March 30th Letter on ICON
Re: Why we lost younger generations from our church
"Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick; and it giveth light unto ALL that are in the house." -
Mathew 5:15
Sunil Kurian's post cuts to the point, i.e., "eventually succeed in
reaching them with the true treasure of the Church, which is all that
really matters: the meaningful nature of a transcendent faith."
In the United States, we have incredibly successful Family
Conferences, MGOCSM, parish-level Christmas and Easter celebrations
... it's truly amazing to step back and reflect on all the obstacles
our parents, Priests and Bishops had to overcome in every city/region
to get to where we are in 2008. The Church is not dying or decaying,
but rather there is growth, happiness and love. There are so many who
know and understand the Faith and the beauty of our Church.
But, there continues to be a group of people who are indeed locked out
from drawing closer to Christ through the Indian Orthodox Church.
Most parishes have members in one of the following categories
- Spouses who are not Orthodox and/or Indian
- Children who's parents are (intentionally or unintentionally) not
good Christian role-models
- Parishioners who have been unjustly hurt by other Church and at
times Committee members
- Members who don't read or speak Malayalam
- Members who are in need of counseling, but are ashamed to ask for help
Many may look at the above categories of people, and laugh out loud -
why should the Indian Orthodox Church concern itself with such a group
of sinners, fools, weak and invisible people? How can the Indian
Orthodox Church benefit from catering to the needs of such people?
This is the continuous struggle and is not a young/old or language
issue. Sadly, we as a Church just don't seem to have due priority
given and many are forced elsewhere or remain apathetic as there is no
hope.
In another post, Sunil from Milwaukee points to the potential our
Church has to embrace everyone, and the handful of Mission Churches in
America are also evidence that the Church can truly fulfill the
calling to be the body of Christ in this world. It's quite difficult
to find any other church with our resource and potential, and yet we
continue to wrongly ignore our calling by repeating over and over that
"change will be slow".
May we use the 40th day of the demise of HG Mar Makarios, as well as
the 1st death anniversary of Mundukuzhy Achen to remind us of our calling as
Christians and continue to pray for Him to give all of us both courage and
wisdom.
Joe Varghese
St. Gregorios/Oak Park
"Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a
candlestick; and it giveth light unto ALL that are in the house." -
Mathew 5:15
Sunil Kurian's post cuts to the point, i.e., "eventually succeed in
reaching them with the true treasure of the Church, which is all that
really matters: the meaningful nature of a transcendent faith."
In the United States, we have incredibly successful Family
Conferences, MGOCSM, parish-level Christmas and Easter celebrations
... it's truly amazing to step back and reflect on all the obstacles
our parents, Priests and Bishops had to overcome in every city/region
to get to where we are in 2008. The Church is not dying or decaying,
but rather there is growth, happiness and love. There are so many who
know and understand the Faith and the beauty of our Church.
But, there continues to be a group of people who are indeed locked out
from drawing closer to Christ through the Indian Orthodox Church.
Most parishes have members in one of the following categories
- Spouses who are not Orthodox and/or Indian
- Children who's parents are (intentionally or unintentionally) not
good Christian role-models
- Parishioners who have been unjustly hurt by other Church and at
times Committee members
- Members who don't read or speak Malayalam
- Members who are in need of counseling, but are ashamed to ask for help
Many may look at the above categories of people, and laugh out loud -
why should the Indian Orthodox Church concern itself with such a group
of sinners, fools, weak and invisible people? How can the Indian
Orthodox Church benefit from catering to the needs of such people?
This is the continuous struggle and is not a young/old or language
issue. Sadly, we as a Church just don't seem to have due priority
given and many are forced elsewhere or remain apathetic as there is no
hope.
In another post, Sunil from Milwaukee points to the potential our
Church has to embrace everyone, and the handful of Mission Churches in
America are also evidence that the Church can truly fulfill the
calling to be the body of Christ in this world. It's quite difficult
to find any other church with our resource and potential, and yet we
continue to wrongly ignore our calling by repeating over and over that
"change will be slow".
May we use the 40th day of the demise of HG Mar Makarios, as well as
the 1st death anniversary of Mundukuzhy Achen to remind us of our calling as
Christians and continue to pray for Him to give all of us both courage and
wisdom.
Joe Varghese
St. Gregorios/Oak Park
Comments
Shouldn't jurisdictions stop and think one united Orthodox Church in America. ? Your thoughts?
However, what we have today is where the fellowship seems to be higher importance than Christ and truly understanding what it means to be a Christian.
With all that said .. one United Orthodox Church in America would be truly wonderful. There was only one Christ, and that would be one step closer to His request to all of us to be united in Him.
Desert Wisdom In The City
Posted Saturday, March 29, 2008