What is this "Orthodox church" with no modifiers to describe it?

[TARRAT]

In a neighboring community there is a church that professes to be an “Orthodox Church”. It does not have any modifiers such as Russian, Greek, or Serbian.

I was curious if anybody here knows anything about. Could they give some background?

 

[1ke]

How should we know? You should ask them.

Anyone can put up a sign claiming to be just about anything, and make up whatever name for their church suits their fancy.

So, this could be an actual Orthodox Church, or it could be something else entirely. Without more information, we are unable to help you in any way. Local inquiry is your best option.

 

[TARRAT]

Boy! I hope you didn’t intend to be as mean as your reply seemed. I guess that is the problem with written text.

I did a little looking around on the site but I was wondering if anybody could flesh it out with personal knowledge.

Here is the link to the churches site:
oca.org/parishes/OCA-WP-STUHXC

 

[landon13]

Boy! I hope you didn’t intend to be as mean as your reply seemed. I guess that is the problem with written text.

I did a little looking around on the site but I was wondering if anybody could flesh it out with personal knowledge.

Here is the link to the churches site:
oca.org/parishes/OCA-WP-STUHXC

That is just an Orthodox Church. You know, the Orthodox Church that split from the Catholic Church in 1054? That one. It’s not one of the random uprising churches that claims to be orthodox but the traditional and nearly Catholic, Orthodox Church.

Blessings!

 

[1ke]

Boy! I hope you didn’t intend to be as mean as your reply seemed. I guess that is the problem with written text

Yes, perhaps so, written text can be ambiguous. I meant only that we had no name, no location, no nothing. It is impossible to help with no info.

I did a little looking around on the site but I was wondering if anybody could flesh it out with personal knowledge.

Here is the link to the churches site:
oca.org/parishes/OCA-WP-STUHXC

Yes, the are an Orthodox Church.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

Most of the Orthodox Churches are ethnic and national. The Orthodox Church in America was originally Russian Orthodox but became separated from Moscow as a result of the Soviet revolution. The OCA is autocephalous, self-governing, their independent status recognized by the Patriarch of Moscow, but not by many other Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Many of the Eastern Orthodox in America have integrated and lost their strong ethnic ties to their homelands. I believe that the OCA hopes to present a less ethnic, more Anglo-American version of Eastern Orthodoxy.

 

[TARRAT]

That is just an Orthodox Church. You know, the Orthodox Church that split from the Catholic Church in 1054? That one. It’s not one of the random uprising churches that claims to be orthodox but the traditional and nearly Catholic, Orthodox Church.

Blessings!

You mention the year 1054 but in my stumbling through the website somewhere it claims to have begun in the 1700s.

Thought maybe somebody here was affiliated with it, would have more specifics.

In other posts here I get the impression that they are a “Generic” Orthodox community.

 

[Nine_Two]

You mention the year 1054 but in my stumbling through the website somewhere it claims to have begun in the 1700s.

Thought maybe somebody here was affiliated with it, would have more specifics.

In other posts here I get the impression that they are a “Generic” Orthodox community.

The OCA is the second largest Orthodox Church in North America, and part of the Orthodox communion.

The OCA itself traces its heritage back to the Russian mission in Alaska which began in the 1700s, which might be where you got that date from. The Orthodox Communion itself claims to be the Original Church, while the OCA would date itself to 1970, when Moscow granted it formal Autocephalous status.

 

[andrewstx]

Most of the Orthodox Churches are ethnic and national. The Orthodox Church in America was originally Russian Orthodox but became separated from Moscow as a result of the Soviet revolution. The OCA is autocephalous, self-governing, their independent status recognized by the Patriarch of Moscow, but not by many other Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Many of the Eastern Orthodox in America have integrated and lost their strong ethnic ties to their homelands. << I believe that the OCA hopes to present a less ethnic, more Anglo-American version of Eastern Orthodoxy.>>

The point I surrounded in brackets says it all. Orthodoxy is a religion and not a nationality. Two orthodox churches in the US are trying to transcend ethnicity perhaps a bit more then others and those are the Orthodox Church in America and the Antiochian Archdiocese. Both are filled with non ethnic converts.

The former bishop of Dallas and the South began life as a Southern Baptist. The Antiochian Archpriest who serves Liturgy here began as an Episcopalian.

It is against canon law for two bishops to have churches in the same city and we are trying very hard to overcome this situation

 

[chimo]

In a neighboring community there is a church that professes to be an “Orthodox Church”. It does not have any modifiers such as Russian, Greek, or Serbian.

I was curious if anybody here knows anything about. Could they give some background?

Perhaps it is the OCA which is a very large Eastern Orthodox body that is here in Canada and the United States. As yet the Orthodox Church in Canada and the United States have not officially become united under one body. It is coming but since there is so many jurisdictions of Orthodox Churches here it will take time for them to come into one great body. The Orthodox Church of America is one of those many jurisdictions and it is probably the one you had seen. They of all the Orthodox present in Canada and the United States would use more of the English language so that any outsider will come to know what is going on if they are also English speaking and they attend to their Divine Liturgy services.

 

[EIF5A]

Most of the Orthodox Churches are ethnic and national. The Orthodox Church in America was originally Russian Orthodox but became separated from Moscow as a result of the Soviet revolution. **The OCA is autocephalous, self-governing, their independent status recognized by the Patriarch of Moscow, but not by many other Eastern Orthodox Churches. **

Many of the Eastern Orthodox in America have integrated and lost their strong ethnic ties to their homelands. I believe that the OCA hopes to present a less ethnic, more Anglo-American version of Eastern Orthodoxy.

[emphasis added]

So how does that work exactly…what are they recognized as instead?

 

[andrewstx]

Where I live there is a St Athanasius “Orthodox” church. But they in reality are not Orthodox at all. They are charismatics with icons in communion with no one at all.

They have a “praise band”. Real Orthodox sing with no instruments. They have their very own ‘bishop’ who ordained himself.

That bishop does liturgy in cowboy boots and on his head an ten-gallon “mitre”.

 

[chimo]

[emphasis added]

So how does that work exactly…what are they recognized as instead?

The Orthodox Church has rules to follow as it is the same in the Catholic Church so when these rules are not yet processed and followed through, certain recognitions cannot occur until these regulations are met and followed through as in any due process. The point with the OCA is only a technical one yet it needs to be followed through eventually so that “on the books” it will be accepted by all the other Orthodox Churches. It is only a technicality we are talking about here. The OCA is just as Orthodox as the other Churches are but because of certain problems for instance the communists taking over Russia this had presented many problems to Churches who were outside Russia but were under the Russian Orthodox influence. In due time these technicalities will be ironed out.

 

[Nine_Two]

[emphasis added]

So how does that work exactly…what are they recognized as instead?

Those who don’t recognize them as autocephalous recognize them as an autonomous branch of the Moscow Patriarchate.

 

[Nine_Two]

They have a “praise band”. Real Orthodox sing with no instruments.

Just a quick correction. I believe the Western Rite uses instruments in worship.

The praise brand, however is completely foreign.

 

[Peter_J]

The Orthodox Church has rules to follow as it is the same in the Catholic Church so when these rules are not yet processed and followed through, certain recognitions cannot occur until these regulations are met and followed through as in any due process. The point with the OCA is only a technical one yet it needs to be followed through eventually so that “on the books” it will be accepted by all the other Orthodox Churches. It is only a technicality we are talking about here. The OCA is just as Orthodox as the other Churches are but because of certain problems for instance the communists taking over Russia this had presented many problems to Churches who were outside Russia but were under the Russian Orthodox influence. In due time these technicalities will be ironed out.

Well said.

We Catholics have our own issues that we hoped will be ironed out, e.g. the fact that some regard the Ukrainian Catholic Church as a patriarchate and some regard it as a major-archepiscopal church.