The Movement for Orthodox Unity
nick cobb
Striving to be multijurisdictional and pan-Orthodox, St. Vladimir's
transcends ethnic boundaries.
By David Briggs
CRESTWOOD, N.Y. (RNS) -- Growing up in a Russian Orthodox Church in
Lakewood, Ohio, where the Church Slavonic language and ethnic customs
were integral to parish life, the Rev. Andrew Clements was taken aback
his first few days at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary.
Everything was in English.
"My jaw just dropped for 30 days and stayed there," Clements said. "I
went `Wow' for about the first month."
As early as the 1970s when Clements was a student, St. Vladimir's
Seminary in Crestwood was the living laboratory for an Orthodox Church
in the United States that transcended ethnic boundaries. Conducting
services in English, celebrating Christmas on Dec. 25, admitting women
to the seminary, St. Vladimir's was a place where the Orthodox faith
reached out to all Americans whether they were born in Russia or
Albania or New Mexico or North Carolina.
Today, Clements is rector of St. Nicholas Church in Mentor, Ohio,
creating his own vision of an Orthodox Church in the United States
with a congregation that crosses several ethnic lines.
He is among hundreds of several St. Vladimir's graduates throughout
the country who are leaders in the movement for a church in the United
States that seeks to foster converts and reach out to younger
generations and their non-Orthodox spouses.
Amid the ebb and flow of ethnic and jurisdictional politics, the
seminary nestled in a pastoral setting in suburban New York continues
its role as a vision of unity for Orthodox Christians in America.
We have been self-consciously multijurisdictional, pan-Orthodox," said
Dean John Erickson. "I would like to make St. Vladimir Seminary a
place of dialogue, a place of engagement ... a beacon of hope for
Orthodox unity, for Orthodox theology, maybe even for sanity in
Orthodox church life."
The first Orthodox clergy came to Alaska in the late 18th century to
minister to Russian fur traders, but quickly became advocates for the
native peoples. Until the Russian Revolution of 1917, the missionary
church embraced waves of immigrants from Europe and the Middle East,
holding the hope of eventually forming an independent church in the
United States.
The chaos of the Russian Revolution and a rise in ethnic nationalism
quickly divided the church into ethnic jurisdictions. There are more
than 30 ethnic jurisdictions in the United States today, most
administered from abroad in places from Moscow to Jerusalem to
Istanbul.
St. Vladimir's Seminary was founded in 1938 as a place to train
Orthodox leaders for service in the United States. Led by influential
theologians such as the Rev. Alexander Schmemann and the Rev. John
Meyendorff, St. Vladimir's helped moved Orthodoxy into the mainstream
of American life. The seminary became a place that encouraged dialogue
both among Christian denominations and among the various Orthodox
ethnic jurisdictions.
English-language services became the norm at St. Vladimir's, which
also supported a revised Julian calendar to celebrate fixed feast days
such as Christmas on Dec. 25 with the rest of the country.
"Unity is a fact of life of the seminary," says Juliana Schmemann, 79,
the widow of the former seminary dean Alexander Schmemann.
As she sat inside the seminary chapel recently, Schmemann remembers
every change "was always a fight," but she says developments such as
English-language services have been well received because worshippers
can understand the services.
Even today, work for Orthodox unity remains a struggle.
Hopes were raised in 1994, when U.S. bishops from several
jurisdictions convened in Ligonier, Pa., and committed themselves to
work toward administrative unity. But some overseas patriarchs,
reluctant to give up control of the U.S. churches, rejected the
Ligonier conference.
In churches in the United States, there also are concerns that some
ethnic traditions members value may be compromised or lost in the move
toward unity. There are still ethnic churches in the United States
where it would be considered outrageous to use English in the liturgy.
Still, the unity movement is seen by many as inevitable for a church
that with each generation in the United States lessens ties to its
immigrant past.
As St. Vladimir wrapped up its academic year last weekend, the
87-member student body included individuals from Antiochian, Greek,
Romanian, Russian, Serbian and nine other Orthodox jurisdictions. The
majority of students studying for the clergy are converts, attracted
by the church's spiritual teachings rather than cultural ties.
The Rev. John Parker, a former Episcopal priest born in North Carolina
who is now with the Orthodox Church in America, says he comes to the
church with no jurisdictional memories. "It's not on my radar screen,"
he says.
Demographics also are driving the push for American churches. As
Orthodox move out into the suburbs and throughout the country, more
mission churches are being founded as all-English, multinational
congregations.
And in older congregations, more young people are staying in the
church as services switch to English, many pastors say.
At the seminary, students filled with the enthusiasm of youth and the
commitment born of choosing a faith by conversion envision a time of
growth.
Sophia Sanders, a first-year divinity student and convert from Santa
Fe, N.M., says as Orthodoxy becomes better known, "more people will
just start piling in."
Nicholas Belcher, an Antiochian Orthodox student, said his father's
first attempt to become Orthodox was rebuffed by a priest who told him
converts were not welcome. His father persisted, and Belcher is now
studying for the priesthood.
"It's a great time to be Orthodox. It's a hopeful time to be
Orthodox," he says. "We're going to be unified in a matter of time. If
we really lead the life, loving and being pastoral, God will work it
all out."
One sign of growth at the seminary is a new library complex dedicated
last year. Metropolitan Herman, primate of the Orthodox Church in
America, says the facility makes St. Vladimir's the premier center for
research in Orthodox scholarship on this continent.
In a mix of the sacred and secular, the seminary is a green oasis of
contemplation bordered by suburban houses, just a few hundred yards
from the Bronx River Parkway and only a half-hour from Manhattan.
Trees surround the grounds, and seminarians can ponder nature from
wooden and stone benches or as they walk over wooden bridges
traversing a gently flowing creek.
On the highest ground in the seminary is a cross atop a gold-domed
cupola over the chapel.
It is there, in prayer, as often as five times a day, that students
say they get the spiritual strength for the work ahead of them.
Parker said an excellent faculty and a theological tradition embracing
important thinkers are giving him strong tools for Orthodox ministry.
"Put all that together with apple pie and a Ford," Parker said.
"That's where I see myself going."