Study finds more U.S. Orthodox Christian converts

[HandmaidenOfGod]

Praise the Lord in the heavens! Praise Him in the highest!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-10-23-orthodox-christians_N.htm

 

[ArnautDaniel]

It is still converts from other Christian groups.

Christianity isn't getting new converts in the US, but some groups are growing at the expense of others.

 

[seashale76]

It is still converts from other Christian groups.

Christianity isn't getting new converts in the US, but some groups are growing at the expense of others.

Oh, but there are new converts in the US. More than a few of us thought we had left any kind of Christianity far behind. We had given up our former beliefs for deism, agnosticism, etc. We went to no church, we professed no beliefs, we didn't call ourselves Christians.

 

[rusmeister]

I was raised Baptist, but had left it to become a non-believer, an agnostic who didn't care to think about that question. When I did come back to faith (20 years later), it was to Orthodoxy.

 

[buzuxi02]

Cool article, but the last paragraph freaked me out

 

[Photini]

Cool article, but the last paragraph freaked me out

Yeah, the married bishops thing made me raise my eyebrows.

 

[Julina]

Cool article, but the last paragraph freaked me out

me too, particularly the part about Easter. whenever i tell my friends that the Orthodox Easter has to fall after Passover, they all say that that makes so much more sense!

 

[Epiphanius]

Oh, but there are new converts in the US. More than a few of us thought we had left any kind of Christianity far behind. We had given up our former beliefs for deism, agnosticism, etc. We went to no church, we professed no beliefs, we didn't call ourselves Christians.

*raises hand* twas me, I was a deist for a few years before finding the home I had been searching for, but that story is long and is already in the conversions thread.

 

[Hoankan]

Nearly became an athiest, then spent years as an agnostic searching for the truth. Returned to Christianity through Orthodoxy

 

[Andrew21091]

Doesn't surprise me that there are a lot of converts since my parish is probably about half convert plus there is a mission church here as well that has all converts except for I think two people.

The last paragraph alarmed me as well. Married bishops? No way. Also, if the Catholics and Protestants want to celebrate Easter with us, then they should celebrate it on the right date. We cannot change the date of Easter. Do some converts think that we should just ignore our traditions and change for the times? I don't believe it! I'm a convert whose family is pretty much entirely Roman Catholic and I couldn't be more against celebrating Pascha on the Western date, we should hold fast in celebrating it on the calendar of the Church.

Except for that last paragraph, the article is very nice.

 

[ArmyMatt]

my parish is almost all convert as well. we also have 12 catechumens coming into God's Holy Church!

glory to God for all things!

 

[HandmaidenOfGod]

my parish is almost all convert as well. we also have 12 catechumens coming into God's Holy Church!

glory to God for all things!

That's awesome! What would you say is your "secret" for attracting new converts?

 

[choirfiend]

My parish is about half people who were raised Orthodox and half people who converted. There is a constant stream of converts from the campus nearby, spurred often by a campus preacher, as well as many who come because of friends who are Orthodox or because they are fairly affluent and educated, are dissatisfied with their experience of religion, and are searching. Some stay because our priest was the head of evangelism for the jurisdiction at one time and the parish in general is welcoming to inquirers.

 

[Damaris]

I was agnostic/atheist my entire life before becoming Orthodox.

 

[Mikeb85]

That's awesome! What would you say is your "secret" for attracting new converts?

There is no secret. What I've found, is that the more people know about the Orthodox church, the more likely they are to want to become Orthodox. The faith speaks for itself.

As for my conversion, I somewhat stumbled upon Orthodoxy after getting messed up in a bunch of nonsense (gangs, drugs, violence, etc...), and it was the first Christian church that honestly made any sort of sense to me. Based on my experience with evangelicals (growing up in an evangelical church), to me, Orthodox Christianity doens't even really seem like it's the same religion as so-called 'Christian' sects.

 

[Bessie]

The married bishops thing surprised me, too. The article did not say which date they were supporting, we can't really assume that Orthodox converts are abandoning the traditions based on one phrase in an article...

 

[choirfiend]

I was part of that survey, and it asked you to comment on "controversial" topics, to rate your interest and/or agreement on a variety of issues or areas of debate. It wasn't that people were bringing up the topics--it brought them up for you. And, if asked to choose which was more acceptable, married bishops or female priests, which would you say? The one that was an accepted practice at one time and is a matter of practicality, or the one that has never been practiced and there are doctrinal issues with?

 

[Monica child of God 1]

The study's other findings showed a majority of Orthodox Christians would support allowing married bishops, but not female priests. They also want their clergy to work with their Catholic and Protestant counterparts to coordinate a common date for Easter, which typically falls several weeks later for the Orthodox due to their use of an older liturgical calendar.

This paragraph does not say that converts want these things. It says that some Orthodox Christians want these things. There are cradle Orthodox with "modernizing" tendencies. In fact, converts to Orthodoxy are many times drawn to the big "T" and little t traditions of the Church.

I for one would like to see a return to the Old Calendar altogether (mostly because it is simper for all of us to have one calendar) and I am a convert.

M.

 

[cassc]

Was this the "Parish Life Study"? I participated in that one, it was rather interesting, but I am bad at studies because I always want to write in my own answer!!

 

[cassc]

Check out their Parish needs Survey, very interesting results!

http://orthodoxinstitute.org/files/ParishNeedsOverview.pdf