Some suggestion would be appreciated :)

ChirpChirp · Oct 27, 2013

Hey all,

So this might be a bit of an odd question and I'd appreciate what you have to say

My boyfriend is not Orthodox (baptised Catholic) and sometimes I struggle knowing how to explain Orthodoxy or what the right things to say are. One thing he's asked me about is "church politics" and especially the difference between Russian and Orthodox. I have to confess I don't know too much about this myself, I always went with the flow and followed my own church when it came to these sort of thing.

A great barrier to us in the language barrier as I go to a Romanian church and he doesn't speak Romanian (no fully English speaking Orthodox churches here). So any suggestions on how we might overcome this?

Thanks a lot! :wave:

Barky · Oct 27, 2013

First off, don't try to force him into Orthodoxy (not saying that you are, just advice). Just ask if he wants to come to church and explain things if he has questions.

"Church Politics" as your boyfriend puts it, is really just a matter of different jurisdictions. Whereas the Catholic church has one major church headed by one bishop (the pope), Orthodoxy is based on a conciliar model of leadership. There are several major self ruling churches with a bishop as the head of each, which are unified by belief (culminating in the Eucharist). So, Orthodox churches are unified by belief, and the fact that we all receive communion.

So, technically, the Russian church and the Romanian church are headed by different bishops, but are united in their Orthodox faith. Often times, the church will bring with it a kind of cultural identity with its people, especially in America since most Orthodox were immigrants. This is different from the Catholic model. I used to be Catholic so I am familiar with the confusions he has.

If you could find a church (maybe OCA) that celebrates the liturgy in English then I think it would help you both. You could receive communion there like any other Orthodox church, and your boyfriend can soak up a lot more about the faith. What area are you in? There are many resources to help find an Orthodox church in your area. I just use google maps.

May God with you guys!

ChirpChirp · Oct 27, 2013

Barky said:
First off, don't try to force him into Orthodoxy (not saying that you are, just advice). Just ask if he wants to come to church and explain things if he has questions.

"Church Politics" as your boyfriend puts it, is really just a matter of different jurisdictions. Whereas the Catholic church has one major church headed by one bishop (the pope), Orthodoxy is based on a conciliar model of leadership. There are several major self ruling churches with a bishop as the head of each, which are unified by belief (culminating in the Eucharist). So, Orthodox churches are unified by belief, and the fact that we all receive communion.

So, technically, the Russian church and the Romanian church are headed by different bishops, but are united in their Orthodox faith. Often times, the church will bring with it a kind of cultural identity with its people, especially in America since most Orthodox were immigrants. This is different from the Catholic model. I used to be Catholic so I am familiar with the confusions he has.

If you could find a church (maybe OCA) that celebrates the liturgy in English then I think it would help you both. You could receive communion there like any other Orthodox church, and your boyfriend can soak up a lot more about the faith. What area are you in? There are many resources to help find an Orthodox church in your area. I just use google maps.

May God with you guys!

Hi, don't worry I'm not forcing him into Orthodoxy.

It's just that we live in a Catholic country so I'd be more used to Catholicism than he would be to Orthodoxy and naturally asks more questions!

I guess what he was trying to understand is if there is anybody in the Orthodox church that is in charge of all the churches like the Pope in Catholicism? Or is there an Orthodox "headquarters" for lack of a better word

We live in Ireland and afaik there aren't any Orthodox churches celebrating the liturgy in English. You might get a "Lord have mercy" now and then and one church tends to read the Gospel in English when the Irish priest is there too but the rest of the time he's just standing there blessing himself politely when everyone else blesses themselves (he also finds the amount of times we bless ourselves strange!).

MKJ · Oct 27, 2013

ChirpChirp said:
Hi, don't worry I'm not forcing him into Orthodoxy. It's just that we live in a Catholic country so I'd be more used to Catholicism than he would be to Orthodoxy and naturally asks more questions!

I guess what he was trying to understand is if there is anybody in the Orthodox church that is in charge of all the churches like the Pope in Catholicism? Or is there an Orthodox "headquarters" for lack of a better word

We live in Ireland and afaik there aren't any Orthodox churches celebrating the liturgy in English. You might get a "Lord have mercy" now and then and one church tends to read the Gospel in English when the Irish priest is there too but the rest of the time he's just standing there blessing himself politely when everyone else blesses themselves (he also finds the amount of times we bless ourselves strange!).

I would compare it to the Catholic Church in different countries. The Catholic Church also has an organization in different countries it belongs to, with bishops and archbishops who have a fair bit of power as far as running the CC in those countries.

So the American Catholic bishops have an organization and they run the church there, making many of the decisions about how the CC should run, what its policies should be, making decisions about worship.

In many ways the different parts of the Orthodox Church are very similar, but they have a longer history and so are not so much tied completely to current national boundaries.

You might also tell him how these churches developed from a historical perspective. I seem to recall there is a nice, simple youtube video about that particular subject, showing how Christianity and Orthodoxy spreard beginning in the first century.

buzuxi · Oct 27, 2013

Why in the world would anyone be asking about church politics? All he needs to understand is that there is only one church, that is the Church of the Fathers, (the Holy Orthodox Chuch). Then invite him to a traditional Orthodox wedding, baptism, and to the Resurrection Service and the festivities that accompany them. Just like, when the Slavs arrived at Constantinople; yet did not know the language or the customs. They responded, "if there is God, He must reside here"! Come see! , that's all you need to close the deal.

ChirpChirp · Oct 27, 2013

buzuxi said:
Why in the world would anyone be asking about church politics?

I didn't want to start talking about this, but because he's been put off from the Catholic church because of the child sex abuse scandal and specifically how it was covered up an the priests moved, including one into his own town. So I guess in his mind "church politics" would be something he wants to know about.

ArmyMatt · Oct 27, 2013

I guess what he was trying to understand is if there is anybody in the Orthodox church that is in charge of all the churches like the Pope in Catholicism? Or is there an Orthodox "headquarters" for lack of a better word

yep, the Heavenly Zion where our Great High Priest is. all of the dioceses and sees on earth all fall under that one. and I don't say this as a joke, our HQ is at the right hand of the Father.

BraveMommy · Oct 27, 2013

ChirpChirp said:
Hey all,

So this might be a bit of an odd question and I'd appreciate what you have to say

My boyfriend is not Orthodox (baptised Catholic) and sometimes I struggle knowing how to explain Orthodoxy or what the right things to say are. One thing he's asked me about is "church politics" and especially the difference between Russian and Orthodox. I have to confess I don't know too much about this myself, I always went with the flow and followed my own church when it came to these sort of thing.

A great barrier to us in the language barrier as I go to a Romanian church and he doesn't speak Romanian (no fully English speaking Orthodox churches here). So any suggestions on how we might overcome this?

Thanks a lot!

1. Romanian/English missal - if he'd attends frequently with you he'll pick it up quickly because of the repetition.

2. There aren't any differences in "Tradition" or "Theology" in the different Orthodox jurisdictions.

3. The Catholic Church has around 23 overlapping jurisdictions in the U.S. And they differ in Liturgy and even differ in the Creed - some accept filioque and some reject it. Before the accuses the Orthodox of jurisdictional overlaps/hierarchy, he should first understand his own Catholic Church has even greater problems in that regard.

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Some suggestion would be appreciated :)

ChirpChirp

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Barky

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ChirpChirp

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MKJ

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buzuxi

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ChirpChirp

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