What is happening? Why are these Evangelicals becoming Orthodox in such great numbers and not Roman Catholic? I have my own theories but would love to understand this better.
I have been batting these questions around in my head for a couple weeks now, and have been looking for just such an opportunity to hash some of this stuff out with others.
I can only speak to Lutheran churches, really. But Lutherans in many ways are in the same boat as most others in the “comfy mainline protestant middle,” just to varying degrees depending on the synod.
This article has prompted some of the same questions for me as the OP, except with a more Lutheran spin. I think there are many today who believe that in the next decade, many of us will need to make a choice- full-on evangelical, or a retreat back to the ancient church (or at least a retreat back to ancient church liturgies). At once there are two conflicting pressures on many protestant congregations, from the individuals who attend on up through the clergy. The first pressure is to fight irrelevance due to what the OP terms “evangelical christianity” - perhaps in some ways synonymous with fundamentalism, but more of the “new age” churches, the “megachurches,” etc. For some congregations, the choice is to become more like the evangelicals or watch younger members drift into the non-denominational church across the street because they sing christian rock songs.
The other pressure is losing membership to Rome and Orthodoxy. I don’t have a statistic, but there are enough that go in that direction- particularly clergymen- to make it a valid concern.
And thus, each congregation is ultimately given a choice. They can go hard “church growth” (a ridiculous term denoting the “church growth” movement, also known as “emulate the megachurches”) and abandon the old liturgies, or they can stick to their guns and hope for the best. Keep in mind, no matter what the Pastor chooses, he potentially is losing some of his flock. Possibly enough of it over time to make the congregation suffer financial difficulties.
Many in my particular synod, much to my dismay, play around with “church growth” principles. It starts out with putting up a powerpoint presentation so people can follow along easier, then it’s throwing out the old Red Hymnals, and before long, it’s ripping out pews and installing couches and cappuccino machines. When one is willing to make the church into a coffee shop, how far behind will little compromises on doctrinal issues be?
Anyway, there is pressure to make a choice. When that choice needs to be made, in my experience, it has usually been in favor of “church growth” and evangelicals. Thus, those clinging to the old ways either must give up the fight or find a new home. Rome or Orthodoxy is a major question, and I’m not sure where I would end up today if I took the leap.
On the one hand, there is a cultural affinity with Rome. I feel like if I were to walk into a Catholic Church tomorrow, I would roughly know the blueprint of the mass, and not make a total fool of myself. There is also the aforementioned article, which notes that Lutheranism is a
Catholic movement, and if Lutheranism is in its twilight (for a variety of reasons which have only IMO been exacerbated since the article I linked to was written), the default posture is to go back to the church from whence we came.
On the other hand, there are certain disagreements with Rome that still exist within the community at large, and with myself individually. Some of those disagreements are resolved by the fact that in Orthodoxy, there is no Papacy. I think there is an argument, for some very persuasive, that it is legitimate to feel that while their cultural affinity is with Rome, the history of the Roman Church and specifically the rise of the Papacy indicates that something has gone terribly wrong at some point with Western Christianity. And whatever happened in the West, it didn’t happen in the East. So I could see how it would be easier for some in this position to gravitate more toward Orthodoxy, despite a stronger historical and cultural connection with Rome.
I don’t necessarily endorse either side of the choice to be made, really, since everyone has their own circumstances by which they come to ponder the OP’s question. I think were I to have to make the choice, it would probably be with Catholicism- but I am a “dance with the girl who brung you” type of person. I also believe in Lutheranism as a Catholic reform movement, not as something that exists for the sake of existing. Thus, it would make little sense for me either in terms of theology or personal/denominational history to go Orthodox, since my own conception of being a Lutheran is one irrevocably tied to Rome.
However, it’s a very difficult question. I’m not sure I could hold it against a person (protestant) trying to make the choice, no matter which of the two they ended up in.
The mass coordinator thought this was ok, as “each mass has a different feel” 