Been Hearing - Droves of People Becoming Christians, and many to Orthodoxy

Dorothea said:

Hi, friends,

Christ is risen!

Have you been hearing what I've been hearing? That many people around the world, and here in the US, are becoming Christians, including Orthodox Christians? I've heard from a friend of mine from my former church in Spokane, WA, that four new Orthodox Churches came about after I moved away (that would've been 2007) and that many young men are coming to the faith. I heard this on videos from Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick, Fr. Josiah Trenham, and Abbot Tryphon.

I do know in my small church that it's grown in the past year or two. Every Sunday, the pews are full. It's amazing to see all these new people coming.

Have you heard this from anybody you know or any other priests in our Church?

I just saw that Russell Brand has been baptized into the Christian faith, but I don't know which Christian sect he's joined. Candice Owens, I just saw a headline, has joined the Catholic Church.

Anybody heard these things or anything from your end of the world?

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I have heard that also. Younger people are slowly turning back to Christ, though the graphs say something else. Christianity in the US is on the decline, while Catholics and Orthodox have stayed the same.

Graph from: About Three-in-Ten U.S. Adults Are Now Religiously Unaffiliated

Posting as a guest, I can’t say I’m surprised by this. The Holy Spirit is very much active.

I received 6 and enrolled 1 new catechumen. I have 19 catechumens and about 25 inquirers.

and this has been happening all over.

Dorothea said:

That's so wonderful! Glory to God!

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amen! 13 overall receptions into the Church since New Year’s!

Dorothea said:

WOW!

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yep, the numbers are nuts and happening all over N America.

Naturally, the lefty media tries to go in an ugly direction with any increases.

It's what they do.

Orthodox Christian churches are drawing in far-right American converts​

And I remember a time when the only parish in Spokane was Sts Constantine and Helen, the only GOA parish I've known that used more Slavonic than Greek!


Not to be the Debby Downer, but the real test is: how many of them will have remained Orthodox a year from now? Five years? Ten? Or after their jurisdiction's next big scandal? If Alexei Krindatch does another Orthodox Census in 2030 it'll be really interesting to see what the numbers are.

Nick1000 said:

Naturally, the lefty media tries to go in an ugly direction with any increases.

It's what they do.

Orthodox Christian churches are drawing in far-right American converts​

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/10/1096741988/orthodox-christian-churches-are-drawing-in-far-right-american-converts#:~:text=According%20to%20Krindatch%2C%20who%20conducts,nondenominational%20churches%2C%22%20Krindatch%20said.

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There was a thread about this before. The reality is, yes, there is truth to it. Does this mean that all American converts are far-right racist fascists? No. Are all Orthodox in America far-right racist fascists? No. Do they exist? Yes, both converts and cradles; thank God they are in small numbers. Are they generally attracted to a certain jurisdiction? Yes. Do they generally last long beyond five years? Usually, no.

ArmyMatt said:

yep, the numbers are nuts and happening all over N America.

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Any clear commonalities among the catechumens in your parish/diocese?

As a general comment I am amazed at the influence of Orthodox in protestant circles. I am older, and we were clearly "the other", in nearly every respect. I think it is a credit in large part to the hierarchs providing (and Faithful contributing) a good education to the clergy. That and the facility of native born to speak well in English, plus, example, are all at play. Plus the scandals of the TV preachers, compromises/capitulation of standards due to social pressures and unease in the Catholic realm, too. And, one more: the high quality of the hierarchs in general. Wisdom and a steady hand for the most part. I am hopeful that the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops will yield much good, taking ideas and work products that can benefit all Orthodox 'jurisdictions'.

cradleGO said:

Any clear commonalities among the catechumens in your parish/diocese?

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not really, just seeking. although I think the pandemic played a role in the search for many.

The Surge into the Orthodox Church

FenderTL5 said:

The Surge into the Orthodox Church

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Excellent video and priest. As to the surge. I suggested elsewhere that studies of the recent converts - and inquirers - value about Orthodox Christianity would be useful for some parishes and Orthodoxy as a whole. I looked at the research papers of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops (of the USA) and found this 2017 paper on evangelization.. In the Executive Summary is this quote: "Accordingly, the next stage of study on Orthodox evangelism and outreach in the United States will approach our lay church members: old and young, cradle Orthodox and converts to Orthodoxy, those who are very involved in their parishes and those who participate ʺonce in a while.ʺ" That is 7 years ago.
If there were approaches identified, my expectation would be a result like an 80: 20 rule: 80 per cent would be 'the standard approach', while 20 per cent would need 'customized handling'. The goal is long term Orthodox communion, and of course an Orthodox approach to living for all. Takes time and money as I also said then, but it is no doubt worthy.

ArmyMatt said:

not really, just seeking. although I think the pandemic played a role in the search for many.

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The pandemic really forced a lot of people to reconsider what is important in life. I remember visiting St Lawrence in Felton, CA during this time and for some visitors it came down to a very simple fact: all theology aside, they needed God in their lives and while many Protestant/non-denom churches were closed, it was the Orthodox church that was open.
And this is not jurisdiction specific. I've heard similar things about new converts from OCA, Antiochian, and ROCOR clergy. Generally speaking, if an Orthodox church was open, it gained new people.

FenderTL5 said:

The Surge into the Orthodox Church

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I was actually a bit disappointed; I felt like Fr. Andrew was not sufficiently optimistic about this inflow. At any rate, I am glad I joined a decade ago so as to beat the rush!

Not my area of the world specifically, but judging from the various groups I'm a member of on FB that focus on Middle Eastern Christianity as it is manifested around the world, I'm seeing a lot of activity in Bolivia, Costa Rica, and lately Peru. I know there's been a Russian Orthodox Church in Costa Rica for a relatively long time now (at least 20 years), but apparently there's a newer mission of some kind now as well (can't find info outside of some Spanish-language blurbs on news sites), which is cool to see. Anything that chips away at the growth of the weird sort of neo-Pentecostalism that seems popular among Latinos who are not RC (I saw a lot of this when I was living in New Mexico, mostly via TV broadcasts from neighboring Texas and Mexico) is a big plus, to me.