KEYNOTE ADDRESS
FROM HIS EMINENCE METROPOLITAN ISAIAH OF
METROPOLIS CLERGY-LAITY ASSEMBLY
May, 2011
We have gathered, once again, representing the parishes of this holy Metropolis of Denver. We come together every other year, prior to the next year’s Achdiocese Clergy-Laity Congress and the National Philoptochos Conference, in order to reflect on where we have been as a Church and where we wish to go.
Looking across our vast region, we can say that we have seen incremental growth, especially in the developing urban areas. On the other hand, we realize that some of the smaller parishes are either not growing or are losing numbers of parishioners. One parish, in
In regard to those parishes which are not increasing in membership, there has been no outreach of any kind by the church, due to lack of funding or lack of interest. The Metropolis, however, has been providing priests for Holy Week services for the past fifteen years. Those parishes can continue to grow as we turn our attention to the increasing number of Protestant churches which are closing throughout this part of the country. From among those Protestants who are leaving, there is a good percentage which seeks another church. We can be optimistic that the Holy Spirit is leading them to our Orthodox faith whose Church has preserved the Apostolic teachings which are blessed to follow. There will continue to be a growing number of people who leave the non-denominational and other Protestant congregations which have radically changed their basic beliefs and now allow persons of unnatural and abnormal lifestyles to be either members of the clergy or accepted parishioners. Among them, as mentioned, there are those who have heard of Orthodox Christianity. They realize that ours is the Church of the first millennium which has preserved the teachings of the undivided Church.
A good number of these former Protestants have already gravitated to the O.C.A. and to the Antiochian Archdiocese because they use English exclusively. Due to our title, Greek, these people do not initially realize that our parishes also use English. Even so, we can say about ourselves that we have an unconscious tendency, based on self-preservation, to be a closed entity, and thus giving the false impression that we are concerned only for ourselves. One reason for this false notion is that our faith appears to be strongly connected to nationalism and not to the catholicity of our Apostolic faith and traditions. We know that this perception among the non-Orthodox is very strong in the major cities of our nation where our Greek culture appears to be strongly nationalistic, what with the Greek Independence Day parades, and the social receptions sponsored by the Greek embassy and consulates. They do not see us as being under the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, which officially carries no ethnic name, but simply preserves the original language of the New Testament.
The positive side of this reality is that more and more people who seek the true faith of Apostolic Christianity are realizing that the fact we still use New Testament Greek in our services is a witness to the truth of our faith and the accuracy of our translations. Because of this, it is essential for our clergy and the laity in the smaller parishes to be sensitive to the fact that an increasing number of people are looking to see if they should join us. If those people who, we can say, are led by the Holy Spirit, do not come into our parish family, these smaller parishes will ultimately close, as the parish in
In all of this, when we do see converts coming into our parishes, some of the core or cradle members appear to be threatened because they see themselves as losing control. Control of what? The Church belongs to Christ, not to us. Unfortunately, this particular attitude is not new in the life of the Church. In the Book of Acts we read in the sixth chapter that the Christian Hellenists (the Greeks) were complaining that their widows were neglected in the daily food distribution, while the Jewish Christian women were given better care. Fortunately, through the power of the Holy Spirit, this problem was corrected. Yet, today we see this same attitude of one-sidedness existing in some Orthodox parishes which grow up to a point in membership, and then they stop. It is like a closed society or club. New members seem to be a threat.
Fortunately, in most of our parishes in this Metropolis, we wish to see those small parishes continually growing in numbers. This is the spirit of missions which the Holy Spirit is developing. We are also seeing the establishment of new parishes. Reflecting back over these past twelve or so years, we have welcomed five new parishes in the Metropolis: Saint John the Theologian in Webster, Texas; Saint Michael the Archangel in Colorado Springs, Colorado; Saint Basil the Great in Houston, Texas; Saint Spyridon in Loveland, Colorado; and The All Holy Spirit in Omaha, Nebraska. For these new parishes to grow and to flourish, it is imperative for all of us, clergy and laity, to accept the responsibility of sharing our great treasure of Orthodox Christianity with those who are searching for Christ and His true Church.
As our ancestors received our holy faith from the Jewish Christians in the days of the Apostles and thereafter, so, too, they who seek Christ and His Church should receive this holy treasure from us. This divine faith is not for us to hold only for ourselves, but to share with those people of goodwill who are seeking the true Christ and His Holy Church, the only Church He established by the Holy Spirit on the great day of Pentecost.
During the past eighteen years, having observed the restricted growth and the loss of members in some of our smaller parishes, they far outnumber the medium and large ones in membership. Actually, they are about eighty percent of all our parishes. Allow me, therefore, to offer a recommendation for the growth of these parishes. Hopefully you can accept my proposal as a strong recommendation to the Archdiocese Clergy-Laity Congress scheduled for next year, wherever it is to be held.
First and foremost, a small parish will never grow if it does not have a fulltime resident priest. These small parishes cannot generate enough income to compensate a priest and his family according to the Archdiocese guidelines, as well as to have enough income to cover their maintenance and repairs costs. What is the solution? Let us consider what number of families of members would identify a parish as “small.” Let us say up to forty families. Then, let the Archdiocese establish an office—among the many that it has—to fully compensate a fulltime, resident priest for each of those parishes. I am confident that, in due time, with the increase in membership by the unchurched and the converts, the Archdiocese will see an increase in the annual assessments from those parishes. The incremental growth of those parishes will guarantee healthy parishes and a stronger Archdiocese. This can be a definite win-win situation.
It is about time that our Arhdiocese, from its national offices in
In the course of our discussions later today and tomorrow, possibly some of us can come up with a plan to implement this program and demonstrate to our people in the small parishes that we do care for them. Once our mortgage of five hundred thousand dollars on our
In regard to needed income, is it too premature to ask those members of this Metropolis to consider the Metropolis in their estate planning and to put the Metropolis in their wills? This actually has already begun in two or three of our smaller parishes by devoted parishioners, and has brought untold blessings to these smaller parishes.
Let us, then, as we enter into our workshops and our discussions, come up with new and positive solutions for the growth and increased stability of our parishes throughout this holy Metropolis. We really have been too complacent.
It is, in fact, time to do something more, as we witness unexpected, radical events taking place throughout the world. It does appear that the prophecies of our Lord found in the Holy Gospels, regarding the final days, are beginning to unfold. It is therefore most imperative that we share the good news of our salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ and His coming Kingdom with those who are coming to our doors, thirsting for His unchanging truths and for their salvation.
I thank you. +Metropolitan Isaiah of
May, 2011
