Q: You were a college student at the University of California when you converted. What drew you to the relatively exotic tradition of Orthodoxy?
A: I encountered Orthodoxy in a hippie bookstore, picking up a book called the
Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky. It was one of the few books on Orthodoxy available in English at the time. When I read it, I knew it was the truth. I saw that Orthodoxy is the fully integrated experience and vision of what Christianity is all about.
Q: Orthodoxy in the U.S. can sometimes seem puzzling, with so many different churches, often tied to specific national or ethnic groups. Is that likely to change?
A: Historically, there was one Orthodox Church in the Americas, organized by the Russians, of which the OCA is the direct descendant. After the Russian Revolution, that church broke apart because of the demands of the new immigrant communities and because funding from Russia ceased. So the great task right now, in the broader Orthodox context, is to bring together all of these groups and unify them into a single administrative structure.
Q: The night before you were elected metropolitan, you gave a talk that was very critical of prior OCA administrations, but you also called for forgiveness. How do you see your role now as the successor to those administrations?
A: What happened with previous administrations is that people’s hopes were broken. Their trust was betrayed. The hierarchy of the church is a kind of iconic role. The priest and especially the bishops are called to a much higher level of accountability for their lives on all levels, because the hierarchy in particular is called to manifest the presence of Christ in the midst of the people. When we fall short, which is often and usually, in a sense the icon becomes broken. People see through the icon to the very broken and
sinful men that we are.
