Best place for an Orthodox Christian to live in the US

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Xpycoctomos

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From Michigan, but studying in Pittsburgh. :)

There's St. James in Williamston and then Holy Cross in Dorr.
cool, I didn't know about the latter. Dorr... cool, is it a mission? It's not on www.orthodoxyinamerica.org. You might want to check into see how you can inform them of you existence???

Hey, I was looking at that sight above... FIVE parishes in the UP!!!! wow!
 
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Xpycoctomos

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I have a Serbian friend from Chicago and he tells me there are a TON of Orthodox in that area.
yeah, defintely true. You can't beat the big cities. Detroit has quite a few too, although I dont' think it beats Chicago at all!
 
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ThePilgrim

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Yup, it's a new mission :) We were established as a mission station about a year ago and just started holding services on our own at the beginning of September.

Originally there were about 30 people who came from Lutheranism and started the mission. In these 8 weeks, average attendance is already up to about 50! There was a family that had been reading about Orthodoxy, and they started to come, and they told friends of theirs, who started to come, and they told friends, etc... By God's grace, things are going remarkably well!

The priest is Fr. Gregory Hogg, my dad, so it's my home base when I'm home from college.

www.holycrossmission.org/

John
 
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stmaryofegypt3

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i wouldn't let it dictate where i live per se... However, I would say that 40 miles is actually quite close... as opposed to 3-4 hours (or worse). 40 miles is really nothing at all even if you wanted to go once a month. Im not sure what she meant by "near" but if I said I were looking to be "near" a monastery... one an hour away would be a great blessing.
Just wanted to say thanks for all the great replies! It is good to hear from people all over the map. I guess I would like the best of both worlds....a good parish where we are comfortable and can grow spiritually as well as the benefits of frequent visits to a monastery where we could establish a rapport with nuns/monks and participate in their rythm of life and volunteer our time.
Peace in Christ,
Marie
 
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illudium_phosdex

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My vote goes to Eagle River AK. There, you are within 30 miles of 14, count them 14 Orthodox churches and there is an Orthodox school there at St John's OC. And there is the Protecting Veil of the Theotokos Orthodox Community which, my understanding, is a female monastic community about 20 miles away.
 
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Xpycoctomos

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Yup, it's a new mission :) We were established as a mission station about a year ago and just started holding services on our own at the beginning of September.

Originally there were about 30 people who came from Lutheranism and started the mission. In these 8 weeks, average attendance is already up to about 50! There was a family that had been reading about Orthodoxy, and they started to come, and they told friends of theirs, who started to come, and they told friends, etc... By God's grace, things are going remarkably well!

The priest is Fr. Gregory Hogg, my dad, so it's my home base when I'm home from college.

www.holycrossmission.org/

John
Oh wow!!!! That's why I recognized Dorr. Geez... I remember reading about your dad's conversion... a year ago or two? I forget. Fodor, Hogg, Fenton... who's the convert of the year going to be next year?

Fr Fodor was my pastor for a short time before I coverted. Do you guys know him? Have you heard from him lately?

What a small world... wow.

John

PS: I emailed your dad (I don't know him) from some reason at that time. Eiterh to ask him a question and/or to welcome him into the Church. He invited me to come to your family's Chrismation and I thought that was so nice. I didn't come however.... because I am evil ;)

God bless and welcome!

John
 
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Xpycoctomos

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Just wanted to say thanks for all the great replies! It is good to hear from people all over the map. I guess I would like the best of both worlds....a good parish where we are comfortable and can grow spiritually as well as the benefits of frequent visits to a monastery where we could establish a rapport with nuns/monks and participate in their rythm of life and volunteer our time.
Peace in Christ,
Marie
Yeah, people volunteer there all the time. Regular joes lie you and me. They seem to really appreciate any help you can give them too. They have big plans and no money... somehow it all happens in God's time anyhow. It's a wonderful monastery.

John
 
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Xpycoctomos

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marie: is your life really that awesome that you can pretty much pick whereever you want to live? Or perhaps your faith is that awesome that you would even entertain the idea of moving to a state even like Michigan where jobs are few and far between? lol
 
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VickiY

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kamikat

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I don't know about this number of parishes thing.... aren't a lot of the East Coast parishes empty/dying? I don't know at all - I've only been to the east coast once!

No, not at all. All of the churches I've been to in the DC area are growing. The local GO church is expanding because they can't fit anymore. They have 2 liturgies to fit everyone, one in the church and the other in the fellowship hall. They have over 5,000 families. I've been to a couple down town that were all big, and growing.

BTW, I did a search on orthodoxyinamerica.com for the DC area. There are 40 churches within a 1hr drive of downtown DC.
 
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authiodionitist

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No, not at all. All of the churches I've been to in the DC area are growing. The local GO church is expanding because they can't fit anymore. They have 2 liturgies to fit everyone, one in the church and the other in the fellowship hall. They have over 5,000 families. I've been to a couple down town that were all big, and growing.

Is the immigrant/cradle Orthodox population growing at your parish, or the convert demographic? If there're a lot of converts, what are many converting from?
 
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AureateDawn

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Seeing as I don't wish to move from TN, Knoxville is a good enough place. Sure, in the midst of the Bible belt, but there is an OCA in Oak Ridge, about 15 minutes from me, and a GOA (I think is the term from the Greek ones) right next to me. There is also a monastery in Memphis, and one not terribly far away in North Carolina.


God's Peace,
Justin
 
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Greg the byzantine

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I don't know about this number of parishes thing.... aren't a lot of the East Coast parishes empty/dying? I don't know at all - I've only been to the east coast once!

:scratch: Uh No. I mean sure there are some, but that's just the natural swing of things as neighborhoods change. For the most part we are growing here in NY.
 
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kamikat

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Is the immigrant/cradle Orthodox population growing at your parish, or the convert demographic? If there're a lot of converts, what are many converting from?

My parish is 50-50 convert and cradle. I would say alot of the growth is babies:D We have a ton of kids running around. I guess the converts are mostly former Protestants. I've tried to find all the former Catholics. We do have a handful, even our associate priest was raised Catholic. Of the cradles, I think maybe a quarter of them are immigrants.
 
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Aristokles

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I am with VickiY and Ilian here...Pittsburgh, hands down. Loads of parishes and at least three monasteries close enough to be considered local. Plus a nearby seminary in Johnstown (ACROD), the Eastern Orthodox Foundation in Homestead, and three jurisdictions' camps.
 
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