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ORTHODOXY AND THE AMERICAN CHURCH

ORTHODOXY is the primary Christian Church, for the first thousand years of
Christendom all churches were in communion with the five Patriarchates
( Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople and Rome).

The reader needs to keep in mind that the Holy Church was not condemned to
remain with only five Patriarchates, it was understood that as the church would
grow, other Patriarchates would enter the embrace of Orthodoxy.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19)

To the primary Church the world was composed only of the Mid-east, Europe and
some parts of Asia and Africa the rest of the world was unexplored and none
existent.

This Patriarchates were independent (autocephalous) but united in faith. The rites
would come to reflect the diversity of its people in language, music and art, and the
church came to embrace them as the treasury of the Church.

The Orthodox Church translated the Holy Bible and its Liturgy into various
languages before the reformation of the west. I would dare to say that if Martin
Luther would have known of the Orthodox Church he would have become one,
Orthodoxy was not influence by the errors of the Latin Church.

The Western Rite is not a modern innovation, it was part of the Church from the
beginning, and it was used by the Latin speaking Christians. When it comes to
England, Scotland and Ireland their rites were as Orthodox as the one used in
Constantinople but later because of the Great Schism of 1054 the errors of the
Roman Patriarchate were reflected in their rites.

The Latin Church then inculcated the masses that they were the only true church
and Orthodoxy was not mention as ever being part of the undivided church and if
mentioned it was as a heretical group.

These teachings of the Latin Patriarchate were so entrenched on their believers that
when the crusaders met the Orthodox Christians instead of seeing them as fellow
Christians they were subjected to an invasion and the pillaging of Constantinople,
leaving the Orthodox Christians weak and defenseless thus allowing the Muslim
hordes to invade, conquered and subjugate the Orthodox Christians.

In the New World especially the United States, Orthodoxy arrived via Alaska by
Russian Orthodox Church (1794) and it is hard to believe it has been over 200
years ago that Orthodoxy set foot in the New World and still at this very moment
most Americans have no idea of what the Orthodox Church is all about. In other
words the bringing of the message of the truth of Orthodoxy has failed while
Protestantism and Catholicism are triumphant and are growing.

The reason for this failure is that as the Ethnic immigrations have arrived they have
set up what is called Ethnic Churches where to a certain extent Orthodoxy has been
maintained but as the children of the first wave of immigrants are born and many
do not learn the language of their parents and enter into the American culture many
leave the church and become Protestants or Catholics. This is a tragedy because
they are walking away from the truth and into the arms of heresy.

This new generation sees Orthodoxy as something alien and indeed it is, because it
stopped reflecting the culture of the people it serves and has remained connected
to a language and nationality that is not theirs. The reason Orthodoxy flourish in
the Old World was because it embraced the culture, language, art and music of the
people it served.

Why them is the Orthodox Church not assisting in developing an American
Orthodox Church reflecting our culture, language, art and music? I am sad to say it
is simply greed, this Jurisdictions have found out that the USA is a great place to
do business and gather up wealth and send it back to their perspective nations and
while they are continually supplied by the American church they will never let go
of this constant flow of economic support. Money has become more important
them bringing the liberation truth of Orthodoxy to the American people.

To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my
Father's house into a market!" (John 2:16)

I would like to continue by bringing to mind a good example that is found in our
own history, the American colonies were extremely valuable to the English, so they
wanted to have English governors and the wealth of the colonies to continue
flowing back to England. When the colonies requested to have representation in the
governing of themselves the English consider it to be an act of treason, the colonist
did not want to be apart from the crown but simple wanted to have their own
representatives and a Governor but the English because of their greed and feeling
of superiority would only permit certain self rule of the colonies. When it came to
self governance and right to have there own destiny the English did not permit or
tolerate the colonist this God given right.

Unfortunately at this present time we have Americans that are being given certain
rights in self governance but when it comes to bishops and most of all a Patriarch
they are not allowed to follow their own destiny as a native church, they are only
allow to be a carbon copy of the jurisdiction giving them these so call Canon
Status.

Sadly we are to blame to a certain extent because just as the Tory's during the
American Revolutionary War could not see themselves apart from the British
Empire, with a king and English governors so do we in the United States continue
to think that without being under the jurisdiction of foreign Patriarchs and Bishops
we are not truly a church.

For this reason we in the Autocephalous movement are constantly asked the
following questions:

‘To what Jurisdiction do you belong?’

St. Aftimios (Ofiesh) was elected to serve as the replacement of St. Raphael of
Brooklyn in 1915 in caring for the Arab Orthodox faithful in America under the
Church of Russia's canonical authority.

He was consecrated by Archbishop Evdokim (Meschersky) as an auxiliary bishop
in 1917 with the title of Bishop of Brooklyn. In 1923, in recognition for his work in
America, he was elevated by Metropolitan Platon (Rozhdestvensky) of New York
to the rank of archbishop.

In 1927, Aftimios was commissioned by the Russian diocese in America to form
an English-speaking American Orthodox Catholic Church, and during this time, St.
Aftimios consecrated three bishops for his new jurisdiction, Sophronios (Beshara)
of Los Angeles, Joseph (Zuk) and Ignatius (William Albert) Nichols in September
of 1932 as his auxiliary bishop of Washington.

Our Primate in the Holy Byzantine Catholic Orthodox Church has these three lines
in his succession and we believe that we are a Canonical Church of America.

‘To what Jurisdiction are you in communion with?’

In spirit we teach that we are and will always be in communion with all Orthodox
Jurisdictions that are Orthodox but until our sister churches (Jerusalem, Antioch,
Constantinople, Alexandria, Rome) accept that we have the canonical right to have
a native church with native Bishops and that our Liturgical Rite may express our
culture, language, art and music, then physical communion may be possible.

Also we find it extremely hypocritical when our Orthodox brethren accuse the
Roman Church of being legalistic and judgmental but they are legalistic when it
comes to demanding that as an American Orthodox Church we most be attached to
a foreigner Jurisdiction in order to be truly Orthodox.

‘Archbishop Aftimios (Ofiesh) married so he forfeits his appointment?’

Orthodox theologians agree that the restriction on married bishops was an attempt
by the church to stop nepotism thus making it a matter of church discipline rather
than doctrine.

Therefore it could be changed and would require a consensus among a self-
governing Orthodox churches. St. Oftimios had every right to be married because
in the American Culture it was an acceptable condition.

The American Church had every right as an autocephalous church to change this
discipline but unfortunately this was use by unscrupulous ethnic churches as an
excuse to force and remove St. Oftimious as Hierarch of the church.

These same ethnic jurisdictions to this day continue spreading calumnies against
St. Oftinios without any legal documentation to prove that St. Oftimios walked
away from his Bishopric, on the contrary it was by isolation and chastisement that
St. Oftinios was not permitted to continue his responsibilities as a Bishop.

We in the Holy Byzantine Catholic Orthodox Church being autocephalous in
consensus agreed to have non-married bishops as a matter of church discipline but
not because it is church doctrine. We agreed as a church that at this time in the
American Culture the propensity for nepotism is great so we have in consensus
agreed for non-married Bishops.

St John Chrysostom on married Hierarchs.

'A Bishop then,' he says, 'must be blameless the husband of one wife.' This he
does not lay down as a rule, as if he must not be without one, but as prohibiting
his having more than one. [p.438, First Series, Vol. 13, St John Chrysostom,
Homily X, Homilies on Timothy]

Saint Tikhon was not only a true visionary but a true Orthodox, he knew that as
Americans we had the right to have a Native Church and that is why he examined
the existing Anglican Book of Common Prayer and sent it to the Holy Synod of
Moscow for the restoration and correction of a truly Western Rite. This Liturgy,
derived from the ancient use of the Orthodox West, and first expressed in English
in the edition of 1549 by authority of King Edward the Sixth of England, was
corrected and approved by the Holy Synod for Orthodox Church use in the United
States.

He understood the need and desire of people to have there own native church,
because the Russian Church also went threw this struggle. In 1448 the Russian
bishops elected their own Patriarch without recourse to Constantinople, and the
Russian church was thenceforth autocephalous. It was by unity that the Russians
were able to create an autocephalous church, a problem we in the USA have
because of the multitude of ethnic church and any one that moves towards an
autocephalous church in the USA will be treated like they treated St. Oftimios,
with isolation and false allegations by the foreign jurisdictions.

After Saint Tikhon's death the Russian n Church as well as other ethnic churches
have use the Western Liturgical Rite (Liturgy of Saint Tikhon) as a carrot in order
to appease the growing desire for complete self governance from their American
subjects. And I use the word subjects because that is exactly how the American
Orthodox Christians are viewed and treated by these foreign jurisdictions. These
poor well meaning Americans searching for the good news of Orthodoxy have
fallen victims to the greed and power hungry foreign jurisdictions.

Saint Aftimios was also a true visionary, he had the heart of a missionary he (like
Patriarch Saint Tikhon before him) felt it was absolutely essential to establish a
Native American Church. In 1927, Saint Aftimios (an Archbishop) became the first
Ruling Hierarch of the Church when Metropolitan Platon and the Synod of Bishops
of the American Russian Orthodox Dioceses, meeting in South Canaan,
Pennsylvania, carried out the will of Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All
Russia and helped set up the (autocephalous) American Orthodox Church.

Under Saint Aftimios, the Church in America was established and incorporated on
the basis of an excellent Constitution, designed to bring true unity to American
Orthodoxy, but unfortunately his efforts failed and hopefully the following quotes
from Fr. Serafim Surrency's book, The Quest for Orthodox Church Unity in
America (1973) will explain why.

Fr. Serafim's analysis of the failure of this church is as follows:

There can be no question that while the movers of the new Church were sincere
and highly motivated that nonetheless they were fostering an idea whose time
had not yet come, or to use more appropriate phraseology: Almighty God in his
infinite wisdom did not see fit to bless this first attempt to have an American
Orthodox Church. On the human level it is clear why the movement did not
succeed. The Orthodox in America where still in their own particular ghettos...
[the church] was unable to attract or find clergy theologically trained in the
Orthodox tradition and able to communicate with the young people with
immigrant parents (p. 33).

Note: The Holy Byzantine Catholic Orthodox Church unlike this first attempt to
establish an American Orthodox Church is not interested in communicating to the
already orthodox but to the Americans that are of other traditions that are searching
for the truth of the Orthodox Faith. The Greeks, Romanians, Syrians and so forth
can stay in the ethnic ghettos and continue to fail in bringing the truth of Orthodoxy
to the western people

External pressures on the movement also contributed to its demise: While the
Russian Council of Bishops gave initial support, it was only moral support, and
the first person elected to be a Hierarch of the new Church in fact turned down
the nomination because it was not possible to guarantee him any kind of salary
which is indicative of another primary deficiency of the movement, no adequate
financing.... [The] new Church lost its most important supporter, Metr. Platon,
because of antagonism of the clergy initiators towards the Protestant Episcopal
Church.... [some of whose authorities] resented the American Orthodox Church
as being a challenge to... the “senior Orthodox Church in America” [i.e., the
Episcopal Church], and that pressure was put on Metr. Platon to withdraw his
support or the financial assistance he was receiving from the Episcopal Church...
would be cut off and perhaps he would be deprived of the use, on a temporary
basis, of Episcopal churches (pp. 33-34).

Note: The Holy Byzantine Catholic Orthodox Church will not encounter this
problem because of the following Canon Law.

Canon VII. (7)

…[In order to stop the abuse the of clergy with the tidings given by the faithful to
the Holy Church, the Holy Synod inspired by the Holy Ghost has decreed that no
one will be ordained until they first have a profession and are self supported.
The funds of the Holy Church will never be used to give the clergy an exuberant
lifestyle. The only exception will be if a parish in general is willing to pay the
clergy in order for them to be full-time staff.]

“Paul went to see them, and because he was a tent-maker as they were, he
stayed and worked with them” Acts 18:3

By having a self-supported clergy the Church will never find itself in the
predicament of catering any group in order to use churches and receive handouts
from them. We are able to negotiate and rent the use of churches and in this manner
will always be able to maintain our independence without the meddling of other
jurisdictions that do not always have the best interest for the Church in general.

Nevertheless,

...it would be most unjust to blame the failure of the “Holy Eastern Orthodox
Catholic and Apostolic Church in North America” solely or even primarily on
Protestant Episcopal opposition. One can state it more strongly: the various
Orthodox groups in America at that time simply were not ready in terms of
church consciousness for the establishment of an American Orthodox Church
(p. 34).

Note: The Holy Byzantine Catholic Orthodox Church agrees that the failure in
bringing Orthodoxy to America is not to fall on the shoulders of the Protestant
Episcopal opposition or the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic and Apostolic Church
in North America, but on the approach of the this first attempt. We feel that
Orthodoxy would have been established years ago in the west if only the American
Church would stop trying to mimic the Eastern Churches and speak to the west in
there own language, art, music and culture.

We the Holy Byzantine Catholic Orthodox Church believe we are the living spirit
of Saint Tikhon and Saint Aftimios when it comes to bringing the message of
Orthodoxy to our brethren in the Unites States or any other country that believes
they have the right to have a native church with native bishops. A church that
reflects the culture of the people it serves.

The Western Rite Parishes represent a restoration of the legitimate Western Liturgy
of the Undivided Church of the first 1,000 years, by the Patriarchal authority of
Saint Tikhon, for the benefit of all Orthodox people.

Our Church is presently facing the stigma of the independent groups that claim to
be Orthodox and traditional and yet permit female priestess and openly gay clergy.
This is presently one of the biggest obstacles we are facing as a church. We are
independent (autocephalous) but united in faith with all Orthodox Churches and
please understand that we are not seeking or need the approval from any individual
ethnic jurisdiction to be truly orthodox. It is not by claiming to be orthodox that we
are orthodox but that we live as orthodox and profess it in our daily lives that make
us true orthodox. It is because of the false belief that we need the blessing and
approval of a foreign jurisdiction that has caused the western people to reject
orthodoxy.

When will we as a people learn that it is not the messenger that holds the truth but
the message itself, for the message of orthodoxy is true, pure and liberating but
unfortunately the messengers (foreign jurisdictions) are false in their intent, unclean
in their approach and un-liberating in their governance.