My Opinion on Union, Part 1
Here, at long last, are my thoughts on the recent union. The first half, at least. If anyone has problems following it, my apologies- it does get a bit rambling, I think. My opinion is a bit complicated, and trying to express everything hasn't been the easiest. Part 2 to follow shortly.
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Obviously, (for those who are able to follow my train of thought throughout this journal), the involvement in the WCC & the lukewarm disavowal of Sergianism bothers me. However, an entire book can be written (and indeed, some have been) describing the involvement of the Moscow Patriarchate with Ecumenism as well as Sergianism. They are complex problems which presently are not particularly acute. This actually may make them more serious problems, in the long run, but at any rate, I won't really be addressing them.
Instead, I'll describe what I feel to be a more acute & immediate potential problem: a more intense "Russification" of the Russian Church Abroad, to the point where we as a Church turn into an ethnic ghetto.
Now, any casual observer might say "wait- youre worried about Russification in the Russian Orthodox Church? Well, duh! If its that much of a concern, perhaps you should join the OCA", or something along those lines. This would be true if it weren't for the fact that the historical legacy of the Russian Church involves the embracing & tolerance of local customs and different peoples, something which I attribute to the fact that Imperial Russia was an empire. Of course, until the mid 19th century, the Russian Church wasn't missionary in the truest sense, i.e.- doing work beyond Russia's borders. The Russian Orthodox churches in western Europe were intended to cater to Russians living abroad, and were typically nothing more than a chapel at the Russian Embassy. However, with the ceding of Alaska to the United States, Metropolitan Innocent (Veniaminov) noted that all work there would now have to be done in English: priests would have to learn English, the translation of the services would have to begin, and even the curriculum at the seminary in Kodiak would have to be in English. Such an overhaul presented obvious problems, and so work proceded slowly, but there were proponents of this line of thought, such as Bishop Vladimir (Sokolovsky). Bear in mind that Isabel Hapgood's classic "Service Book" was carried out under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church (with Patriarch Tikhon's blessing, no less!). Additionally, the Russian Church had no problem with clergymen of & missions catering to, other ethnic groups (such as Arabs).
This of course changed with two great influxes of Russians: those fleeing the Revolution, and those fleeing forcible "repatriation" to the Soviet Union after WWII. The former wave, also known as the "White Immigration" (as in the White Army), in particular was quite remarkable. It consisted of many upper class Russians, incredibly well educated, who contributed much to the scientific work of the western world. (So much for the myth of "backwards" Tsarist Russia!) The contemporary Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov did a fantastic job of explaining this wave of immigration. It had few parallels in history: an entire chunk of a nation went into self imposed exile, and tried to recreate and continue their old way of life abroad, with the intention of returning one day! It sounds like lunacy, but it isn't, if one considers the fact that many people thought Communism would collapse within their lifetimes; it is a heroic & noble undertaking. It is against this background that the Russian Church Abroad was organized in Yugoslavia. Of course, under these conditions, it is unfortunate but understandable that the missionary aspect took a back seat, to say the least. Even moreso, once the successive wave of immigrants is factored in. These people emigrated begrudgingly, and had little desire to even learn the language of their new country.
But how long can one keep up hope that the Soviet Union will fall soon? When does one come to terms with the fact that perhaps one's stay in a foreign land will be permanent, not only for yourself but for future generations? Few people seemed willing to face reality. Thus most parishes continued to conduct services entirely in Slavonic, Russian Saturday schools were formed (with emphasis on the Russian language above all else), Russian scout troops were formed, Russian balls were held. For those who had memories of the homeland, this was a necessary way of coping, but for those born abroad, what sort of meaning could this have? What could it mean for successive generations? As a result, we have such anomalies in the Church Abroad as teenagers who know Russian Imperial Army songs by heart, and do presentations in school on the Russian Revolution, as if it happened a few years ago. I'm reading a book about Old Believers in Canada, and came across the following which I found interestingly appropriate: "... the determination to maintain an insurmountable fence around Little Russia (the Old Believer community) has thwarted or at least retarded the acquisition of knowledge which any immigrant needs for a reasonably successful coexistence with the host society" (David Scheffel, In the Shadow of Antichrist, p. 63). While I don't think it was quite so dramatic in the Russian Church Abroad, the preference to draw our communities into little Russian ghettos for decades has led many to social maladjustment.
This preference of Russian ethnicity continues to this day. Converts are often sneered at, covertly and openly, and most parishes would prefer to have a parallel English language parish open, rather than integrate English into the services. The idea that salvation is contingent upon Russian ethnicity even experiences reenforcement.
However, St. John Maximovitch, himself a proponent of serving in the local language, and cultivating Orthodoxy along local lines, wrote decades ago that because of the Russian exodus in the wake of the Revolution, "Russians abroad have been given the light of Orthodoxy to shine throughout the world". Of course, St. John was not frequently understood, even by his own people, and so this lofty idea has been largely forgotten. Bishop Daniel has also espoused this idea. It is worth noting that although the Old Believers of Erie have forgotten their ancestral language, they have hardly forgotten their Orthodoxy.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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Obviously, (for those who are able to follow my train of thought throughout this journal), the involvement in the WCC & the lukewarm disavowal of Sergianism bothers me. However, an entire book can be written (and indeed, some have been) describing the involvement of the Moscow Patriarchate with Ecumenism as well as Sergianism. They are complex problems which presently are not particularly acute. This actually may make them more serious problems, in the long run, but at any rate, I won't really be addressing them.
Instead, I'll describe what I feel to be a more acute & immediate potential problem: a more intense "Russification" of the Russian Church Abroad, to the point where we as a Church turn into an ethnic ghetto.
Now, any casual observer might say "wait- youre worried about Russification in the Russian Orthodox Church? Well, duh! If its that much of a concern, perhaps you should join the OCA", or something along those lines. This would be true if it weren't for the fact that the historical legacy of the Russian Church involves the embracing & tolerance of local customs and different peoples, something which I attribute to the fact that Imperial Russia was an empire. Of course, until the mid 19th century, the Russian Church wasn't missionary in the truest sense, i.e.- doing work beyond Russia's borders. The Russian Orthodox churches in western Europe were intended to cater to Russians living abroad, and were typically nothing more than a chapel at the Russian Embassy. However, with the ceding of Alaska to the United States, Metropolitan Innocent (Veniaminov) noted that all work there would now have to be done in English: priests would have to learn English, the translation of the services would have to begin, and even the curriculum at the seminary in Kodiak would have to be in English. Such an overhaul presented obvious problems, and so work proceded slowly, but there were proponents of this line of thought, such as Bishop Vladimir (Sokolovsky). Bear in mind that Isabel Hapgood's classic "Service Book" was carried out under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church (with Patriarch Tikhon's blessing, no less!). Additionally, the Russian Church had no problem with clergymen of & missions catering to, other ethnic groups (such as Arabs).
This of course changed with two great influxes of Russians: those fleeing the Revolution, and those fleeing forcible "repatriation" to the Soviet Union after WWII. The former wave, also known as the "White Immigration" (as in the White Army), in particular was quite remarkable. It consisted of many upper class Russians, incredibly well educated, who contributed much to the scientific work of the western world. (So much for the myth of "backwards" Tsarist Russia!) The contemporary Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov did a fantastic job of explaining this wave of immigration. It had few parallels in history: an entire chunk of a nation went into self imposed exile, and tried to recreate and continue their old way of life abroad, with the intention of returning one day! It sounds like lunacy, but it isn't, if one considers the fact that many people thought Communism would collapse within their lifetimes; it is a heroic & noble undertaking. It is against this background that the Russian Church Abroad was organized in Yugoslavia. Of course, under these conditions, it is unfortunate but understandable that the missionary aspect took a back seat, to say the least. Even moreso, once the successive wave of immigrants is factored in. These people emigrated begrudgingly, and had little desire to even learn the language of their new country.
But how long can one keep up hope that the Soviet Union will fall soon? When does one come to terms with the fact that perhaps one's stay in a foreign land will be permanent, not only for yourself but for future generations? Few people seemed willing to face reality. Thus most parishes continued to conduct services entirely in Slavonic, Russian Saturday schools were formed (with emphasis on the Russian language above all else), Russian scout troops were formed, Russian balls were held. For those who had memories of the homeland, this was a necessary way of coping, but for those born abroad, what sort of meaning could this have? What could it mean for successive generations? As a result, we have such anomalies in the Church Abroad as teenagers who know Russian Imperial Army songs by heart, and do presentations in school on the Russian Revolution, as if it happened a few years ago. I'm reading a book about Old Believers in Canada, and came across the following which I found interestingly appropriate: "... the determination to maintain an insurmountable fence around Little Russia (the Old Believer community) has thwarted or at least retarded the acquisition of knowledge which any immigrant needs for a reasonably successful coexistence with the host society" (David Scheffel, In the Shadow of Antichrist, p. 63). While I don't think it was quite so dramatic in the Russian Church Abroad, the preference to draw our communities into little Russian ghettos for decades has led many to social maladjustment.
This preference of Russian ethnicity continues to this day. Converts are often sneered at, covertly and openly, and most parishes would prefer to have a parallel English language parish open, rather than integrate English into the services. The idea that salvation is contingent upon Russian ethnicity even experiences reenforcement.
However, St. John Maximovitch, himself a proponent of serving in the local language, and cultivating Orthodoxy along local lines, wrote decades ago that because of the Russian exodus in the wake of the Revolution, "Russians abroad have been given the light of Orthodoxy to shine throughout the world". Of course, St. John was not frequently understood, even by his own people, and so this lofty idea has been largely forgotten. Bishop Daniel has also espoused this idea. It is worth noting that although the Old Believers of Erie have forgotten their ancestral language, they have hardly forgotten their Orthodoxy.
TO BE CONTINUED...