The Alaskan Patrimony

Many of these bishops seem to be a law unto themselves, accountable to no one except the "Holy Synod." The problem is the Holy Synod almost never demands accountability from its members unless a crisis ensues, and even then, the glacial pace of dealing with problems insures that nothing meaningful gets done with the likes of +Nikolai and +Tikhon (of the West).

Our current administrative system, creates in effect totalitarian bishops who can do whatever they please within their kingdoms as long as it doesn't affect Holy Tradition or Orthodox Theology. Such an environment is doomed to fail and product corruption, both spiritual and financial. As Fr. Thomas Hopko so clearly explained, the systematic problems of the OCA must be addressed and corrected before any hope of restoring trust, ethics, and proper Orthodox Christian order can come about.

#1 Chris Banescu, Esq. (Link) on 2006-05-18 16:05

Unbelieveable. A whole new rat hole. To have so many real property interests concealed from accountability is beyond excuse. These people need to resign or be fired.

An emergency All-American Council is a must. Our current leadership shows no propensity for right thinking -- and are haughty about it to boot.

#2 Name Withheld on 2006-05-18 17:11

Gee, the Alaska situation does sound like a whole new rat hole. Where does the mismanagement stop in the OCA? And were we really "ready" for autocephaly? I hope these auditors and investigators can really clamp down hard on the OCA with such poor mismanagement. But will they know about Alaska? Perhaps "Name Witheld" is really correct to ask that an emergency All-American Council be held.
Patty Schellbach

#3 Patty Schellbach on 2006-05-18 18:29

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!
Dearly Beloved in the Lord
My suggestion would be to do a 40 day prayer to the Sitka Mother of God before speaking on this matter. I know I myself have been contemplating this icon for a long time without praying before it with the hymns written to it.
I know that His Grace Bishop Nikolai has a strong will, and His Grace is a loving hierarch. I know that His Grace disapproves of this website. I am quite sure His Grace Bishop Nikolai can not be manipulated. I myself have been advised not to step between bishops and archbishops however tempting that may be. I honestly believe it is not wise for laypeople to get involved in the affairs of the hierarchy. I think that is a destructive force that seeks to place laypeople in the midst of the hierarchs on a public level. Jesus asked His disciples, "Can you partake of the cup I am going to partake of"? I would ask that same question of the laity and even the clergy that seek to manage, manipulate and mother the hierarchy. The Office of the Episcopacy requires a collegial ordination. This is significant. These men operate on a higher spiritual level then the laity or the clergy. I would not advise playing with fire on any level.

I would say the best gift we can give our hierarchs is that of UNCEASING INTERCESSORY PRAYER.

With Love in Christ
Olympiada

#4 Olympiada on 2006-05-18 19:00

IF this was going on in Alaska, one could only imagine the field day Metropolitan Herman has had at St. Tikhon's. Between the Monastery, Seminary, Bookstore, etc. and all the special funds they have had over the years, the rumors of many bank accounts at St. Tikhon's might have some validity to them.

The common denominator in all these "allegations" is Metropolitan Herman!

#5 Victor Porchanko on 2006-05-18 19:09

Does it strike any one else as odd that Metropolitan Herman is in the middle of every scandal/allegation that comes out?

Our Metropolitan seems to have his hands in quit a few cookie jars!

#6 Matthew Corrales on 2006-05-18 19:21

Another clear reason audited financial statements are required and with full disclosure to the members of the OCA.

If audited financial statements were completed, the audits would disclose the land. Even if the land were donated and carried at no value on the books, full disclosure of all assets would be required. That disclosure might include the estimated market value of the land. I'm not familiar with the disclosure requirements for the value of donated land, but it definitely would require disclosure of some sort.

Clearly, there is no good reason Syosset would want any control over the properties and the local Bishop would need to perform this role, but if the church needed money desperately, this may be a resource. We need to keep this in perspective, though. My church purchased an extra lot, perhaps for a future expansion, for example. Does this too become property of the OCA in a pinch?

...and really, let's stop with everyone needing to be fired, this is knee jerk

In light of the OCAs apparent mismanagement of funds, can we blame Nikolai for retaining tight controls? If Nikolai has been holding control without good reason, now he has one.

What will be interesting is how the auditors and lawyers treat this one. They can't avoid the issue. Another reason to hire a heavy hitter like Proskauer and another reason an auditor alone can't handle the job.

This begins to reveal even more the situation Metropolitan Herman was facing and the leadership he is now showing.

Calls for an emergency AAC are wrong. The people are powerless, only lawyers and auditors can help in this type of situation. An AAC would be pretty ugly without facts.

#7 Daniel E. Fall on 2006-05-18 20:23

Bravo to the editor!!! You've done it yet again.

Found another nail for the "proverbial coffin" that you bury the OCA in. Again I say, BRAVO TO THE EDITOR.

Not a day goes by that the editor doesn't dig up another skeleton in the closet. But the does the editor realize that with every skeleton, comes another watchful eye on the OCA? Just a few more and I will assure you all, the OCA will disappear.

To all those in the Great Midwest (of which I am one) who discussed the Great "Midwest" Schism in February 06. Start booking your flights, your dream is closer to reality than you think.

All, be very weary of the doors you open, cause the OCANews.org might grab your skeleton too.

Wow, this "scandal" has just taken another turn for the worse. And for those of you who think this is all right. I pray for you. Cause you and your local church may not be a member of the OCA for much longer.

#8 Michael Livosky on 2006-05-18 20:24

Will somebody give me one good reason to remain a member of this pathetic, corrupt church?

#9 Anonymous on 2006-05-18 21:29

Again we find ourselves in the middle of a horrible scandal. To say these latest accusations are disturbing is an understatement. I can no longer continue paying my church dues, furthermore over the past 10 years or so I have given freely and generously (what I can afford) to St. Tikhon's various appeals, that will never happen again. This Metropolitan Herman is IN AND AROUND all of these accusations, how can this man be trusted? AT THE VERY LEAST, HE IS AN ACCOMPLICE TO ALL OF IT!

#10 Marissa Dubinsky on 2006-05-19 05:17

Christ is Risen!

While this article highlights an important controversy, and may well be linked to the underlying issues of financial accountability in Orthodox jurisdictions in America (not just the OCA), I hope that you are not going "fishing" for things other than the stated purpose of the site.

Your 5/15/06 article referred to the OCA "slouching" towards an answer to the basic question underlying this scandal. Based on what you yourself have presented, "slouching" seems an unfair and prejudicial characterization of the steps taken by the OCA's Metropolitan, in the face of other Hierarchs who have bitterly criticized his actions and intentions, and even witheld funds from the Chancery to make their point.

Now, you highlight another problem and it rather seems like you are doing so to justify your earlier concerns (as if they needed any further justification!). Somehow, I find the evolving tone of this site to be worrisome at a gut level (almost as worrisome as the issue itself).

There is much work to be done to clean up messes like that which the OCA is facing. I, for one, appreciate the efforts of this site and consider it a great service to the Church. But don't lose your focus, and do beware of the mantle and rhetoric of self-appointed inquisitors or crusaders -- these blind the intellect and suffocate the spirit. Things like this site can take on a life of their own. To paraphrase the One who is our prime point of reference, "What use is it to gain the OCA and lose your soul?"

#11 Michael Phillips on 2006-05-19 08:37

"Unbelieveable. A whole new rat hole"
"To have so many real property interests concealed from accountability is beyond excuse. These people need to resign or be fired"
"An emergency All-American Council is a must"

I heartily encourage more light be shone on this issue... the real mess will be revealed to the chagrin of many.
I believe that healing will only take place with honesty and openness as its foundation - the mistrust and doubts now so prevalent will never just "go away"

As the past member of a board of Directors who has had the opportunity to deal with the OCA administration regarding "Alaska Lands" I am aware of level of secrecy which has plagued much of our Church's attempt to "obtain" our ancestoral lands including those on Spruce Island - Monks Lagoon.
These lands have been under my ancestors' stewardship for many thousands of years prior to the time of St Herman
Heaven only knows what "they" would do with that land if they got their mitts on it?

I withhold name at this time due to great fear and personal harm that may come to me and others

#12 Anonymous on 2006-05-19 10:00

Very well said, Chris.
Just as an aside to this train of thought, I was led to believe there were no longer going to be any sovereign dioceses. It certainly doesn't appear to be the case, does it?
How sad it is that no one ever seems to be accountable for their actions any longer.

Michael Geeza

#13 Michael Geeza on 2006-05-19 10:46

Is it true or is it a bad dream? Lies, coverups, and spins feeding upon themselves. Are we christians who have been reached by the devil? MONEY IS THE ROOT OFALL EVIL - how true!

#14 ANGRY on 2006-05-19 14:56

ROCOR-MP, here we come!

#15 joe on 2006-05-19 16:03

The administrative history of the Diocese of Alaska is a long and complicated and painful history that cannot be adequately discussed in this kind of forum. However, the role that is being played by the current Bishop of Alaska is very serious and cannot be ignored.

Since I am personally acquainted (not personal friends or buddies) with the different members of the Holy Synod, I see them as they are as individual churchmen with their own personal
characteristics, gifts, and skills. They are not clones or cut from a single cloth. They should be given the benefit of the doubt to be considered on an individual basis, just as we expect to be treated as individuals that are not clones or cut from a single diocesan or parish cloth.

Bishop Nikolai is a very intelligent man who possesses some very exceptional skills in administration. When he succeeded Bishop Innocent and the many problems of financial administration that he left behind him, he boldly faced those problems publicly and did something unprecedented for the Diocese of Alaska by publishing the diocesan assembly financial report on the diocesan website in detail. I, for one, was initially impressed with his candor and realism.

Unfortunately, after an auspicious beginning of his episcopate, he has been steadily revealing, by his actions and his words, to be a classic iconoclast, who clearly is not in the spirit of a Conciliar Church.

He does not appear to me to representing the views of Native Alaskan faithful or even the diocesan leadership.

He does not appear to be representative of the Holy Synod's decisionmaking process of consensus.

It is not clear as to who Bishop Nikolai is accountable to in his administrative decisionmaking.

If Bishop Nikolai has truly made a unilateral decision to sell off properties that have been placed under his stewardship, then what is he going to decide to do next?

Despite their unique differences, I truly believe that the individual members of the Holy Synod stand for the basic principles of a Conciliar Church, except for one notable exception. And that exception is Bishop Nikolai of the Diocese of Alaska.

Christ is Risen!

#16 An Unworthy Churchman from the OCA on 2006-05-19 19:51

Subservience is not an Orthodox Christian calling for the laity and clergy toward bishops; honor, respect, love and mutual accountability are. Any notion of a higher spirituality attributable to episcopal rank and to the deliberations among bishops represents a confused idea of Trinitarian life. "But now indeed there are many members, yet one body... Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually." (I Corinthians 12:20, 27)

#17 Name withheld on 2006-05-19 20:25

In response to those who say the laity should just shut up, I offer this from the work "Pastoral Care" by St. Gregory the Dialogist:

"He, therefore, who sets himself to act evilly and yet wishes others to be silent, is a witness against himself, for he wishes himself to be loved more than the truth, which he does not wish to be defended against himself. There is, of course, no man who so lives as not sometimes to sin, but he wishes truth to be loved more than himself, who wills to be spared by no one against the truth. Wherefore, Peter willingly accepted the rebuke of Paul; *David willingly hearkened to the reproof of a subject*. For good rulers who pay no regard to self-love, take as a homage to their humility the free and sincere words of subjects. But in this regard the office of ruling must be tempered with such great art of moderation, that the minds of subjects, when demonstrating themselves capable of taking right views in some matters, are given freedom of expression, but freedom that does not issue into pride, otherwise, when liberty of speech is granted too generously, the humility of their own lives will be lost."

#18 Wayne Matthew Syvinski on 2006-05-19 21:22

Umm. . .
I just read the treaty at http://www.bartleby.com/43/43.html and it does NOT say that "all assets of the Russian-American Company which managed the province for the Russian Empire devolved by treaty to the Orthodox Church" as claimed in this article. It only mentions the churches themselves (ie the buildings) go to the church -- implying that otherwise, they would have gone to the US. In addition, the treaty specifically says in Art VI that the cession of territory by Russia is "free and unincumbered by any reservations, privileges, franchises, grants, or possessions, by any associated companies, whether corporate or incorporate, Russian or any other; or by any parties, except merely private individual property-holders"
So this notion that the curch got a windfall out of the treaty is not supported by the treaty, but rather the opposite is true. I'm flabbergasted that I'm the only one who has commented on this so far. Maybe the church has alot of land in Alaska, but you would think that a site devoted to the "facts" would try to get them right.

#19 Anonymous on 2006-05-20 00:19

Friend,

With all due respect, this kind of comment is neither constructive nor called for.

Christ is Risen! Yes, even for the OCA.

#20 John Czukkermann on 2006-05-20 03:10

Dear Patty, Auditors and investigators do just that - audit and investigate. They are not white knights and are not empowered to enforce. The clamping down you call for must come from our ***internal will and determination to do so***, or can/will alternatively come from state and federal regulatory bodies in their various civil and criminal capacities. The time for the members of the Body of Christ to act for the sake of the whole body is here. This body is suffering. "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." (1 Corinthians 12:26)

#21 Name withheld on 2006-05-20 03:30

"start booking your flights".... where are we going?

Are you implying that His Eminence, Archbishop JOB, is going to lead the Diocese of the Midwest out of the OCA?

Whither?

Rdr. Alexander

#22 Rdr. Alexander Langley on 2006-05-20 06:34

Thank you for your letter. It raises a concern I do not share. To use an analogy: if a doctor resets a broken bone, only to discover a lesion on the x ray, he does not ignore it, put the bone in a cast and say: "My job is done." To continue the analogy: this patient is sicker than any of us believed when we began to complain about the one broken bone. Until a thorough examination is done, we might miss the disease which will really kill the patient; or fail to address the real cause of distress in our haste to leave the hospital.
This is very painful for all of us. Stay the course. Everyone is welcome in this ER.

#23 Editor on 2006-05-20 06:40

Dear Flabbergasted:

Whether the church has " a lot of land" in Alaska as you say, or received a "windfall" as you claim I assert, is a matter of historical interpretation and debate. I would be happy to do so with you at some future date.

The point of the story was to bring the attention to an ongoing debate about the ownership and control of church lands in Alaska, however extensive, that is being done outside the purview of those ( The Metropolitan Council) to whom the Church has entrusted responsibility per Statute.

I would suggest that unless the current debate is resolved, our future debate over history will be of interest to no one.

#24 Editor (Link) on 2006-05-20 06:53

There are two chances the OCA will join with ROCOR: slim and none.

#25 Michael Strelka on 2006-05-20 09:50

Are you comparing the present hierarchy to Jesus? You have got to be kidding. Their spiritual train left the station a long time ago and they were running on low at that time.

#26 michael C herrick on 2006-05-20 13:24

How blindsighted to make such a reply as this:

"These men operate on a higher spiritual level then the laity or the clergy. I would not advise playing with fire on any level."

What false theology have you been indoctrinated with? With all due respect to you, these men are the problem. Did you see the list, money was diverted from orphans, the 9-11 fund, the IOCC, a medical fund, etc. They are not operating on a higher level whatsoever. The $1.7 million loan to resolve a debt shows you that.

My goodness what is wrong with this church? It is the right and obligation of every lay person to be involved in this affair because the money belongs to the church. NO bishop has the right or discretion to just spend money or sell land on their own. When I last looked, the church existed of both clergy and laity.

#27 A Priest Who Is Flabbergasted on 2006-05-21 19:12

Here is a thought. Perhaps the land could be given back to the Alaskan people, the ones who owned it in the first place! That would be a novel idea.... giving land back to the Alaskan tribal authorities since they were there first, last time I checked my history. Better yet, how about giving them a split of the money too.

#28 Fr. Michael on 2006-05-21 19:20

What false theology have you been indoctrinated with? With all due respect to you, these men are the problem. Did you see the list, money was diverted from orphans, the 9-11 fund, the IOCC, a medical fund, etc. They are not operating on a higher level whatsoever. The $1.7 million loan to resolve a debt shows you that.

My goodness what is wrong with this church? It is the right and obligation of every lay person to be involved in this affair because the money belongs to the church. NO bishop has the right or discretion to just spend money or sell land on their own. When I last looked, the church existed of both clergy and laity."

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!
Are you accusing me of being a heretic? I have not been indoctrinated with any theology, false or true. I am writing from my love for my hierarchs of my church. Are you a clergyman of my church? If so, I hardly think is the proper way for you to write to a laywoman of your church. I think you are a coward to write me to like this without signing your name!

Writing about this affair is not the same as being involved in it. Last time I checked laywomen and priests were not members of the Holy Synod. Last time I checked laywomen and priests were not bishops. Do you believe in OCL?

I can not believe I have to teach a priest about the church. It is hierarchal. That means laywomen are under priests which are under bishops. Now why would you be rough to some under your care? That borders on abuse. Was your bishop rough with you? Are you taking it out on a laywoman now?

I feel sorrow for my bishops who have to deal with such insubordinate priests!

With love in Christ
Olympiada

#29 Olympiada on 2006-05-22 07:21

I find it interesting and ironic that the betrayer of our Lord was also the "keeper of the purse", who helped himself to the contents. Do we believe our Lord was unaware the group was being robbed?

I find it difficult to continue to lay blame at the feet of the episcopacy.

Let's face reality here. The roots of our OCA, administratively, are in the bureaucracy of Imperial Russia. Accountability was to the Crown. The laity didn't need to be involved in the administrative affairs of the Church.

In these United States (and presumably Canada as well, although I am not a Canadian citizen), the OCA heirarchy owes no accountability to the government. There is no crown (and a Bishop's Mitre is more a crown of Thorns than a crown of Power!)

Living in a democracy, the difficult truth is that we have to blame ourselves. While our Bishops have behaved poorly, to say the least, the ultimate responsibility for this mess lies with us. We should have demanded information. Some did, but not enough. We no longer have an appeal to the crown of State. Just as our government is a reflection of us, so too is our Church a reflection of us.

Is it our responsibility to hold authority over the bishops? Heaven forbid! The bishops are accountable to Christ. We are responsible to take reasonable steps to ensure the material assets are used in a manner befitting our Lord. We now know, dimly, the problem: a lack of transparency and accountability for the administration of the Church.

What do we now do? We have to be responsible. We have to be adult. We have to use the brain that God gave us.

We must, with respect, relieve our Bishops of the obligations of day-to-day administration.

We must, to protect our Bishops and employees, implement strong systems of accountability and internal controls so that these charges cannot be leveled again, ever.

We must review our administrative governing documents and revise them to reflect the realities of 21st Century north America.

Now is NOT the time to withhold funds from the Church. Perhaps from the folks in Syosset, but not from the Church.

We should fund the audit and investigation, over and above our tithes and offerings to the Church.

We should pay off the newly-acquired debt.

We should look at the whole of the Church, beyond the beaurocracy, and ensure our missions are being accomplished.

We must dedicate ourselves to prayer, that God may reveal Himself to us through this mess.

Humbly, I submit He already has. St. Peter didn't hesitate to reveal the withheld gifts. Transparency isn't just a good idea -- it is the Law of God. God also asks us to detach ourselves from the material things of this earth, and choose to live simply, in dependence on Him daily for our needs.

Why do we care what the heirarchs and administration do?

We care NOT because they steal from us. After all, I depend on God for my daily needs.

We care because they steal from the poor. They steal from the widow, the orphan, the seminarian, the parish secretary, the presbyter, the matushka, the child.

This website is not a death knell. On the contrary! It is a wake-up call.

For us -- the faithful. To shoulder our responsibility to care for the poor, the sick, the naked, the lonely, the imprisoned. Those who serve (including Bishops!).

How about we take the findings, learn from them, and then use that knowledge to build a Church passionate about caring for those of our neighbors in need?

Let's start now building a solution. We know what doesn't work. Let's find a model that does work.

Marty
Martin D. Watt, CPA (Inactive)

#30 Marty Watt on 2006-05-22 10:53

"The Office of the Episcopacy requires a collegial ordination. This is significant. These men operate on a higher spiritual level then the laity or the clergy."

On a higher spiritual level? Did you really mean to say that?

According to St. Ignatius of Antioch and the Orthodox thinking that developed from his writings on the matter, a bishop is supposed to "icon forth" the person of Christ. But does the imagery reflect only the office of the bishop, or the person, or both? If St. Paul's teachings on the qualifications of a bishop are any indication, bishops are indeed to show forth Christ in their persons as Christians of extraordinary spirituality, and not just mere "ecclesiastical functionaries." Unfortunately, it seems that the former are in short order these days, and that our synods of bishops are populated mainly by the latter. I cannot say that most bishops these days are "on a higher spiritual level then the laity or the clergy," not at all. And so I am not content to leave this matter solely in the bishops' hands. If Christ can raise up descendants of Abraham from mere stones, He can raise up proper leadership from among the laity and clergy, or corrective agents from outside the Church. According to the principle of syndiakonia, the laity have just as much stake in the preservation of the holiness and good order of the church as do the bishops and lower clergy.

#31 Christopher Little on 2006-05-22 11:11

Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!
Yes I meant to say higher spiritual level.
The bishops are monastics. They have a more severe path. Perhaps I should be writing about monasticism.
Judge not least ye be judged. I would not recommend judging the hierarchy if I were you. No where have I read that the laity may judge the hierarchy.
What is wrong with the laity?
Talk about false theology!
Where did you get your false theology from?
I stand up for the hierarchy and I get attacked.
Well I will tell you something: it was the beauty of the clergy and the hierarchy that first caught my eye and brought me into the Church. Capiche?
And believe me, lots of Christians tried to convert me over the years.
Some of us find the hierarchy to be beautiful. Do away with that beauty and you will do away with those of us who appreciate it.
Do you want an ugly church?
Sure sounds like it to me.
And by the way, I assure you I am not the only human to find spiritual beauty in the writing of the hierarchy, especially that of Bishops Nikolai and Tikhon.
With love in Christ
Olympiada

#32 Olympiada on 2006-05-22 12:15

For everyone that is following Bishop Tikhon's lead and withholding funds or planning to, it is important to share with you all that there are others that will give and give more when the church is in need. The time to not give is when there is great prosperity.

#33 Daniel E. Fall on 2006-05-22 17:42

"I feel sorrow for my bishops who have to deal with such insubordinate priests!"

And don't forget, Olympiada, such pesky trifles as "Thou shall not steal!"

#34 Priest Robert K. McMeekin on 2006-05-22 20:38

I would ask Marissa and all with similar inclinations to reconsider. first of all, a relatively small amount of the $cash$ you give to your local parish gets past up the food chain. The vast majority of it goes to keep your parish's lights on and roof mended, and provide for your priest and his family. As to any that is wasted and mismanaged by these bishops and their minions, I would pass on what A member of our parish counsel said to me. He gives a certain amount of money to his children each month as an allowance. Is that money spent wisely? Well no, not usually. However, as a parent it is his duty to teach his children the proper use of money as well as to sacrifice for them. He does his best, but we all know he is not always successful. Children will be what they are, and with God's help this present waste will be replaced by future wisdom.

It was difficult at me to hear this at first, as I wanted to do the right thing NOW and withhold our contributions until a satisfactory resolution to this obvious mismanagement came to past. I in no way condone past fraud and mismanagement, but the fact is our seminaries still need to be funded, and other apparatus of the Church still deserves to exist. Let's not fall into the trap Bishop Tikhon fell into - let's continue to support the Church while demanding accountability.

#35 Christopher Encapera (OCA-North Carolina) on 2006-05-23 12:18

"No where have I read that the laity may judge the hierarchy."

Indeed! Had the laity been less judgmental and more obedient to the Bishops at the Council of Florence in 1439 we could merely appeal to the Pope to resolve our current difficultues.

Ah, for the good old days...

#36 Priest Robert K. McMeekin on 2006-05-23 19:27

I believe the bishops are currently meeting in Holy Synod to try and resolve our present difficulties.
As I wrote, we belong to a hierarchal church. Do away with the hierarchy and you do away with orthodoxy. Do away with obedience and you do away with orthodoxy.
As I wrote the church is structured hierarchly: laity, clergy, hierarchy.

#37 Olympiada on 2006-05-24 06:55

Bless Father,

And if St. Paul had been obedient to St. Peter, we'd not have this mess at all, because we'd still be pagans.

Marty
Martin D. Watt, CPA

#38 Marty Watt on 2006-05-24 17:53

Amen to this posting!

It is too easy to resort to indignance. In my life -- and I only speak of myself -- indignance ALWAYS is self-righteousness and a means to "cover" my many sins.

This fiasco is, indeed, a wake-up call to us the as the People of God to not be passive and content to let the few do all the work. Far too many parishioners live this form of church life -- and then complain when they don't like what the leadership does.

Prayer, fasting, almsgiving to our common life & ministry, repentance, sorrow, admonition, taking heed -- to these things we are being called.

I'm in sorrow and disgust over the behavior, as I understand it, of a few. Few. But I am constantly admonished, "Put not your trust in princes, in sons of men..." So, I will not let this shake my faith in what the Church is. And I believe that, whatever future is in store for the OCA, it is an instrument of God's grace now, and ought to be the recptor of my generosity and prayer.

This does not require me to be a door-mat and stay out of the business of the "beautiful" hierarchs, as another has suggested. It requires me to expect and contribute to honesty and faithfulness.

Christ is risen!

#39 Tracey (Rdr. John) on 2006-05-26 17:24

Marty,
I have been pondering this comment for a week now and I still don't understand the theology behind it. You have shown me a blind spot. Can you explain this comment please?
Thank you
Olympiada

#40 Olympiada on 2006-06-01 19:25

I suggest reading THE ALASKA TREATY, Article II, signed at Washington D.C. March 30, 1867 and I quote :

"IT IS HOWEVER, UNDERSTOOD AND AGREED, THAT THE CHURCHES THAT HAVE BEEN BUILT IN THE CEDED TERRITORY(ALASKA) BY THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, SHALL REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF SUCH PARISHIONERS OF THE GREEK ORIENTAL CHURCH RESIDENT IN THE TERRITORY, AS MAY CHOOSE TO WORSHIP THEREIN. ANY GOVERNMENT ARCHIVES, PAPERS, AND DOCUMENTS RELATIVE TO THE TERRITORY AND DOMINION AFORESAID, WHICH MAY BE NOW EXISTING THERE, WILL BE LEFT IN THE POSSESSION OF THE AGENT OF THE UNITED STATES." Unquote.

Notice it says 'parishioners'....the churches were left to the residents, mostly Alaska Natives. This seems to be forgotten. I hold copies of some deeds of church property sold without parishioner knowledge. This has been happening for many years. I have lived in Alaska almost all my life, and have served the church for 50 years, give or take. What I am seeing up here today is frightening. We are losing much, and being left with nothing.

I commend Father Ted Wojcik for speaking out. He seems to have first hand knowledge of what's happening up here.

Please pray for our suffering church.

#41 (Please withhold my name. I could be excommunicated) on 2006-07-10 17:16

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