating effect on the morale and devotion of many of our members. These are all not so much reforms as they are common sense; any church with a decent sense of ministry would need to do at least this much to minister the most to the most amount of people.
Recently, an article was published on Orthodoxy Today regarding a crisis in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, however it speaks very much to our own present situation:
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Barakas-Greek-Orthodox-Church.php
It seems that the Archdiocese is in a state of stagnation. I am curious as to what, adjusted for immigration, the population statistics of our own American Diocese would be. I imagine that the story would be the same.
Why are the young people leaving? In a free democratic society, religion is not imposed on us. We are free to choose our guiding beliefs within the framework of an ideological marketplace. People are voting with their feet; churches which do not speak to individual needs are emptying, while churches that have a message that resonates are filling to the brim. While I’m grateful for the freedom to choose, this model unfortunately does not take into account the actual truth value (assuming that our Faith is in objective and real truths) of any denominations’ beliefs. As someone who has freely chosen to remain in the Indian Orthodox Church, I am woefully aware that we have not been able to compete in the open market.
This does not mean that the Church has to re-package itself or redefine Her message. The message is already good and speaks for itself. The real problem is that things other than the Gospel have usurped that position as the beating heart of the Church. Consequently, people are walking out of the Church freely because they have grown up in a shadow-Church: an obscured vision of the Church as it should be. They have never been in touch with a dynamic and vigorous Orthodox vision of Christianity. If there is indeed a “marketing strategy” to pursue, it is bound up in our ability to preach a Gospel in terms of universal truth and not cultural peculiarity.
I have taken great hope in the fact that an unprecedented number of young American-born Indian Orthodox have received the call towards seminary education and ordained ministry. What are they seeing in this Church that others have not? Knowing them all, I’d like to surmise that they see that the Orthodox Church is built on a solid foundation, namely Jesus Christ. They see that there is a real organic continuity of belief, possessing the same thinking from the Apostles handed on down to us. They see that there is a worship that is disciplined, but not ritualistic, filled with mystery while not being esoteric. They see that the Church holds a Truth which transcends time, place, and culture, changing peoples while not being changed by them.
If we are serious about halting a mass migration out of the Church here in America, than we need more than English translations of Services. We need a comprehensive change in ethos towards a wider understanding of the Orthodox Faith. Young people are searching for real marks of heritage and identity, and we who have been baptized belong to Christ first and foremost. That is where our real identity lies. When this Orthodox Faith becomes that vital and integral to the lives of the faithful, this outward flux will certainly end.
Dear all:
The mass exodus from the Church has been an often lamented subject on this and many other forums. We’ve identified the problems and are aware of the solutions. Clearly, we need all of our liturgies, hourly prayers, and other services translated into English (or any other local language) as soon as possible. We know we need an effective youth ministry for high school and university students staffed with qualified teachers and clergy. We are also well aware of how instability in the Church administration has had a devastating effect on the morale and devotion of many of our members. These are all not so much reforms as they are common sense; any church with a decent sense of ministry would need to do at least this much to minister the most to the most amount of people.
Recently, an article was published on Orthodoxy Today regarding a crisis in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, however it speaks very much to our own present situation:
http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles8/Barakas-Greek-Orthodox-Church.php
It seems that the Archdiocese is in a state of stagnation. I am curious as to what, adjusted for immigration, the population statistics of our own American Diocese would be. I imagine that the story would be the same.
Why are the young people leaving? In a free democratic society, religion is not imposed on us. We are free to choose our guiding beliefs within the framework of an ideological marketplace. People are voting with their feet; churches which do not speak to individual needs are emptying, while churches that have a message that resonates are filling to the brim. While I’m grateful for the freedom to choose, this model unfortunately does not take into account the actual truth value (assuming that our Faith is in objective and real truths) of any denominations’ beliefs. As someone who has freely chosen to remain in the Indian Orthodox Church, I am woefully aware that we have not been able to compete in the open market.
This does not mean that the Church has to re-package itself or redefine Her message. The message is already good and speaks for itself. The real problem is that things other than the Gospel have usurped that position as the beating heart of the Church. Consequently, people are walking out of the Church freely because they have grown up in a shadow-Church: an obscured vision of the Church as it should be. They have never been in touch with a dynamic and vigorous Orthodox vision of Christianity. If there is indeed a “marketing strategy” to pursue, it is bound up in our ability to preach a Gospel in terms of universal truth and not cultural peculiarity.
I have taken great hope in the fact that an unprecedented number of young American-born Indian Orthodox have received the call towards seminary education and ordained ministry. What are they seeing in this Church that others have not? Knowing them all, I’d like to surmise that they see that the Orthodox Church is built on a solid foundation, namely Jesus Christ. They see that there is a real organic continuity of belief, possessing the same thinking from the Apostles handed on down to us. They see that there is a worship that is disciplined, but not ritualistic, filled with mystery while not being esoteric. They see that the Church holds a Truth which transcends time, place, and culture, changing peoples while not being changed by them.
If we are serious about halting a mass migration out of the Church here in America, than we need more than English translations of Services. We need a comprehensive change in ethos towards a wider understanding of the Orthodox Faith. Young people are searching for real marks of heritage and identity, and we who have been baptized belong to Christ first and foremost. That is where our real identity lies. When this Orthodox Faith becomes that vital and integral to the lives of the faithful, this outward flux will certainly end.
Labels: Christianity, Church, Indian Orthodox, Youth Ministry
posted by street theologian @ 8:17 PM
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