Some thirty five years ago our monastic brotherhood arrived on Vashon Island, establishing ourselves in a rental house near the Village of Dockton. This little village had two churches, built by the original founders of the community. Dockton, in the 1880's, had the largest dry dock north of San Francisco, and was the site for the construction of tall ships. The ship builders were immigrant Croatians and Norwegians, working the docks, and raising their families in a village that could only be reached by boat.
The Norwegians built a Lutheran church, and the Croatians constructed a Catholic parish. The first location for our monastery was, in fact, an old farm house built at the turn of the century by a Norwegian ship builder. Little did we monks know at the time, but God had planned for our monastery to be permanently located on the hill overlooking the old farm house, Saint Patrick's Catholic church, and the old Lutheran church.
The Lutheran church was eventually to be converted into a house, and Saint Patrick's church was torn down. While driving by the pile of rubble, Frank, a Roman Catholic villager, came up to my car window and said, "You are all that's left, Father". Driving away I felt sad, for truly our monastery was now the only remaining religious institution on Maury Island (the smaller island connected to Vashon Island).
Where Have all the Churches Gone?
Driving around Seattle neighborhoods one is struck by the number of former churches that are now used for purposes other than the worship of God. One has become a mental health clinic, and a few others are now antique shops. A few more are now coffee houses or private homes. Many have simply been torn down, replaced by apartment houses, or retail stores.
Zoning laws make it difficult to build new churches, and it is rare to find a church in a newly constructed suburban neighborhood. Mega-churches abound, drawing thousands of people from their neighborhoods, and into buildings that often look more like movie theaters, or entertainment centers. The impact this new trend has on neighborhoods is severe, for families are now forced to live in neighborhoods that are secular, devoid as they are of religious influence.
Mega-churches, because of the high costs required to maintain their "plants", teach a dumbed down form of Christianity, so the people, unchallenged by sermons on repentance and sin, keep coming back, filling the coffers, and paying the huge salaries of clergy who have sold out, and betrayed the Gospel of Christ.
America is in need of Orthodox Christianity more than ever, and we Orthodox Christians must find better ways to share our faith with fellow Americans. It is not enough to continue serving ethnic communities. We must reach out with the Ancient Faith of our Fathers, and build within ourselves a missionary zeal for America. The life of this country depends on it. Just as the Moscow Patriarchate established missions to reconvert the Russian people to Holy Orthodoxy, so, too, we American Orthodox must reach out in missionary witness to our people.
The influence of Christianity is waning in this country, and the attacks on our Christian values has increased in dramatic ways. We are now living in a post-christian society, where Christian morality and virtue has given way to paganism. We must become like the Christians of old, and be willing to lay down our lives in witness to the Eternal Truths that are found in our Faith, giving witness to Christ Jesus, and His Church. Now is not the time to operate ethnic preservation societies, or guard our churches from the influence of "those outsiders". Our Orthodox Faith must be lived out with boldness!
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photos: We are hosting fifteen young men who are here for the Salish Brotherhood Retreat.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου