Indians could become the Main Ethnic Group in the American Orthodox Church: A Conversation with Jonas Paffhausen, the “Metropolitan of all America and Canada”

In all my fifty years of public service, I have never seen such a document that was more crowded with infamous falsehood and distortion… Scoundrels and piss-ants.

Cordell Hull, US Secretary of State

Speaking on the occasion of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

(Apply his words to the OCA article below)

Archbishop Jonas Paffhausen of New York and Washington (1959- ), “Metroplitan of all America and Canada” (we must state for the record that only 115,000 out of 986,000 Orthodox Christians in the USA are under JP. That is, he only controls 11.66 percent of all Orthodox in the USA (we must further state that some 25 percent of that number is Alaska natives)).

Editor’s Foreword:

Be forewarned. This is sheer GIGO from stem to stern, and note well that no secular media outlet interviewed JP when he was in Moscow. Trust me; both Hilarion Kapral and Laurus Skurla have had more secular press coverage than this poseur. If his visit were on the up and up, he would have had an Interfax “Exclusive”. All this proves is that Alfeyev has a confederate in the Sretensky Monastery. By the way… my sources tell me that the MP Holy Synod is discussing the diaspora, and they summoned JP to answer questions (why wasn’t he honest about it?). After all, he was there for five days incommunicado… but, he was there for the anniversary and “buy vestments” (that takes five days?) according to pro-JP sources. After all, they would piously inform you, the OCA doesn’t lie… if you believe that, go the “Monastic Communities” page on oca.org, and Holy Cross Monastery in Niagara Falls NY is still listed as 1400 16 December 2009. They left for HOCNA years ago. That is how reliable any official information from the OCA is. Caveat lector.

I warn you, the interview is fluffy to the point of being fawning and saccharine, and, trust me, no real questions are asked of JP. I’d LOVE to see the Der Spiegel guys who interviewed Alfeyev go after JP. He’d never know what hit him. The preface is so full of lacunae that it’s inadvertently humorous to anyone who has knowledge of the situation. See ya later, after you slog through Wonderland below.

BMD

The Orthodox Church in America is an integral part of Russian Orthodoxy. It originated in 1794 with the dispatch of a group of monks from the Valaam Monastery, under instructions issued by the Holy Governing Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to establish a spiritual mission on Kodiak Island (Alaska). In 1840, the Holy Governing Synod established the Diocese of Kamchatka, the Kuriles, and the Aleutians, headed by Bishop (later Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna) St Innokenty Veniaminov (1797-1879), “The Apostle to America and Siberia”, now glorified in the choir of the saints.

In 1924, the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in North America declared temporary autonomy, and, in 1937, full autonomy in the status of the Metropolitan District {Editor’s note: This is a bald-faced lie. The Metropolia had been a constituent part of the ROCOR since 1934. Where’s the history of the US Church from 1892 to 1924?}. In 1946, the Seventh all-American Sobor in Cleveland (Ohio) decided to bring the Metropolia into the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. However, contacts with Moscow began only in the 1960s, and, on 31 March 1970, canonical relations were restored. The American Metropolia was granted autocephalous status by the MP on 10 April of that same year. Today, the Orthodox Church in America has more than 700 parishes with more than one million believers as members (sic).

The official title of the First Hierarch of the Orthodox Church in America is the Archbishop of Washington, Metropolitan of all America and Canada. For more than a year now, His Beatitude Jonas Paffhausen (secular name: James Paffhausen) has held this title. He was born in Chicago (Illinois) in 1959 and was baptised in the Protestant Episcopal Church USA. Later, his family moved to California. He attended the University of California at San Diego and the University of California at Santa Cruz. In 1978, he converted to Orthodoxy at Our Lady of Kazan parish of the MP in San Diego. He studied at St Vladimir’s Seminary of the Orthodox Church in America in Yonkers (New York), and he holds the degrees of Master of Divinity and Master of (Dogmatic) Theology.

In the late 1980’s, he spent some time in the USSR, where he studied the Russian language, cooperated (сотрудничал) with the Publications Department of the Moscow Patriarchate, became familiar with church life in the MP, and showed particular interest in monastic matters. Archimandrite Pankraty Zherdev (later, a bishop), the Abbot of Valaam Monastery, was [reputed to be the] spiritual father of James Paffhausen. In 1994, he was ordained to the diaconate and, then, to the priesthood. In 1995, he took monastic vows at St Tikhon Monastery in South Canaan (Pennsylvania) under the name of Jonas. Upon returning to California, he served several mission parishes, founded a monastery, and a number of missionary communities (sic). In spring 2008, he became an Archimandrite. On 12 November of that year {Editor’s note: Only 11 days after his consecration, one must note… that means JP is a rank and trifling neophyte as a bishop, even today.}, the Fifteenth all-American Sobor in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) elected him Archbishop of Washington and New York, Metropolitan of All America and Canada. On 28 December 2008 in St Nicholas Cathedral in Washington DC, the Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America solemnly installed Bishop Jonas in the office of First Hierarch.

Published below is a conversation that took place in early December 2009, during the visit of Metropolitan Jonas to Russia to celebrate the 15^th anniversary of the Moscow representation of the Orthodox Church in America, and it is devoted to the activities of the Church in Latin America.

Miguel Palacio

Where can one find the Orthodox Church in America in Latin America?

Jonas Paffhausen

The jurisdiction of our Church extends into Mexico. Previously, we had also parishes in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela {Editor’s note: That’s a total fib. The parishes there were under the ROCOR.}. However, some of them left for the ROCOR, the others closed. Several communities in Latin America want to join the Orthodox Church in America. We would be happy to take these believers, but, there is no one to care for them because we have very few priests who speak Spanish or Portuguese. A priest, I hope that he will soon become a bishop, began a mission in Ecuador in Guayaquil, where there is a major Palestinian colony. Unfortunately, in recent years, his good initiative has lost steam. I heard that many Palestinians live in Central American countries, particularly in El Salvador. Curiously, they do not go to the parishes of the Antiochian Church, but they ask to under our omofor. The EP and the Patriarchate of Antioch claim jurisdiction over the Greek and Arab diaspora. We do not understand this. Above all, a Local Church must give pastoral care to everyone in its region. This is the considered position of the Orthodox Church in America.

Miguel Palacio

When was the Mexican Exarchate established?

Jonas Paffhausen

The Mexican Exarchate has been in existence since the early 1970’s. At that time, the Bishop of the Mexican National Old Catholic Church, José Cortés y Olmos, initiated contact with our Church and together with community converted to Orthodoxy. Thanks to his work, hundreds of Mexicans entered Orthodoxy. Recently, 5,000 Indians from 23 localities in the State of Vera Cruz were baptised into Orthodoxy. However, this large number of believers has only one priest. In general, the Mexican Exarchate has very few clergy. All of them are Mexicans, including the ruling bishop, Alejo Pacheco-Vera.

Miguel Palacio

Have you ever been in Latin America?

Jonas Paffhausen

I only visited Mexico. Soon, I am going to Guatemala. My friend, Igumena Inés Ajau lives there. She is Abbess of Holy Trinity Convent, which is under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Antioch. In Guatemala, a large group of people wishing to convert to Orthodoxy attracted my attention. Most of them are Mayans. If we take in these Guatemalans, as well as other indigenous people from other countries in Latin America, Indians could become the main ethnic group in the American Orthodox Church. Personally, I would welcome this.

Miguel Palacio

It is clear that you sympathise with the original inhabitants of the American continent…

Jonas Paffhausen

I have very warm feelings for the Indians. At university, I studied anthropology; I was fond of the Mayan and Aztec cultures. This is a great and wonderful civilisation {Editor’s note: I wonder if he is referring to the Aztec practise of tearing the beating hearts out of the breasts of their living captives as “great and wonderful”.}. In general, I like Latin America, its art, music, literature, and cuisine. Latin Americans love life, they are open and hospitable people. I grew up in California, one of the most “Hispanic” states in the USA, I learned a little Spanish from my Mexican friends (although I speak it poorly). The priest who received me into the Orthodox Church was a Mexican. His name was Fr Ramon Merlos.

Miguel Palacio

What are the similarities and differences in missionary work in the USA, Latin America, and amongst the Indians?

Jonas Paffhausen

To be honest, I don’t know… Our church has missionary experience in Alaska, exemplified by Fr Michael Oleksa, a wonderful priest, an anthropologist by profession. He is Carpatho-Russian, and his wife is from the Yupik people. Fr Michael wants to hold an Orthodox Congress of American Indians in Alaska. It will be an extremely interesting event. While serving as rector of the seminary, Fr Michael invited the community from Guatemala that was enquiring into Orthodoxy to send two of its members to obtain theological education. The idea is certainly good, of course, but, people accustomed to a tropical climate are unlikely to care for the Alaskan cold.

Miguel Palacio

Are there Latin Americans amongst your parishioners in the USA?

Jonas Paffhausen

Of course. In California, they are 35 percent of the population, in Texas, even more {Editor’s note: JP isn’t well informed on this… California has a slightly higher proportion of “Hispanics” than Texas does.}. Latin Americans are found amongst our believers and in the clergy of our Church. At St Tikhon Seminary, there is a Mexican student of Indian ancestry named Abraham. He is a subdeacon. Another subdeacon in San Francisco is of Colombian origin. In late November, this year, I consecrated a new convent in honour of the Nativity of Our Lord in Dallas, whose abbess is Brazilian.

Miguel Palacio

In your opinion, what do Latin Americans find attractive in Orthodoxy?

Jonas Paffhausen

Latin Americans love our liturgy and icons; they perceive the deep reverence for the Mother of God that is inherent in the Orthodox Church. I must say that the Catholic Church is rapidly losing influence in Latin America, the main cause being its close ties with the upper classes of society. A large proportion of the poor, who constitute the majority of those in the region, are disappointed with Catholic pastors and they join the Protestants, Mormons, and other sectarians.

Metropolitan Andres Chiron, the head of the Order of the secular clergy of St Basil the Great in Guatemala was formerly a Catholic priest. He saw that the Catholic leadership focused on the rich, and, in the early 1990’s, he left the Catholic Church because he wanted to work for the people. Recently, Metropolitan Andres said, “I am already old and sick. Please, join my people to the Church for their salvation”. His community has to work more until they are fully Orthodox, but, they gradually learn the faith and internalise the traditions of the Orthodox Church. In addition to Guatemala, Bishop Andres opened parishes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other cities in the United States where Guatemalans are settled.

Miguel Palacio

You aren’t afraid of conflict with the Catholics? Even now, despite everything, Latin America is still considered the “principal diocese of the Vatican”.

Jonas Paffhausen

There’ll be no conflict, it won’t happen. The Catholic Church is a loyal friend to Orthodoxy (Католическая Церковь лояльно относится к Православию). Moreover, I see great potential for collaboration with the Catholic Church, particularly in opposing sectarianism.

15 December 2009

Православие.Ru (Pravoslavie.Ru)

http://www.pravoslavie.ru/guest/33155.htm

Editor’s Note:

This is no interview. As I said in the foreword, I’d love to see JP “Spiegeled”… isn’t that a great word? Of course, those of you with some facility in German know that a “spiegel” is a mirror. Hmm… in other words, let’s hold up a mirror to JP and see if it fits what this meretricious article stated. Firstly, there are not one million members in the OCA, and there are not 700 parishes. Supposedly, JP admitted at the Pittsburgh Sobor that it was false. Well, it appears that he’s repeating Schmemann’s old lies. Secondly, there is nothing stated of the history of the Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska, the USA, and Canada from 1840 to 1924. NOTHING. One wonders why.

The Metropolia in 1937 was nothing more than the North American district of the ROCOR. It was not autonomous (do ask Fr Alexander Lebedeff, he’ll back me on this, I am sure). Note well how there is no mention of the fact that the Metropolia was a constituent part of the ROCOR from 1934 to 1946. The Cleveland Sobor was a rebellion of laity and married priests against the episcopate, who stayed loyal to the ROCOR. That is, from 1946 to 1970, the Metropolia was a renegade organisation. It was not in communion with anyone else officially. On an informal level, the priests and faithful of the Metropolia could receive communion in any Orthodox parish except for those of the ROCOR (naturally enough). This was an act of oikonomia on the part of the other Orthodox archdioceses in the country, nothing more.

JP hides part of his past. No mention is made of his connection with Gleb Podmoshensky and St Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina CA. Everyone knows that the ROCOR Holy Synod deposed GP for good reason. The only two members of the Platina brotherhood to stick around after GP was deposed were Gerasim Eliel and Damascene Christiansen. That is to say, GP’s status as a renegade did not bother them. Reflect well on the fact that JP wants to make Gerasim Eliel a bishop.

However, the most interesting part is that JP no longer claims to have worked for the MP Publications Department, he “cooperated” (сотрудничал) with it. I give the Russian word here, because “worked with” is represented by a different word in Russian. This is a retreat from earlier releases. Also note that he has dropped any reference to Russky Palomnik, as too many know that was an unofficial rag put out by GP. He also does not refer to being a member of the Valaam brotherhood. After all, he just lived there over an extended period, he had no official connection with it, nor did he ever raise any substantial funds for it.

Don’t you love his words on the papists? “There’ll be no conflict, it won’t happen. The Catholic Church is a loyal friend to Orthodoxy (Католическая Церковь лояльно относится к Православию)”. Tell that to the family of Fr Mikhail Shuvar. “Loyal friends?” I’ll retire to Bedlam… friendship as expressed in crowbars to the face, stealing of church buildings, and assassinations of clergy. Tell that to Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan. The “loyal friends” want us to join their wheezy establishment to prop it up. No, thank you. No pope for me, or for any other faithful Orthodox Christian, that’s for sure.

The interview about Latin America was a total bust, but, I had to do it. I know what I would have asked. “Why is Bobby K still pulling an OCA salary?” “Why did you fire your treasurer and communications director and not replace them?” “Why are you ceasing to print the OCA’s periodical? I hear it was lack of funds”. “Why is Lyonyo Kishkovsky still in the OCA chancery despite your earlier statement that all members of the ancien régime were gone?” “Why do you back Raymond Velencia to the hilt when you know he publicised personal information about a parishioner… that is normally considered inviolate under the law (there is such a thing as pastoral confidentiality respected by the courts)?” He’d jump out of the first available window and howl that I was persecuting him and not showing him any respect.

Well… if there are clergy reading this, you get the respect that you earn. If you’re a lowlife, don’t expect me to go bowing and scraping in front of you. In any case, Orthodox clergy are not papist or Proddie clergy who are higher than their flocks. Interestingly enough, the fact that civil government did not collapse in the Roman Empire except in the barbarian west gave rise to differing attitudes to clerics. In the Empire (and the lands affected by it), the clergy were just a social estate, and not a particularly important one at that. In the barbarian west, the clergy took on the airs of government officials, which led, ultimately, to the idea that clergy must be respected simply because they are clergy.

It is now 1800 on 16 December. Holy Cross Monastery of the HOCNA is still listed as an OCA establishment on the “Monastic Communities” page on oca.org. If they refuse to keep their webpage up to date… and this community has been out of the OCA for at least two years… you can’t trust them at all. I expect to be criticised. OK… why haven’t you removed this listing? This monastery left you; it is no longer yours. Then, remove the listing. That’s what honest people do.

I think this proves that JP is an utter and complete liar with no cred whatsoever. You know what to do.

Remember Eric Iliff…

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Wednesday 16 December 2009

Albany NY

Second News Story Concerning the Closure of the Russian Orthodox Museum in Anchorage AK

A second news release, from the Juneau Empire at 1016 EDT 15 July, confirmed the closure of the Russian Orthodox Museum in Anchorage at the end of August. The article reported that Fr Mikel Bock said, “The closure has to be done because the diocese is hurting because of the economy”. (See http://juneauempire.com/stories/071509/reg_463956237.shtml ).

This is the very first statement from any OCA official source that there are financial difficulties due to the current economic meltdown. The Syosset apparat is letting everything go to seed; they are sequestering the Church’s funds for their salaries and their precious little headquarters in suburban Long Island. Not many people outside of the New York metro area know that the town of Syosset has a “reputation”. It is known as the cheesiest collection of the “affluent effluent” in the region, right down there with Manhasset, the Hamptons, and Englewood Cliffs in Jersey. Does the Church need to be located in such a miasma of greed and ostentation? I would say not!

Vladyki Jonas! It is time for you to act like the monastic that you are! Move the HQ to St Tikhon’s in South Canaan, and let these ecclesial paladins rot on the vine. If nothing else, it shall save the Church a great deal of money… money that can be used to better effect than to be used for the enrichment of grasping and corrupt clerics (By the way, the Washington DC metro area is just as, if not more, expensive than NYC. It’s a VERY bad idea to move there.).

Vladyki! Talk to us honestly and without equivocation about the crisis, and, please, do can the “California Happy Talk”. It is a Churchillian moment, and I, for one, believe that you can rise to the occasion. You would be pleasantly surprised to see how people would rally behind you. Sell Syosset and sell SVS. LET THEM GO. They are an albatross around the neck of the Church, and have been such from the first. It is time to go “Back to the Future”, and return to the foundation laid by Patriarch St Tikhon the Martyr.

You can be like Vladyki Cyprian Borisevich of Happy Memory or you can be like Aleksandr Dmitrievich Schmemann of Unhappy Memory. The ordinary people loved Vladyki Cyprian, and if you doubt me, just ask anyone from north-eastern PA (especially, ask the people from Russian Hill in Mayfield!). The pseudo-intellectual poseurs hated him. I know where I stand! What about you, sir? Again, don’t listen to the Syosset Gang… the ordinary folk would rally around you, and we wouldn’t let them do anything to you.

STAND TALL, VLADYKI. God shall bless you for it.

Vara Drezhlo

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Orthodox Museum in Anchorage Closes… No Word Concerning It on OCA.Org

The Farewell to America of Patriarch St Tikhon (Fillip Moskvitin, 2003). This picture says it all… and Syosset has the unmitigated gall to claim that it honours Vladyki Tikhon’s memory and mission. What impertinence!

One of the little features that I have activated on my computer is an alert that searches for the keyword “Russian Orthodox”. It is a simple thing, truly, and anyone who is looking for news on the Church should have it enabled. Quite obviously, the webmaster of oca.org is a layabout who does not attend to the basic tasks of their job. To take an obvious and egregious example, there was no real or timely coverage of the St Tikhon’s Pilgrimage. Friends of mine in PA told me that a large number of folks from the Mayfield parish were there, and, that, friends and neighbours, is NEWS (and VERY welcome news, at that). Technology is such that not only print, but, photos as well, could have been posted the night of the event (as any conscientious webmaster would have done). What happened?

NOTHING.

NADA.

NICHEVO.

If the OCA is paying for such shoddy workmanship, it is being rooked; in fact, it is being cheated to the fullest extent possible. Well… our sleepy ol’ webmaster was napping at the switch again. At 1534 EDT today, NBC-affiliate KTTU-TV of Anchorage reported that the Russian Orthodox Museum in Anchorage AK had to shutter its doors because of a lack of funds due to the imploded economy (information from the website of KTUU Anchorage AK and an AP report. see http://www.ktuu.com/global/story.asp?s=10725072). Fr Mikel Bock said that the exhibits are to be returned to the parishes and individuals that donated them. Why was there no news on oca.org on the troubles of this facility? Why was there no fundraising attempt made? Is the silence due to the fact that the Syosset/SVS Mafiosi refuse to acknowledge the crisis? I believe that these ecclesiastical gentlemen have no intention of taking a cut in pay so the Church can aid its parishioners who have been thrown out of work (unemployment is 10 percent and rising, Syosset).

To put it bluntly, this need not have happened. The greed and self-centredness it reveals is noisome. The money necessary was probably not a large sum, relatively speaking. I am speechless.

This is unconscionable. A bishop of the Church has the gall to gad about in a Cadillac Escalade SUV (easily one of the more ostentatious and flashy motor vehicles extant), but, there is no money to aid a museum documenting the oldest diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in America. There is money to pay Syosset apparatchiki 2.5 times the national median family income of 50,000 USD per family (and 25 percent higher than the Syosset median family income of 107,000 USD), but, there is none for aid to the struggling Church in Alaska.

FOR SHAME, SYOSSET!

I thought that the depths had been plumbed. Obviously, I was wrong.

Vladyki Jonas! Such people are making you look the fool. Get rid of them! Sell off the McMansion in Syosset (and the buildings of SVS in Yonkers as well, the Church cannot operate a facility in such a high-wage and high-tax area), pay off the loans, and move everything to South Canaan! The good Orthodox people of north-eastern PA would welcome you and make you feel as though you were one of their own (they might even take you out to the Ooh-Ooh Bird for wings and some pivo, how about that?).

This sickens me to no end.

HAVE YOU NO SHAME?

Vara Drezhlo

Tuesday 14 July 2009

Editor’s Postscript:

Today is 14 July, Bastille Day… do you catch my drift, Valdyki Jonas? All you have to do is give the word, and most of the faithful shall follow you, not these self-important poseurs. Food for thought, eh?

Metropolitan Kliment Kapalin Thinks it is Very Important to Study the Missionary Experience of the Orthodox Church in Alaska

Moscow, 15 January 2009

Metropolitan Kliment Kapalin of Kaluga and Borovsk, the Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, urged modern missionaries to use the experience of the Russian Orthodox mission in Alaska. “Studying the experience of the mission of the Church in Alaska is an important task for the development of the contemporary church”, Vladyki Kliment wrote in the preface to his book, The Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska until 1917 (Русская православная церковь на Аляске до 1917 года in the original Russian).

The interest of Metropolitan Kliment in Alaska is no accident, for when he was the Chancellor of the parishes of the MP in the USA and Canada in the 1980s, he visited Alaska, and he met many of the local Orthodox Christians. On Thursday, Metropolitan Kliment himself presented his book at Russian State Library (RGB), and he noted that liturgy is served in three different languages in Alaska, English, Aleut, and Church Slavonic. He reported that many local residents give their children Russian names at their baptism. Furthermore, after sharing his impressions of his sojourns in Alaska, Vladyki Kliment said that he was surprised at the almost complete similarity of the traditional dwellings of the Aleuts with the traditional Russian huts.

The first Orthodox mission, which consisted of monks from the Valaam and Konevsky monasteries and the St Aleksandr Nevsky Lavra, arrived in Alaska in 1794. Hence, through the work of Russian missionaries, the Orthodox faith began to spread throughout the Western Hemisphere. Besides preaching, they undertook scientific observations of the climate, catalogued the natural flora and fauna, and made ethnographical studies of the local population, which were the first topographical, climatic, and ethnographic descriptions of Alaska and its adjacent islands.

One of the most prominent missionaries in Alaska was St Innocent Veniaminov, who, on 15 December 1840, was ordained Bishop of Kamchatka, the Kuriles, and Aleutians. He studied the Aleut language and composed its grammar, translating the Gospel of Matthew, the catechism, and a number of service texts and prayers into the Aleut language. Subsequently, all future missionaries who served in Alaska were required to study the local languages and use them in church services. As a result, Scriptural texts, sermons, and prayers were translated into the languages of all the local peoples. A network of church schools was created and a spiritual seminary was established.

After the sale of Alaska to the USA, despite active proselytising on the part of the Catholics and Protestants, the majority of the native people in Alaska still practise the Orthodox Christian faith. The Holy Governing Synod of the Russian Church established a diocese for the region. In addition, the Church organised parochial brotherhoods and temperance societies in Alaska. Up until 1917, Russia appointed bishops, sent missionaries, and provided financial assistance to the Diocese of Alaska and the Aleutians.

As Metropolitan Kliment noted, one of the major results of the missionary activities of the Russian Church in Alaska was that not only the Russians who remained there after the sale of the territory to the USA, and their descendants, but, the majority of the indigenous peoples “retained a fairly strong link with the Orthodox faith and culture. Moreover, today, in many villages, native Alaskans are proud to say that they are Orthodox and that they remember with glad appreciation the names of the Russian missionaries who worked in their land”.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=28278 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

If you were to pin me down and ask me which group of Orthodox Christians I had the most respect for, it would be the native people of Alaska, no contest. They live in a harsh, often unforgiving, environment, and are some of the kindest and most honest people I have ever met. My contact with them was, admittedly, slight, but, the memory has stayed with me. May God bless these good people.

To be frank, the rest of the OCA could learn volumes from them. They are REAL.

A Book about the History of Russian Orthodoxy in Alaska shall be presented by Metropolitan Kliment at the RGB

On Thursday, Metropolitan Kliment Kapalin of Kaluga and Borovsk, the Chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, shall present his book, The Russian Orthodox Church in Alaska until 1917 (Русская Православная Церковь на Аляске до 1917 года in the original Russian), at the Russian State Library (RGB), the press-service of the RGB reported to RIA-Novosti. According to the release from the press-service, the presentation will be attended by Sergei Stepashin, the head of the Russian Audit Chamber, Academician Yuri Osipov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAN), Viktor Fyodorov, General Director of the RGB, the director of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the RAN, Viktor Fedorov, the Vice-Chairman of the Public Chamber, Archimandrite Zacchaeus Wood, the head of the podvorie (representation) of the Orthodox Church in America in Moscow, and other guests.

As described by staff-members of the RGB, the book is an extensive monograph covering in great detail the almost two centuries of the history of “Russian Alaska” from 1741 to 1917. It is divided into two separate parts, in accordance with two periods of history, the “Russian” section, which deals with the time when Alaska was part of the Russian empire, and an “American” section, which began in 1867, [when Alaska became part of the USA]. The book will be of interest to both specialists and all who are interested in the history of Russian Orthodox Church and Orthodoxy in America.

The press-service noted that the choice of subject was no accident for the author, who was the Chancellor of the parishes of the MP in the USA and Canada in the 1980s. At that time, Bishop Kliment repeatedly visited Alaska, he met with the Orthodox residents of the state, and he collected the material that was incorporated in this book. The forewords to the book were written by His Holiness Aleksei II, Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and Yuri Osipov, the President of the RAN.

15 January 2009

RIA-Novosti

http://www.rian.ru/religion/20090115/159245795.html (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

Interesting time for this book to appear, nicht wahr? It certainly is an interesting way for Kliment to insert himself into the news. As all know, he and his brother Dmitri (the Archbishop of Tobolsk) are neck-deep in the current speculations surrounding the election of a new First Hierarch of the MP. Things are, indeed, getting “interesting”…

The Easternmost Orthodox Church in Russia shall be Built on Bering Island in the Komandorski Archipelago near Kamchatka

Celebration in the village of Nikolskoe on Bering Island in the Komandorski Archipelago near Kamchatka, the native people are related to the Aleuts of Alaska

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski, 27 October 2008 (Interfax):

The easternmost Orthodox church in Russia shall be built on Bering Island in the Komandorski Islands. At present, no Orthodox church building exists in this island group, although the history of Orthodoxy in these parts goes back some two centuries. The first church in the islands was built at the beginning of the 19^th century, according to Fr Viktor, the rector of the parish of St Nicholas in the village of Nikolskoe, which is located in the archipelago.

On the orders of Grigori Shelekhov and Nikolai Rezanov, in 1799, the Russian-American Company delivered the materials for four churches by sea to the Komandorski Islands, the Aleutians, and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski. Ss Nicholas and Innocent church in the islands was dedicated to St Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron of sailors and fishermen, and to St Innocent of Irkutsk, the Enlightener of Siberia. Only incomplete church records have been preserved to the present day, the earliest records available are dated 1902. A new church was erected in the 1890s, but, it was closed after the October Revolution, with the building becoming first a local club, and, then, a hostel. In 1983, the old church building burned down.

The new church shall be built in a different location, as the old settlement, where the old St Nicholas church was located, is in an area prone to tsunamis. Plans are for the new building, 15 metres (49 feet) in length and 10 metres (33 feet) in width, to be erected first in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski, then, it shall be dismantled for shipment by sea to the Komandorski Islands. A site in the centre of the village of Nikolskoe has been selected, in accordance with local zoning ordinances.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=27080 (in Russian)

Aurora Borealis: The Shining Faces of St Herman’s Children. The second panel of the triptych “The Faces of Holiness”

The Faces of Holy Russia gave me an idea. It is going to form part of triptych, The Faces of Holiness. This second panel of the ensemble focuses on the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska and its predominately native faithful.

Russian missionaries brought Orthodoxy to Alaska when it was known as Russian America, in the 19^th century. Some practises of the Alaska Church are unique, but, that is not uncommon in the Orthodox oikumene. They are organic growths of the Faith that matured over the two centuries that Orthodoxy has lived in the Alaskan soil. Unlike some other “growths”, which are the mere notions of intellectuals, the customs found in Alaska are the result of the Faith lived by good and simple people with pure hearts.

You see, they live in a seemingly-harsh environment that they love (for it is THE LAND). They belong there (for they are THE PEOPLE). They have a rootedness lacking in American suburbanites (for where they live is THE PLACE). The lack of modern “amenities” does not bother most (for that is the way of it in THE LIFE). Most of all, they have a clear belief in God and His bounties (for such is THE FAITH).

No, we are not speaking of a pastoral idyll. The native people have their problems and sins to grapple with, as all of us do. They are neither “saintly savages” nor “drunken injuns”. Rather, they are ordinary folks who live a distinct and special life amongst the rays of the Northern Lights. This is my tribute to them and their Faith. They have wandered the least from ordinary Orthodoxy (if they have wandered at all) of anyone in the OCA. They deserve to lead the Church back home… they have earned it.

*****

*****

These are people whom God has tested…. they have proved their mettle. May God preserve these lovely folks.

Bog blagoslovit.

Vara Drezhlo

Friday 30 May 2008   

What the figures tell us…

WARNING! This post is unusually long and (admittedly) dry due to the need of presenting all the figures. I shall say that any priest or church official perusing this shall not find it a boring read. Unlike the official statistics, which are straight-faced cheerleading from Cloud-Cuckoo Land, this is an accurate and impartial study using data from an objective outside source.

Some while back, I did a study of who was reading what website based on figures from Quanticast. I have expanded the study, amplified the figures, and have been able to gain a better picture of American Orthodoxy as a result. There were two websites (Fr John Whiteford and Orthodixie) that I was unable to put into the “personal site” category as a result of figures not being available to Quanticast. I encourage the authors of these sites to “quantify” them (see http://www.quanticast.com for details).

A great deal of what follows is raw statistical data. This is the raw material one needs to make a reasoned judgement on the state of the Church. There are five official (GOA, OCA, ROCOR, AOCANA, and ACROD) and four personal sites in this study. I wished to use the official website of the Serbian Orthodox Church, but, the figures were too sketchy (I encourage the webmaster of this site to quantify it, see the above URL for details) to be useful.

Two personal websites I wished to put in the personal website section, as noted above, had no figures. The personal websites in this study are Orthodox Christians for Accountability (“Stokoe”), Frederica (“Greene”), Orthodox England (“Phillips”), and Voices from Russia (“Drezhlo”). The last two sites present an ordinary Orthodox point of view whilst the first two are decidedly modernist and dodgy.

We shall present the data, and let us see where it takes us! The truth shall set you free.

A) Gross monthly uniques

Official Sites:

1.   Greek Orthodox Archdiocese (GOA): 78,867 (100)

2.   Orthodox Church in America (OCA): 27,020 (34)

3.   Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in North America (AOCANA): 15,757 (20)

4.   Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR): 7,451 (9)

5.   American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese (ACROD): 5,266 (7)

In a recent study of Orthodox church adherence in the US (the only reliable figures available, alas), Professor Aleksei Krindatch of Moscow estimated the membership of the GOA at 340,000. When I multiplied that figure by the indexes given above, the resulting sums were eerily similar to Professor Krindatch’s conclusions. Virtually every membership report issued by American Orthodox church bodies have been grossly inaccurate at best, downright lies at worst. However, the above figures must be adjusted to account for “addicts” (daily visitors) and “regulars” (more than once a month, but, not daily).

Personal Sites:

1.   Orthodox Christians for Accountability (Stokoe): 6,685 (100)

2.   Voices from Russia (Drezhlo): 6,166 (92)

3.   Orthodox England (Phillips): 5,346 (80)

4.   Frederica [Frederica Matthewes-Greene] (Green): 3,258 (49)

Let me give a caveat or two on the above figures. The Stokoe readership is made up disproportionately of addicts, so, the above figure is going to drop greatly in the adjustment below. Fr Andrew Phillips, in a personal e-mail communication, told me that the above figures are US only, which is some 30 percent of his total audience. If that is so, his estimated total for monthly gross uniques would be 17,820 (index of 267), not only making his the top personal site; it would also give him more uniques than three of the five official sites, except for the OCA and GOA. This fact makes Batiushka Andrew the leading Orthodox commentator on the web; he has a greater influence than some of the official websites (Modernist attackers of Fr Andrew such as Hank Leaf should keep their silence. The facts have spoken.).

B) Adjusted monthly uniques

Official Sites:

1.   GOA: 60,182 (100)

2.   OCA: 20,714 (34)

3.   AOCANA: 13,473 (22)

4.   ROCOR: 5,997 (10)

5.   ACROD: 4,728 [8]

No surprises here, for the ranking and proportions of the gross figures are virtually the same as the adjusted ones. The number of addicts is divided by three, and the number of regulars is divided by two, per the Quanticast site, to give a better view of actual individuals accessing the various addresses.

Personal Sites:

1.   Drezhlo: 5,548 (100)

2.   Phillips: 5,141 (93)

3.   Stokoe: 4,555 (82)

4.   Greene: 2,539 (46)

If we adjust Fr Andrew’s figures for his foreign following, he moves to number one at 17,136 adjusted uniques (index of 309). I do not have this in the above table for I have no independent verification of his figure. Batiushka! I love you and trust you, but, I hold you to the same standard as everyone else. I include the figures for the website of Frederica Matthewes-Green because she is a loud and strident self-advertiser. I agree with Professor Vigen Guroian’s trenchant criticism of her, and the above figures show her to be a MUCH lesser figure than some modernist sources would have you believe.

As an aside, there is an internet group known as the Orthodox Forum run (essentially) by a single individual, Harry Coin. It claims to be the most authoritative non-official source on the web. Well, it only has 1,477 registered members, so, it is only a small group of theological radicals (they advocate such things as a married episcopate and support the Osbourne schismatics), and the core of the group is only about 50 true-believer liberal radicals. If it was to have an index number as per the above list, it would be 27, and it would rank dead last. That is, it has only 27 percent of the readership of my site. Be wary of this group, they are not as important as they claim. Thankfully, their bark is FAR greater than their size. They are “all hat and no cattle” as they say in Texas.

C) Gender ratios in percentages

a) Male readership as a percentage of the total

Official Sites:

1.   ROCOR: 42 percent (86, Internet average; 100, this study sample)

2.   GOA and OCA: 40 percent (80, 95)

3.   AOCANA: 34 percent (69, 81)

4.   ACORD: 16 percent (34, 38]

None of the official websites does a good job of attracting male readership, if we define “good” as being within 10 points of the average. If we define “fair” as being within 20 points of the average, the top three score that. The AOCANA needs to do major revamping and the ACROD figures are abysmal.

Personal Sites:

1.   Drezhlo: 55 percent (110, 100)

2.   Phillips: 47 percent (95, 85)

3.   Stokoe: 43 percent (88, 78]

4.   Greene: 32 percent (65, 58]

It would be unfair to paint Ms Greene as poor in this aspect, as her site has a feminine focus. Fr Andrew and I are doing a “good” job, whilst Mr Stokoe is only doing a “fair” performance. I should note that I do not try to attract a masculine audience and some of my most vocal and loyal readers are women. Go figure!

b) Female readership as a percentage of the total

Official Sites:

1.   ACROD: 84 percent (163, 100)

2.   AOCANA: 66 percent (129, 79)

3.   GOA and OCA: 60 percent (116, 71)

4.   ROCOR: 58 percent (113, 69)

All the official sites do an excellent job of attracting female readership. Now, they should concentrate on getting the fellows, as well. However, there appears to be a correlation between modernism and a larger female following. That is more marked in the personal site listings below.

Personal Sites:

1.   Greene: 68 percent (133, 100)

2.   Stokoe: 57 percent (110, 84)

3.   Phillips: 53 percent (103, 78]

4.   Drezhlo: 45 percent (90, 66)

Ms Greene’s showing is not surprising, given her focus. All the rest of us are doing a “good” job at attracting a female audience.

D) Educational Levels of the readership in percentages

a) Non-college graduates

Official Sites:

1.   ROCOR: 28 percent (62, 100)

2.   GOA: 26 percent (56, 93)

3.   ACROD: 24 percent (54, 86)

4.   OCA: 19 percent (44, 68]

5.   AOCANA: 16 percent (36, 57)

45 percent of the general population falls into this category, so, one cannot conclude that Orthodox are better educated than the average, as corroborating evidence from objective sources is lacking. It is true that the official sites are doing a poor job of reaching this cohort, whilst one also notices that the gap widens with the increasing level of modernism.

Personal Sites:

1.   Drezhlo: 36 percent (79, 100)

2.   Greene: 29 percent (65, 81)

3.   Phillips: 15 percent (34, 42)

4.   Stokoe: 5 percent (13, 14)

My site is the only site of the four to be near “fair”, missing it by only one point. All the others miss the mark for this social category, with the Stokoe site being abysmal in this regard. Of course, the snotty and shirty tone of so many posters on the Stokoe site (in all fairness, Mr Stokoe himself does not take such a noisome attitude) puts many people’s teeth on edge, and many see them as overeducated dweebs who wish to lead all others about by the nose.

b) College graduates

Official Sites:

1.   ACROD: 63 percent (153, 100)

2.   GOA: 45 percent (110, 71)

3.   AOCANA: 43 percent (106, 68]

4.   OCA: 39 percent (93, 62)

5.   ROCOR: 27 percent (67, 43)

Slots 2 to 4 are doing a “good” job of reaching the college-educated, whilst the very high figure for ACROD reflects its relative lack of new immigrants and the movement of many of its people from the working-class to the lower reaches of the middle-class. The lower figure for ROCOR may reflect the larger number of immigrants in its ranks, combined with a strong working-class distaste for the pseudo-intellectual antics of SVS and its minions.

Personal Sites:

1.     Phillips: 54 (131, 100)

2.     Drezhlo: 42 (102, 78]

3.     Greene: 40 (98, 74)

4.     Stokoe: 32 (78, 59)

Batiushka Andrew does a sparkling job at attracting the college crowd. Ms Greene and I do an equally “good” effort, whilst Mr Stokoe is poor, yet again. He can’t seem to connect with ordinary folk at all.

c) Post-graduate degree holders

Official Sites:

1.  ROCOR: 44 percent (308, 100)

2.  OCA: 42 percent (290, 95)

3.  AOCANA: 40 percent (278, 91)

4.  GOA: 30 percent (204, 68]

5.  ACROD: 13 percent (91, 30)

A caveat, if you please. These figures are skewed by the number of clergy accessing these sites, and these fellows all have a post-graduate education.

The big three are within 10 percent of each other, making their efforts equally effective at reaching the highly-educated. The ROCOR has always had the highest level of education in the American Orthodox diaspora, and the above figure confirms it. The GOA is still doing an excellent job, being at slightly over 200 percent of the Internet average. The coal-mine origins of ACROD are evident in the above figures, it is not a criticism, rather, it is an observation (in fact, it is within the normal statistical variance for the norm, a good sign). Their parents did not have the means to allow them to continue studies past the baccalaureate level. It may mean that this group is the most solidly-grounded of the lot, being less apt to be moved by intellectual notions and conceits, a very good thing, indeed.

Personal Sites:

1.   Stokoe: 63 percent (431, 100)

2.   Phillips: 31 percent (215, 49)

3.   Greene: 30 percent (210, 48]

4.   Drezhlo: 22 percent (156, 35)

The note concerning clergy applies here as well.

All of us are above the internet average, but, there can be too much of a good thing. Mr Stokoe’s site is so disproportionately skewed to this social cohort (which is only some 14.1 percent of the internet population) that it brings into question its objectivity and balance. It appears to be a site favoured by the Orthodox equivalent of the “chattering classes” and the clerisy. That is why so much material in it is so disconnected with reality. Caveat auditor.

E) Racial composition of the audience in percentages

a) Caucasian

Official sites:

1.   ACROD: 96 percent (117, 100)

2.   ROCOR: 93 percent (114, 97)

3.   OCA: 89 percent (110, 93)

4.   AOCANA: 85 percent (103, 89)

5.   GOA: 82 percent (102, 85)

No surprises here. Everyone knows that the Orthodox demographic is disproportionately white.

Personal Sites:

1.  Stokoe: 99 percent (122, 100)

2.  Greene: 84 percent (104, 88]

3.  Drezhlo: 83 percent (102, 86)

4.  Phillips: 60 percent (74, 63)

Mr Stokoe is only reaching a lily-white audience, whereas Ms Greene and I are doing a “good job”, and Batiushka Andrew’s figure is interesting. Where are the other hits coming from? Well, we shall see.

b) Black

Official Sites:

1.   GOA: 10 percent (129, 100)

2.   OCA: 4 percent (50, 40)

3.   AOCANA: 3 percent (46, 30)

4.   ACROD: 2 percent (32, 20)

5.   ROCOR: * (8, 5)

*: less than 1 percent

The GOA figure is interesting, is it Ethiopians? One wonders. All in all, the official sites do a poor job of reaching blacks, except for the Greeks.

Personal Sites:

1.  Drezhlo: 6 percent (83, 100)

2.  Greene and Phillips: 2 percent (30, 33)

3.  Stokoe: 1 percent (17, 17)

If you want to put some “soul” into your life, log onto my site. Please, pass the sweet potato pie (Grandma Goodbee’s is reputedly some of the best, according to my friend Arnold). The other sites are not attracting blacks, with the Stokoe site doing a typically abysmal job.

c) Asian

Official Sites:

1.  AOCANA: 6 percent (151, 100)

2.  GOA: 2 percent (46, 33)

3.  OCA: 1 percent (30, 17)

4.  ACROD: * (15, 10)

5.  ROCOR: * (8, 5)

The Antiochians are doing a very good job of reaching American Asians. Everyone else needs to go to summer school to relearn the basics.

Personal Sites:

1.  Drezhlo: 4 percent (99, 100)

2.  Greene and Phillips: 1 percent (30, 25)

3.  Stokoe: * (10, 10)

If you want to find the Lucky Red Dragon, log onto my site. Everyone else needs help, especially Tail-end Charlie Stokoe.

d) Hispanic

Official Sites:

1.  AOCANA, GOA, and OCA: 3 percent (48, 100)

2.  ACROD: 2 percent (36, 75)

3.  ROCOR: 1 percent (24, 50)

No one is doing a particularly good job of reaching the Spanish-speaking.

Personal Sites:

1.  Phillips: 12 percent (192, 100)

2.  Drezhlo: 5 percent (80, 42)

3.  Greene: 3 percent (48, 25)

4.  Stokoe: * (10, 5)

Head on over to Batiushka Andrew’s for the Cinco de Mayo bash (He’s the one handing out the cold Bohemia brewskies from Mexico). I am doing a “fair” job. I should get out those Carlos Gardel CDs and brush up on my tango technique. Ms Greene needs to go back to the first form. Mr Stokoe, no soup for you!

e) Other (American Indian, Pacific Islander, Alaska Native)

Official Sites:

1.  ROCOR: 6 percent (458, 100)

2.  AOCANA and OCA: 3 percent (239, 52)

3.  GOA: 2 percent (211, 46)

4.  ACROD: * (52, 12)

“Other” in our terms usually means an Alaska native. All of the sites apparently seem to be doing well (with the exception of ACROD, which, to be honest, is not seeking out this particular demographic segment). However, the fact that the ROCOR is the champ in this category puts the lie to all the Chicken Littles on the Stokoe website (although, in fairness, Mr Stokoe himself has not made such a silly assertion) who claim that the Alaska natives are going Protestant. They are certainly looking about… but, I do daresay that they are looking further EAST than Canterbury or Wittenberg.

Personal Sites:

1.  Phillips: 25 percent (1702, 100)

2.  Greene: 4 percent (320, 16)

3.  Drezhlo: 2 percent (158, 8]

4.  Stokoe: * (14, 1)

Batiushka Andrew, you had best watch out for the Tlingit, Yupik, and Aleut elders tooling down the High Street in their 4X4 ATVs. They are going to kidnap you and make you the honoured guest of an impromptu potlatch (You’d best brush up on your native dances. Moses the Tlingit shall be glad to help you). We are all doing a good job of reaching the natives except for Mr Stokoe. Mark, unfortunately, the natives have abandoned your site.

F) Income Profile of the audience in percentages

a) Under 30,000 USD per year

Official Sites:

1.  ACROD: 58 percent (375, 100)

2.  ROCOR: 29 percent (186, 50)

3.  AOCANA: 22 percent (143, 38]

4.  GOA: 18 percent (120, 31)

5.  OCA:  17 percent (114, 29)

The higher this figure is, the higher the number of old age pensioners and/or students in the sample. The OCA is less “grey” than some left-wing commentators have stated. Interesting.

Personal Sites:

1.  Greene: 19 percent (127, 100)

2.  Drezhlo: 17 percent (112, 89)

3.  Stokoe: 15 percent (93, 80)

4.  Phillips: 4 percent (30, 21)

Ms Greene is somewhat over the norm in this category, Mr Stokoe and I are in the normal range, and Batiushka Andrew does not seem to connect with this group at all.

b) 30,000-60,000 USD per year

Official Sites:

1.   ROCOR: 48 percent (146, 100)

2.   OCA: 47 percent (143, 98]

3.   AOCANA: 38 percent (117, 80)

4.   GOA: 35 percent (106, 73)

5.   ACROD: 15 percent (48, 37)

There is a healthy amount of the middle class in all the groups except for the ACROD, which may indicate a larger pensioner cohort.

Personal Sites:

1.   Stokoe: 80 percent (242, 100)

2.   Greene: 44 percent (134, 55)

3.   Phillips: 42 percent (128, 53)

4.   Drezhlo: 32 percent (99, 40)

All of us are doing well in this cohort. I am spot-on average, whereas most of the others are over-represented in this category, especially Mr Stokoe. This is important as this group (and the lower rungs of the next) is the most conventional and hide-bound in its behaviour. It is also infected thoroughly with positivism (although the next cohort, the upper-middles, provides most of the “therapists” and other assorted voodoo-merchants of positivism and can be considered more infested with it).

c) 60,000-100,000 USD per year

Official Sites:

1.   AOCANA and GOA: 33 percent (105, 100)

2.   OCA: 28 percent (89, 85)

3.   ACROD: 24 percent (77, 73)

4.   ROCOR: 19 percent (63, 58]

This group combined with preceding one makes up two-thirds of the faithful, except for the ACROD, where it is less than half (skewed by a larger pensioner cohort).

Personal Sites:

1.   Phillips: 41 percent (130, 100)

2.   Greene: 32 percent (101, 78]

3.   Drezhlo: 30 percent (96, 73)

4.   Stokoe: 3 percent (12, 7)

Batiushka has quite a following in this bracket, and Ms Greene and I are doing a “good” job. Mark Stokoe gets the cardboard box. His performance is wretched.

d) Over 100,000 USD per year

Official Sites:

1.   GOA: 14 percent (69, 100)

2.   OCA: 8 percent (38, 57)

3.   AOCANA: 7 percent (34, 50)

4.   ROCOR: 4 percent (20, 29)

5.   ACROD: 2 percent (10, 14)

None of the above groups has an average number of people in this cohort. The urban legends concerning “rich Greeks” are just that, and most of the wealth of the Greeks is not in liquid assets, but, rather in fixed assets (such as business fixtures and real estate) that are not easily convertible into ready cash. However, the GOA does have a larger percentage of such folks than any other Orthodox group.

Personal Sites:

1.   Drezhlo: 20 percent (96, 100)

2.   Phillips: 13 percent (69, 65)

3.   Greene: 5 percent (25, 25)

4.   Stokoe: 2 percent (11, 10)

I do a “good” job of reaching this group, Fr Andrew is “fair”, Ms Greene is poor, and Mr Stokoe does a miserable job. The people in the lower and upper income brackets do not trust him… hmm… one wonders. I hasten to add to that Mr Stokoe is most probably quite a decent fellow. Unfortunately, he has hitched himself to a corpse, which is sad.

G) Age Profile of the audience in percentages

a) 18 to 24 years-old

Official Sites:

1.   AOCANA: 13 percent (80, 100)

2.   ROCOR: 11 percent (74, 85)

3.   GOA and OCA: 9 percent (56, 69)

4.   ACROD: 7 percent (46, 54)

None of these sites are doing a “good” job (index of 90 to 110). Is it because of a lack of younger people or is it a lack of skill in reaching same?

Personal Sites:

1.   Greene: 15 percent (96, 100)

2.   Drezhlo: 14 percent (90, 93)

3.   Phillips: 3 percent (19, 20)

4.   Stokoe: * (4, 4)

Ms Greene and I do a “good” job at reaching this cohort, whereas Batiushka Andrew does not do well, and Mr Stokoe fails to connect at all with this group.

b) 25 to 34 years-old

Official Sites:

1.   ROCOR: 21 percent (99, 100)

2.   GOA and OCA: 17 percent (85, 81)

3.   AOCANA: 14 percent (72, 67)

4.   ACROD: 6 percent (30, 29)

The ROCOR does a “good” job; the OCA and GOA do a “fair” effort, whilst the ACROD figure is probably the result of a skewed age curve, not bad policy.

Personal Sites:

1.   Stokoe: 22 percent (103, 100)

2.   Phillips: 20 percent (95, 91)

3.   Drezhlo: 14 percent (69, 64)

4.   Greene: 13 percent (61, 59)

Mr Stokoe and Batiushka Andrew do a “good” job in this cohort, whilst Ms Greene and I need improvement.

c) 35 to 44 years-old

Official Sites:

1.   AOCANA: 23 percent (111, 100)

2.   GOA: 18 percent (87, 78]

3.   OCA: 17 percent (85, 74)

4.   ROCOR: 15 percent (79, 65)

5.   ACROD: 12 percent (58, 52)

Most of these sites do a “fair” job in reaching this cohort. The note on the preceding group in the ACROD applies to this category as well.

Personal Sites:

1.   Greene: 27 percent (133, 100)

2.   Phillips: 23 percent (108, 85)

3.   Stokoe: 22 percent (103, 81)

4.   Drezhlo: 19 percent (93, 70)

We all do a “good” job at reaching this age segment.

d) 45 to 54 years-old

Official Sites:

1.   ACROD: 42 percent (196, 100)

2.   GOA: 23 percent (112, 55)

3.   AOCANA: 22 percent (105, 52)

4.   OCA: 19 percent (96, 45)

5.   ROCOR: 6 percent (32, 14)

This shows that the ACROD has a disproportionately large number of “baby-boomers” amongst its congregants. Is this group heading for an implosion? Wise policies could head off such a result. The next three groups are doing a “good” job with this cohort. The abysmal ROCOR data may be the result of something that Fr Alexander Lebedeff alluded to in one of his internet posts. He said that very few of the children of the old ROCOR cohort who had passed through his Sunday School were active communicants at present. In my opinion, this is the bitter fruit of the silly church war that existed from the 60s to the 90s and the insane policies of the Ustinovshchyna. The OCA figures are also lower than they should be, which shows the effect of the church war as well. Taken with the depressed numbers for the preceding cohort, this is a stark warning. Concentrate on Christ and His Church or pay the consequences. 

Personal Sites:

1.   Phillips: 26 percent (116, 100)

2.   Drezhlo: 21 percent (102, 81)

3.   Greene: 16 percent (82, 62)

4.   Stokoe: 11 percent (51, 42)

Batiushka Andrew and I are doing a “good” job; Ms Greene is “fair”, whilst Mr Stokoe is abysmal, yet again.

e) 55 to 64 years old

Official Sites:

1.   AOCANA: 18 percent (117, 100)

2.   OCA: 17 percent (111, 94)

3.   GOA: 16 percent (107, 89)

4.   ACROD: 9 percent (58, 50)

5.   ROCOR: 8 percent (57, 44)

The top three are fairly normal, but, there may be differing reasons for the ROCOR and ACROD results. The ROCOR figure is the result of self-inflicted wounds, whereas the ACROD number may reflect the fact that the post-World War II cohort did not marry and have children until the men finished college in the late 40s and early 50s.

Personal Sites:

1.   Greene: 19 percent (124, 100)

2.   Drezhlo: 17 percent (111, 89)

3.   Phillips: 15 percent (92, 79)

4.   Stokoe: 4 percent (27, 21)

Most of us do a “good” job of reaching this cohort except for Mr Stokoe, who does an abysmal job.

f) Over 65 years-old

Official Sites:

1.   ROCOR: 38 percent (351, 100)

2.   ACROD: 23 percent (190, 61)

3.   OCA: 19 percent (172, 50)

4.   AOCANA: 18 percent (158, 47)

5.   GOA: 15 percent (136, 39)

The ROCOR figures are abysmal. This is due to the losses from the preceding two age cohorts in the last 40 years. If it had not been for the fortuitous arrival of the New Russians, the ROCOR would have imploded in the early 2000s. Thankfully, the New Russians are holding on to their children, for there is no longer any silly church war or the insanity of the Ustinovshchyna. I believe that the ROCOR has learned from its past errors, and that they shall NOT repeat them. All other groups are overrepresented in this category, as well.

Personal Sites:

1.   Stokoe: 40 percent (337, 100)

2.   Drezhlo: 17 percent (153, 43)

3.   Phillips: 12 percent (101, 30)

4.   Greene: 9 percent (83, 23)

We all do a “good” job of reaching this cohort. In fact, my high figure for this group may be that the Orthodox Forum has linked to some of my posts, and that group is probably as “grey” as the Stokoe lot (I would say there is a considerable overlap between the Stokoe site and the Orthodox Forum). The data for the Stokoe site is troubling. It means that he is connecting primarily with those who had a living connection with Alexander Schmemann, and that this segment shares his “silly 60s” notions. NOT a good sign.

H) Percentage of the audience with children 6-17 years-old in the household

Official Sites:

1.   AOCANA: 35 percent (107, 100)

2.   GOA: 29 percent (71, 83)

3.   OCA: 24 percent (75, 69)

4.   ROCOR: 22 percent (69, 63)

5.   ACROD: 15 percent (46, 43)

The ACROD figures are troubling. It may not be keeping births at replacement level. The AOCANA is healthy; the other three have work to do.

Personal Sites:

1.   Drezhlo: 28 percent (88, 100)

2.   Phillips: 26 percent (80, 93)

3.   Greene: 21 percent (66, 75)

4.   Stokoe: 2 percent (6, 7)

OUCH! Mr Stokoe stumbles badly here. He cannot connect with parents at all. I am doing a “good” job, Batiushka Andrew is “fair”, and Ms Greene does very poorly, considering her “family” focus.

I am not giving raw figures except for one instance. That is in the case of racial composition in the “Other” category. This can give a picture of who is reading what in the volatile Alaska Church crisis. That is a RATHER valuable piece of information, nicht wahr?

I) Other (American Indian, Pacific Islander, Alaska Native) in raw figures

Official Sites:

1.   GOA: 1,204 (100)

2.   OCA: 722 (60)

3.   AOCANA: 508 (42)

4.   ROCOR: 401 (33)

5.   ACROD: 36 (3)

Not all of the above are Alaska natives, but, it is a good guess that most of them are. It is noteworthy that the OCA, which has jurisdiction over virtually all parishes in that state, does not do better. The natives appear to be looking at all the options. Antioch, in the end, shall not be an option, because of its modernism, positivism, and its thorough infestation with Protestantism. The Greeks shall fail too, because of their well-known corruption, greater than that of the moribund OCA. Note well the ROCOR figures. The ROCOR has no parish in the state at present. It is also the only jurisdiction of the top four to be on the traditional church calendar. Also, its inner church life is the closest to that found in Alaska. Shall the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska go ROCOR? If I were to bet…

Personal Sites:

1.         Phillips: 1,278 (100)

2.         Drezhlo: 120 (9)

3.         Greene: 118 (9)

4.         Stokoe: 9 (0.7)

Imagine yourself in the old Garden at the fights… (In that special sing-song voice of the ring announcer): “Da winnah, and still champeen, by an unchallenged knock-out, in the white, blue, and red trunks, FATHER ANDREW, from Felixstowe England”. (Batiushka Andrew raises both gloved hands in “da winnah” gesture)

Batiushka Andrew not only rolls over all of us, he also decks all the official websites handily. As far as the natives are concerned, he is GODZILLA. This Godzilla is not stomping on Tokyo; he is flattening Syosset and Englewood Cliffs into the bargain as well. Father Andrew! You’d best check the hedges. Moses the Tlingit and his associates may be waiting to make you the next honorary chief of their tribe.

Mark Stokoe is abysmal. The native have abandoned his site. I must say that my native Alaskan readers are the ones I cherish the most. My heart goes out to you, and you are always in my prayers.

J) Conclusions to be drawn from the raw data

Official Sites:

1. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese

Firstly, the Greeks are not as affluent as most believe. They do have a higher proportion of such people than any other Orthodox group, but, it is lower than the national average. Also, as I pointed out earlier, much of this wealth is tied up in fixed assets, and the liquidity level is low. In fact, in all other income brackets, the GOA is somewhat above average, so, the urban legends of Greek wealth are false. It appears to have fairly normal age, education, and racial curves. This is a solid and substantial body, marred only by corruption in its highest reaches and the notional policies of the EP (which mainly do not affect local parish life).

2. Orthodox Church in America

This body is so troubled that it may no longer be in existence next year. Its educational and racial curves appear to be in the normal range. In income, it can be typified as a middle-class body, for the largest cohort is in the 30-60K USD range. In terms of the highest income bracket, its proportion here is about 50 percent of the GOA figure.

It has more old age pensioners than it ought, and there is a hole in the demographics in the 25-44 years-old cohort that is probably the result of the church tensions brought on by Schmemann’s “silly 60s” policies of the 70s and 80s. This group is the Orthodox body most in thrall to positivism and all of its works because of its social composition. It has a touching faith in psychologists that is greater than its faith in Christ and Church tradition.

3. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

Some think this body to be “the Great White Hope” of Orthodoxy in America. Nothing could be further from the truth. Statistically, it is an average body. The racial and educational curves are normal, and 71 percent of the sample falls in the 30-100K income range. The part of the sample in the 35-54 years-old range is larger than average, which is sign of probably both immigrants and adult converts.

This group has more “convert” parishes than most, which is troubling. Most of the convert priests were ordained without sufficient time in Orthodoxy (ten years would be best, and five years is a bare minimum), therefore, this body is infested with Protestantism, modernism, and positivism. It is indistinguishable from a conservative Evangelical Protestant body except for its Orthodox ritual. This is the least “Orthodox” of the bodies studied, and it becomes less so with each year. It is a heterogeneous construct held together only by the political skills and ambitions of Philip Saliba. This combination may not survive his demise.

4. Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

This is a body that has rebuilt itself over the last 15 years, and the statistics reflect this. If it had not been for the influx of New Russians after the fall of the USSR, this group would have imploded in the 2000s. It reached its nadir in the years of the Ustinovshchyna, and was revitalised by the election of Laurus Skurla as its Primate.

The ROCOR has the highest percentage of post-graduate degree holders in its ranks, probably due to two factors. The émigré cohort was drawn from the middle classes and above, and the current group of New Russians tends to be professionals. In income, the ROCOR tends to be concentrated in the brackets up to 60K per year. This is a combination of old age pensioners amongst the DP cohort and New Russians being at relatively low rungs of their professions due to their short time in this country. The ROCOR has an interesting age curve. The largest segments are in the 25-34 years-old and over 65 years-old categories. This illustrates the age disparity between the DPs and the New Russians. This is also a result of the losses of the children of the DPs who were driven out by the extreme policies of Count Grabbe and Vitaly Ustinov. The ROCOR has the highest proportion of Alaskan natives amongst the readers of its website, which may indicate the future home of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska.

With its reconciliation with Moscow last year, this is the healthiest church body in the US at present. It has overcome most of its internal problems and it may receive most of the healthy elements of the OCA after that body implodes. To my mind, there shall only be three major Orthodox bodies left after the demise of the OCA (of course, the smaller bodies shall still exist). The GOA shall represent “Greek Orthodoxy” and the ROCOR shall be the standard-bearer of “Russian Orthodoxy”, both legitimate traditions in the Church. Both shall get on well with one another. The AOCANA is on course for departure from the Church tradition. It is already thoroughly Protestantised, and the chances of it doing something dodgy such as ordaining a married bishop are high. It shall ensconce American phyletism as its driving ethos, and its resemblance to ordinary Orthodoxy shall be slight.

5. American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese

I have a special place in my heart for these people. They are a solid, well-grounded, and good-sense lot with no pretensions. Bishop Nicholas does not put on airs, and he has no grandiose illusions à la Herman Swaiko or Philip Saliba. I believe that this group shall survive its coming demographic problems. They shall simply close unthrifty parishes, and that shall be that.

The large number of old age pensioners is illustrated by the fact that over half of the sample is in the under 30K income bracket. The fact that there is a large number in the 60-100K bracket indicates that many of this group’s parishioners are older, and are nearing the end of their careers. It is the “whitest” of all the official groups, and it has a high level of education, with over two-thirds of its people with college degrees. The relative paucity in the younger cohorts indicates that this group may be only 50 to 60 percent of its present size in a generation. However, this group is noted for its pragmatism, and it shall not become a crisis. They shall simply close dead parishes, and that shall be the end of it. Shall they join a larger “Russian Orthodox Church in the Americas”? Only time shall show us, and if they do, it shall be for solid and good-sense reasons. Again, this is one of my favourite groups of people. I wish them well.

Personal Sites:

1. Orthodox England, Fr Andrew Phillips

Here is the pick of the litter. I DO believe Fr Andrew’s figures that show that this data only reflects his US readership, which is only some 30 percent of the total, but, I could not put it into the tables because of a lack of outside corroboration. I have the same standards for everyone, Batiushka! It is interesting to note the depth of this audience, which is larger than that of the dodgy AOCANA. For a personal website, this is an achievement. The theology is solid and clear, and there is no trace of modernism. I would recommend this site to anyone. Read it now!

Fr Andrew has a diverse following, with an especially heavy cohort coming from Alaska natives. His readers tend to be college-educated or above, with the highest concentrations in the 25 to 64 year-old brackets. In income, his readers tend to 30-100K bracket, but, he does better in the 100K+ category than all official sites except for the GOA, and better than all personal sites except for mine.  Fr Andrew is reaching the people that the official sites and the Stokoe site wish to reach, but, often do not. The premier Orthodox commentator on the web, I say.

2. Voices from Russia, Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

I am loath to state much concerning my own site, except to say that my intent is to provide a well-rounded view of Russia: its culture, its religion, its sport, and its society. I appear to be succeeding.

In education level, I do a “good” job of reaching those with college, an excellent job of reaching those with grad school, and I hold my own with the non-college educated. In income, I appeal equally to all brackets, and score the highest of all personal sites in the study in reaching the 100K+ cohort. Equally, I do a “good” job in all age brackets, with the exception of the 25-34 year-old cohort. Sometime back, Hank Leaf made a nasty comment concerning me on the Orthodox Forum. Eat those words, Hank. Do you want fries with that order of crow supreme, sir?

3. Frederica, Frederica Matthewes-Greene

Ms Greene considers herself an authoritative spokesman for Orthodoxy. Instead, she is a living example of all that is wrong with the AOCANA. Firstly, note the relative unpopularity of her site, it is at the bottom of the heap of this study in both gross and adjusted uniques. She was fastened upon by Philip Saliba because she works for NPR (National Public Radio), and shares all of its reliably secularist liberal opinions. In one of her books, she states that one of her mentors in the faith was a Uniate. A UNIATE. That is, someone outside the Church and foreign to it. She is the typical ignorant Anglo-Saxon convert spouting off on Orthodoxy before learning the ABCs of the Faith.

If I were to call her anything, it is a barely-converted Anglican with only vestigial traces of Orthodoxy. I should note that Professor Vigen Guroian, the noted Armenian theologian and scholar, has issued a similar condemnation of Ms Greene. Her site and books are not recommended, as they are nothing but evangelical Anglicanism with a few Orthodox terms tossed into the pot.

The education level of her readers is skewed, being “good” amongst the college-educated, and excellent amongst those with a graduate degree, and poor in the non-college crowd, which appears normal for the left-of-centre crowd. She appeals well in all income brackets, save the highest, where she is poor. The racial curve I find fairly normal. She appeals well to all age groups, except for the 25 to 34 year-old cohort, which is a weakness my site shares as well.

4. Orthodox Christians for Accountability, Mark Stokoe

Mr Stokoe is a former Syosset insider, which is the main Achilles heel of his site. He refuses to see anything other than a continuation of the present status quo, and many of his contributors are autocephalist true-believers. To give two examples, one could name Fr Vladimir Berzonsky and Fr Theodore Bobosh. They are contemptuous of any view other than one worshipful of Alexander Schmemann and his fancies, and both are dupes who refuse to see the fact that the “autocephaly” of the so-called OCA was a temporary dodge of the MP in its struggle to survive in communist times. This unreality has driven many away from this site.

A full 40 percent of Mr Stokoe’s readership is pensioners, and 63 percent have graduate degrees. In short, it is a much skewed sample. In fact, his is the “whitest” of all the sites in the study, and his Alaska Native readership is only 9 individuals, not even 1 percent!

Why is Mr Stokoe doing such a poor job? Firstly, it is obvious to many that his website and the actions around it were a “palace coup” gone badly. I believe that he and Eric Wheeler saw the rot in the OCA, and wished to act before Herman Swaiko killed the organisation. In short, they were not doing so to line their own pockets, they were trying to stop the disease that was ripping the OCA apart. Instead, they ended up “riding the tiger”.

After some 32 months, the crisis has only deepened, and the recent 6-million USD suit against the OCA in Maryland may signal the beginning of the end. One of the things that came out is that an OCA priest talked openly of what he heard in confession and counselling to smear a laywoman, and he was not disciplined by Syosset when it became known. Mr Stokoe did not condemn this action when he posted about it. That, I think, is the main fault in his site, and it is the reason why many do not trust him. As Fr Vsevolod Chaplin said recently, “truth is truth, and sin is sin”. Indeed. Mr Stokoe should emblazon this on his heart.

CONCLUSION

Firstly, let us all let out a long sigh of relief! Studies such as this are useful and valuable, but… OOO-WEE! They take such time, don’t they?

This gives an accurate picture, to the best extent that the data available can, of a good part of Orthodoxy. Let’s stop lying to one anther and let’s walk honestly in the light. God shall bless us for it.

Vara Drezhlo     

Tuesday 6 May 2008      

Good Friday… the Most Solemn Day of the Year

Golgotha (The Crucifixion of Christ) (Ilya Repin, 1869)

Today, we commemorate the execution on trumped-up charges of Our Lord Christ. Yes, the resurrectional joy of Easter is three days away. However, strive to understand that it was not a “positive” or painless path. Reflect on the fact that Caiphas and the temple priesthood conspired to ensure that Our Lord died, for He was against simony, priestcraft, and careerist clergy… unfortunately, things haven’t changed that much, have they? 

Keep the suffering Church of Alaska in your prayers. There has been no real succor delivered to them, and they are still walking the Way of the Cross. How long, O good Lord, must these lovely people suffer at the hands of Syosset? Pray for them as you contemplate the cross tonight. They are true innocents.

Vara Drezhlo

Orthodox Good Friday

25 April 2008 

Lord, How Long Must Alaska Suffer?

Recently, a decision was handed down by the OCA Holy Synod on the topic of the current crisis in the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska. What did they say?

Beginning of quotation:

The Synod of Bishops, meeting in Syosset today, persuaded Bishop Nikolai of Alaska to agree to a voluntary “Leave of Absence”. The decision follows an investigative tour of the Diocese, conducted last week, by Archbishop Nathaniel and Bishop Tikhon at the request of the Synod during its last meeting two weeks ago. In announcing their decision the Bishops stated:

His Grace, Nikolai, Bishop of Sitka, Anchorage, and Alaska, after having heard the report of His Eminence, Archbishop Nathaniel, and His Grace, Bishop Tikhon; and after the deliberations of the Holy Synod of Bishops, has agreed to take a voluntary leave-of-absence, to be reviewed at the May 2008 Session of the Holy Synod of Bishops.

His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman takes the responsibility of Administrator of the Diocese of Alaska, effective April 17, 2008.

His Grace, Bishop Benjamin is named to assist Metropolitan Herman in the administration of the Diocese of Alaska.

The Bishop is, in effect, being given a month to clean up his affairs and depart from the Diocese. During that time, he will have no authority in the Diocese, as the Metropolitan has assumed all administrative duties. The Bishop is then expected to continue on his “leave of absence” indefinitely, as any return would have to be agreed upon with the concurrence of the full Synod. The decision to voluntarily resolve the controversy in this manner avoids a potentially embarrassing and costly process required to depose a diocesan Bishop, while nonetheless removing Nikolai from all active involvement in Church affairs.

17 April 2008

Orthodox Christians for Accountability

http://www.ocanews.org/news/NikolaiToLeave4.17.08.html (in English)

The above is a triumph of Orwellian Newspeak; it is a skilful use of “weasel words”. However, before I comment on it, I would like to introduce some interesting statements I saw in the comments section of this website.

Beginning of quotation:

It will be interesting in the next few days to see how many of the named and anonymous bishop-bashers of the last few weeks will take the time and acquire the humility to post here with apologies for rushing to negative judgments about Abp Nathaniel and Bishops Tikhon and Benjamin. And how few “pile on” the sad Bishop Nikolai.

Love,

Fr George Washburn

18 April 2008

Oh, Please… these guys wrung their hands and did NOTHING for 6 years while real spiritual damage was done to countless Orthodox Alaskans, we owe them nothing… let’s continue de-colonising the Church in Alaska! People like you are too much. 

Moses the Tlingit

18 April 2008

Orthodox Christians for Accountability

http://www.ocanews.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/238-+Nikolai-To-Leave.html#comments (in English)

Our lovely native faithful and clergy in Alaska. Heed THEIR voices!

In all fairness, Rev Washburn was forced to retract some of his fiery rhetoric in a later post. Nevertheless, it was not a total volte-face; rather, it was a wordy, squirming, and reluctant “clarification”. However, one must note that Fr George is not a cleric of the OCA with any specific expertise in Alaska; he is a cleric of the AOCANA with roots in the dodgy Evangelical-cum-Old Catholic vagante sect of Peter Gillquist received by Philip Saliba some 20 years ago. In short, not a voice with substantial experience or knowledge of the topic involved. In addition, he lacks a proper and formal Orthodox formation in the clergy.

There are too many lacunae in the decision handed down by Herman Swaiko last week for anyone to celebrate anything. For one, there is a declaration that the parishes are to continue commemorating Nikolai as their bishop in all liturgical invocations. Secondly, Benjamin Peterson is known to have close and friendly ties with Nikolai due to their common service in Las Vegas. Thirdly, there is no word on whether Fr Michael Oleksa is to be seated as the Alaska clergy delegate to the Metropolitan Council as per the overwhelming decision of the Alaska clergy (I stand under correction in this).

Let me give you another voice from Alaska.

Beginning of quotation:

This sad saga of cunning and deceit is not yet over! Please don’t be too quick to rejoice over something not yet done. Read the carefully worded statements, read it remembering what has transpired over the last few months of recanting, reinstating, retribution etc… No… this is not a done deal… the roots of this tree are deep and very firmly rooted, and like all deeply rooted trees the roots are out of sight, to see them requires digging! I fear for future…

The Evil One does not just give (up) and turn tail and run away! (My personal belief)

Ted Panamarioff

Kodiak Alaska

19 April 2008

Orthodox Christians for Accountability

http://www.ocanews.org/serendipity/index.php?/archives/238-+Nikolai-To-Leave.html#comments (in English)

I do not know Mr Panamarioff, so, I asked friends of mine who had been in Alaska if they had heard of him. He is a Russian Orthodox layman of long-standing and good repute according to my sources. That is to say, a voice well-worth hearing and heeding (the same goes for “Moses the Tlingit” as well, as he sounds like one of the native elders).

The decision by the OCA Holy Synod may turn out to be a fiasco. The Alaska clergy and faithful were asking Syosset to name an experienced and reputable local figure (such as Fr Michael Oleksa, for instance) as temporary administrator of their diocese. Their wishes were ignored, yet again. Herman Swaiko named himself the administrator, and Benjamin Peterson is only to be his major-domo and satrap. This is a recipe for disaster from the point of preserving the OCA, for Herman is even more unpopular than Nikolai, and the Alaska faithful may very well conclude that they have been “had” once too often.

When the native elders speak, you’d best listen!

As I have stated before, more than once, the key to this state of affairs is the attitude of the Alaska native elders and clergy. If the OCA wishes to retrieve this situation, it should do the following. Firstly, the Holy Synod of the OCA should apologise to the native elders and clergy for allowing this circumstance to reach crisis proportions. Secondly, it should ask the opinion of the elders and clergy as to their views on their choice for a temporary administrator of the diocese. Thirdly, it should ask the elders and clergy to state their preferences in the naming of a new diocesan ordinary. Lastly, Syosset would formally abjure all legal rights to the property in Alaska and turn it over to a native Orthodox corporation for the wellbeing and support of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Alaska. This would lance the abscess; it would allow the wounds to heal.

What are the chances of the above happening? Slim to nil, unfortunately. I fear that events are going to overtake the OCA Holy Synod yet again, and I think that I can state with some certainty that there is little confidence amongst the native faithful, elders, and clergy in any decision emanating from Syosset.

We are in for “interesting times”, and if you think that there has been a Jabberwockian situation unfolding before our eyes, just wait until the native elders speak. May God guide the native elders in their deliberations, and may He lead them home safely. We are with you.

Vara Drezhlo

Sunday 20 April 2008