It's Not Rocket Science, Folks!

In this past Sunday's adult Sunday School class, the subject of Orthodox Church Planting was raised by our teacher. In the class, he commented on how difficult it is to plant Orthodox Churches. He mentioned that there is a new family of our parish where the husband is being assigned by his employer to Basalt, Colorado, and that there are precious few Orthodox parishes in that region of the state.

There is one small OCA mission in a mountain town less than an hour away, and one Greek Orthodox mission in Grand Junction somewhere.

Besides that, there are scores of churches of other types and kinds in Grand Junction, Glenwood Springs, Aspen, you name it, they're there.

Our teacher went on to mention how an Orthodox Western Rite mission near Oklahoma City became "too successful." The local Greek Orthodox parish became threatened when families were drawn to the Western Rite parish, in effect making the new parish "the enemy." The opposition from this parish eventually led to the demise of the Western Rite mission.

Please!

It's not Rocket Science, Folks!

Granted, it may be a bit more difficult to plant an Orthodox Mission than your standard protestant parish, but we make it way too hard on ourselves.

First of all, the rivalry between Western Rite and Byzantine Rite Orthodox needs to be laid to rest. We have way too much work to do in bringing America to Eastern Orthodoxy! As I've said before, we need to focus on being so vitally Orthodox that it doesn't matter which rite we practice. Our best defense needs to be deep spirituality and griping and back-biting back and forth on how "Orthodox" we are based on what rite we belong too is NOT SPIRITUAL BUT CARNAL.

Also, IT DEMONSTRATES HOW FAR WE STILL HAVE TO GO WHEN ANY ONE OF OUR ORTHODOX PARISHES IS THREATENED BY THE SUCCESS OF ANY OTHER PARISH OR MISSION.

It demonstrates a lack of vision and a smallness of mind when we jealously guard the turf of our parish or our worship tradition within Orthodoxy. There are enough potential converts to go around FOR BOTH RITES, believe me! America needs to be re-evangelized and we have just the church to do this IF we don't shoot ourselves in both feet!

The fact that we have multiple rites makes us truly CATHOLIC, as opposed to merely sectarian, localized, tribal schismatics.

Our focus needs to be outward! We need to quit our Orthodox navel-gazing and reach our world with all that is good and life-giving about our Holy Orthodox faith.

For starters, each one of our parishes, whether Western Rite or Eastern Rite needs to have thriving Sunday School programs, small group Bible Studies and Orthodox Book Studies, and times outside of the Divine Liturgy where the life of the community can be deepened. Every positive thing our protestant brothers and sisters practice that isn't contrary to Holy Orthodox faith needs to be available in our parishes! Orthodoxy is not less than Protestantism, it is more!

And this also goes for every positive thing our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters practice.

AS THE BEE GATHERS NECTAR FROM THE FLOWERS TO MAKE HONEY, SO WE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS GATHER EVERY GOOD THING FROM OUR FATHER'S CREATION TO WIN SOULS.

I don't know which Orthodox Saint said this, but I remember Father Evan Armatas of Saint Spyridon (formerly of Saint Catherine's Greek Orthodox Church) using this quote on many occasions when I was a catechumen and when I was under his spiritual direction.

If we have vital parishes that are full of the life of the Holy Trinity, growth will happen. We won't have to compete for the scraps!

One challenge we have is to grow our home parishes to the point where they are packed to the rafters, thus FORCING us to plant new Orthodox missions.

There needs to be less cursing of the darkness and more lighting of the candili! A prime example of this is the constant criticism I hear of the Roman Catholic Vatican II Council. We've spent far too much time as Eastern Orthodox Catholic Christians criticizing Vatican II and far too little time promoting a distinctive MISSIONAL alternative!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, there are two new Western Rite Orthodox parishes that recently entered Holy Orthodoxy from the Charismatic Episcopal Church.

These two parishes are finding ways of reaching our western culture with things that go beyond which rite is practiced.

Emmanuel Orthodox Catholic Church and Saint Stephens Orthodox Catholic Church in Massachusetts have found an alternative to the Vatican II model that the rest of us would do good to study. Please remember: THESE NEW PARISHES ARE MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING OF THE ANTIOCHIAN ARCHDIOCESE.

WITHOUT VIOLATING THE DIVINE LITURGY, they have nevertheless found a way to allow praise and worship music into the life of their parish communities. Doing this is a prime example of reaching the American culture THAT ACTUALLY EXISTS in the United States instead of just talking about it.

In addition to finding an acceptable way to use praise music, each parish has incorporated all the best practices from their previous affiliation into their newly formed Orthodox parishes. This is a bold move that closes the gap between our communion and communions that currently outdo us in the evangelistic department.

We have the correct theology. But sometimes heterodox parishes "do the church" better than we do, and it doesn't have to be this way.

Sometimes we become unbalanced as Eastern and Western Rite Orthodox Christians, focusing on our prayer books and our liturgies to the neglect of living our Christian lives, which the practicing of the liturgy is supposed to facilitate.

Promoting the finest liturgy and music for use in our Masses has its wonderful place, and I'm all in favor of it, but we need to keep a firm hold on the one thing without letting go of all the other things.

Let me repeat something I've said before: If we don't compete for souls and "market share," other traditions will fill in the vacuum we create with inferior forms of Christian spirituality to the detriment and loss of us all.

Many potential Orthodox conversions will never happen if heterodox Christians "settle" for "less than 100% christianities" that nevertheless are more zealous than we are.

If there are obstacles to the growth of our parishes, let's address these head-on, all the while not compromising our standards. Let's not moan and groan about "how difficult it is." It's all too easy for us to give ourselves excuses.

We can be more innovative without being spiritual innovators in the negative sense, and here I'm thinking about innovators of the liberal Episcopalian variety.

Saint Paul said that he became all things to all men that he might win them all to Christ.

Are we allowed to do less than this canonized saint and apostle?

DARE we do less than he did?

Holy Paul,pray for us sinners, that we might be saved!

Forgive me,

Columba Silouan