SCOBA expands

What's so foolish about it?? Thanks Anhelyna!

For those who hate clicking on links, here is the heart of that article:

After the Archbishop's presentation of the matter, there was immediate unanimous agreement, in a spirit of fraternal welcome, by all SCOBA Hierarchs to welcome the Representation of the Moscow Patriarchate in the United States, in the person of Bishop Mercurius, to full membership in SCOBA.

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It is indeed a very good thing. I am so happy that ROCOR is MP now and in full communion with us. Saves on letters, but it also brings us back to unity. My parish has a lot of people of russian heretage. Several of them travel to a parish that was ROCOR several times a year. Now those family and friends can receive the Eucharist when they come to visit our parish.

What is great is the fact that now ALL except Old Calendar (The Genuine Orthodox church who are uncanonical, not the churches who practice Old Calendar... sorry for the confusion) will be under SCOBA

Please pray for all our Bishops and for Orthodox Unity in the USA.

Good news indeed!

Is the Serbian church part of SCOBA? The MP is Old Calendar. It would be great if all the canonical jurisdictions on the Old Calendar would become part of SCOBA also.

katherine2001 said:

Is the Serbian church part of SCOBA?

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Yes they are.

I just heard something about this. I had no idea that ROCOR wasn't in communion with the other EO Churches. So, now they are, and that is good news. I agree.

katherine2001 said:

Is the Serbian church part of SCOBA? The MP is Old Calendar. It would be great if all the canonical jurisdictions on the Old Calendar would become part of SCOBA also.

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The Serbs are SCOBA and yes we are OC!

I've been to the Serbian Orthodox church in Butte, MT. When I lived in Helena (which is about 70 miles from Butte), I attended an OCA mission with no priest, and we would go there during Lent (and some other Sundays as well), when the priest that served the mission couldn't come. The patron saint of the parish I belong to now is St. Nikolai Velimirovic, so I have a soft spot for the Serbian church. The church in Butte is one of the older churches in the Western diocese (the original church was consecrated by St. Tikhon in either 1904 or 1905). +Bishop MAXIM is there this weekend (as the bishop is every Pentecost) since it is Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church.

Dorothea said:

I just heard something about this. I had no idea that ROCOR wasn't in communion with the other EO Churches. So, now they are, and that is good news. I agree.

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i didn't know that either. oh, all this confuses me so. can't we all just be "Orthodox"?

I think that is great that we're now in SCOBA.

I think this is one step on what should be a very long and delicately travelled road towards one day (perhaps during my son's lifetime) arriving at a more canonical unity. SCOBA is a wonderful, prudent and powerful step towards this and it helps so much to give it's mission of CHurch unity in North America even more legitimacy with Patriarch Alexei's blessing (not that other Patriarch's vicarious involvement didn't matter just as much... it's just that now we have one more).

This is also great becuase it gives a great forum for american bishops to work out existing and future problems/disagreements/issues.

It is excellent news, though I wouldn't read too much into it. It seems to me that we still have a good deal of hard work ahead in order to truly establish a more unified Orthodox witness in North America. But with God, all things are possible.
In Xp,
Eusebios

Philothei said:

What is great is the fact that now ALL except Old Calendar (The Genuine Orthodox church who are uncanonical, not the churches who practice Old Calendar... sorry for the confusion) will be under SCOBA

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Not quite. The Jerusalem Patriarchate doesn't have a bishop here and they are not involved with SCOBA. But here's hoping that will happen one day!