"Americans, for the most part, have very little knowledge about Orthodox Christianity. For those who are familiar with the historical faith, most associate it with Greek or Russian culture. "
Fill in whichever "understatement of the year" cliche you think works best.
"Among members in the second largest Orthodox Church in the country – Orthodox Church in America (OCA) – only 22 percent of parishioners said their parish has a strong ethnic heritage that they are trying to preserve; 37 percent said that was "somewhat true;" and 41 percent said that was "not true."
Members of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) – the largest Orthodox Church in the nation – remain more aligned with their heritage with 59 percent saying they are trying to preserve their strong ethnic heritage and 10 percent indicating that they are not.
Still, the study highlights that nine out of ten parishioners in the two largest Orthodox Christian Churches in the country are American-born.
American-born Orthodox Christians are not only composed of those of younger generations whose grandparents or great grandparents immigrated, but a significant portion contributing to the statistic are converts from other Christian faiths.
According to the study, more than half of OCA clergy and laity converted from Protestant or Roman Catholic churches. In GOA churches, 29 percent of lay persons are converts to Orthodox Christianity and 12 percent of clergy are converts. "
I have reason to be pessimistic and also hopeful. First the bad news: according to one of the podcasts on Ancient Faith Radio, Orthodox Church membership has increased, but so has the population of the US. That means that, really, raw church membership has gone up, but only about keeping up with the birth rate. I'd like to be disproven on this fact.
The good news is, with the decline of the Episcopalians and mainline protestantism, there are many hungry Ancient Faith minded people looking for a home. If we did a better job of making ourselves known, why couldn't they find a home in Orthodoxy (heck, why don't they even find a home in an Oriental Orthodox Church??)
