THE DECLINE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA

Dear People,

            I have been assigned to the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church for the month of June of this year.  In preparing for a sermon for Sunday, June 7, 2015, I found some very interesting material on the state of the Christian Church in America today.  The Pew Research Center conducted this study which also included the Orthodox Christian Churches in America.  I felt that this information should be shared with the faithful in the Orthodox Church because of its critical nature.  In preparing this presentation for Holy Trinity, I also came upon some very interesting statistics from a web site in Greece, Pentapostagma on Greek demographics during the last seven years.  These statistics from Greece listed the births and deaths in Greece from 2008 through 2015.  In reading these statistics it suddenly dawned on me that Greece is literally committing spiritual suicide.  Not only is Greece in the midst of a financial disaster that threatens its very existence, it is also in the midst of committing spiritual suicide.  I say this because of an increasingly demographic implosion that is taking place with more deaths than births.  Add to this the influx of illegal immigrants flooding into Greece from Muslim countries and we have a dangerous demographic situation that has not happened since Greece’s enslavement to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. 

            We must be as concerned about the future of Orthodox Christianity in America as our ancestors were when they were enslaved by the Muslims for four hundred years.  The status quo cannot continue.  We must wake up and meet the enemy head on before it is too late. 

+Fr. Constantine (Charles) Simones, Waterford, USA, June 16, 2015

THE DECLINE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AMERICA

            The prestigious Pew Research Center conducted a study on the future of religion in America, including Orthodox Christianity.  The results of this study are devastating for the Orthodox Church in America.  They show a religion in the advance stages of crisis that should concern all of us deeply, especially the leaders of the Orthodox Churches in America.  Among the findings we read that the percentage of the Orthodox Christian population in the country is in steep decline.  In fact, “Orthodox Christians have one of the lowest rates of retention across Christian and non-Christian denominations.”  Only 53% of adults who were raised as Orthodox Christians still identity themselves as Orthodox Christians.  Compare that to Hindus (80%), Jews (75%), Mormons (65%) and Roman Catholics (59%).

            Essentially, Pew discovered that nearly half of all Orthodox Christians leave the Church once they become adults.  Moreover, according to other sources, the Greek Orthodox paid membership nationwide has fallen dramatically in the past five years.  Some say this fall is as much as 38%.   These findings are in total contradiction with the rosy picture painted by the leadership of our Church in this country.  This misleading picture of our Church leadership constitutes the worst possible service to our faith and community, because valuable time is wasted in not taking action to reverse the trend. 

            Yet this is exactly what is needed: we must wake up and face reality.  Church officials must understand that there is a lack of strong leadership in our Church life today.  This lack of leadership has been exacerbated by the scandals that have come to light over the past twenty years which have a negative impact upon the youth of our parishes.  There is a lack of paying attention to the basics of our faith, specifically our spirituality. There is an imbalance of power between the clergy and the laity at the local level, at the Diocesan and the Archdiocesan levels.  There is a lack of transparency in the life of the Church.  All of these issues are eating at the heart of our Church and community.

           

            The highly disturbing findings act as a wakeup call for Holy Orthodoxy in the Western world.  Let there be a dialogue between our clergy and the laity as to what is needed.  Let us go back to the basics of our faith.  The Church has everything that it needs to constantly generate new life in the Church with every passing generation.  We should believe in the words of Jesus Christ when He stated “that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church.”  Jesus is telling us in these words that the Church will endure until the end of time. Jesus says this to us because He promised to infuse Church life and its Sacraments with the power of the Holy Spirit.  The invigorating power of the Holy Spirit is that source of heavenly Grace that was promised to us by Jesus Christ when He established our Holy Church.   Yes, there are times when the faithful will fall away from the faith and there will be times when the Church will be vibrantly alive. Knowing this reality of the faith experience, we, the faithful, are called to be always vigilant and struggle to keep our faith in an age of materialism, egotism and immorality.   The world must humbly repent for its sinfulness.  It must repent for violating the Commandments of God.  There is no other way out of the mess the world is in.  Living the life of the Church and spirituality is not a game but a constant struggle to overcome the demons that all human beings have within themselves.  I do not know about you but my life without Jesus Christ would have been impossible.   He is constantly at my side through all the trials and tribulations of life.  My fifty-five plus years in the Orthodox priesthood has revealed to me that Jesus Christ is the answer to life’s problems.

            We read in Philippians 5:14: “Awake you who sleep the sleep of sin.  Rise up from the deadness of sin and Christ will enlighten you.”  We Orthodox Christians live this message in the heavens by the lit candles that we hold in our hands the night we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. These candles are like white lilies that burst forth from the cold hearts of human beings that live apart from Jesus Christ.  This reality of our Christian faith wakes us up, it promises us, and it reassures us and gives us hope for eternal life.  The light of the candles of our faith show forth through the darkness of night opening up a road to us that is made possible by our faith in Jesus Christ.  There is no darkness in this universe that does not tremble before the power, the majesty and the Light of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  There are no barriers that exist between people that cannot be torn down by the earth-shattering events of the Resurrection.  There are no graves for those who follow Jesus Christ that are not opened when the earth is spit asunder by the new life offered by Jesus.    My dear brothers and sisters in the living Christ, there is no reason why Christianity should be falling by the wayside in America and the Western world when Jesus Himself came into our midst and offered us eternal life.  

            At this point, I also shared with the faithful of Holy Trinity in Norwich, CT statistics that come directly from Greece showing us the number of births and deaths during the last eight years.  When I read these statistics I was astounded to realize that Greece is committing spiritual suicide.  In addition to the financial crisis that is threatening to destroy this ancient land of our forefathers, Greece is in the throes of committing spiritual suicide by not having enough children to replace those who pass on to eternal life.  The reasons for this are many: wholesale abortion, financial difficulties, same-sex marriage, homosexuality and a desire not to be burdened by the chore of having children.  Greece today has the highest percentage of abortions in Europe, 500,000 (It could be higher today).  Young couples of our society would prefer to party and have fun during their spare time than have children. The burden of children would put a big drag on this desire.  We have lost the Christian understanding of sacramental marriage.  We are failing to be obedient to the commandment of God to “multiply and subdue the earth.”  Read the following statistics that come from Greece and you will be astounded at the demographic tragedy that is unfolding there.    

2008            Births:      118,302                                               Deaths: 107,979

2009          Births:    117,933                                       Deaths: 108,316

2010          Births:    114,766                                       Deaths:  109,084

2011          Births:    106,777                                      Deaths: 110,729

2012          Births:    100,371                                      Deaths: 116,670

2013          Births:     94,134                                       Deaths: 111,794

2014          Births:     93,280                                       Deaths:  114,086

2015          Births:     93,919                                        Deaths:   3651 thru 4/6/15        

            Those Orthodox Christians amongst us who suffer deeply for the salvation of the whole world, monastic’s and fervent Orthodox Christians, through prayer and spiritual struggle (ascesis) humbly entrust themselves to the love of God.  Their lives are a constant doxology, for they inwardly rejoice like angels glorifying God day and night.  Those, however, who neglect the salvation of their souls and try to find joy and rest in this vain life are continually tortured and are entangled in the endless machinations of the world and live hell while in this life. 

            And finally I would bring your attention to the Elder Ephraim, the Athonite monk who was directed by the Holy Spirit to come to America over twenty five years ago and establish monastic communities.  He has established over twenty Monasteries in the USA and Canada.  He knew that the Orthodox Church would be falling away from its spiritual roots and abandon the traditional Orthodox Christian way of life.  He was told to come to America and build φρούρια πίστεως (bastions of spiritual life).  His efforts have flourished across this great country because he been obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  May we all remain faithful to our Orthodox Christian value system as we work out our salvation in Jesus Christ.    Amen.

ΔΟΞΑ ΤΩ ΘΕΩ ΕΝ ΤΟΙΣ ΑΓΙΟΙΣ ΑΥΤΟΥ

GLORY TO GOD IN HIS HOLY SAINTS