STATE OF AFFAIRS “How to Expand the Mission” Robert M. Arida

Introductory Note Gospel. This includes those churches that base their raison d’être on minis- Though it was originally written as tering to a particular ethnicity. They a reflection for the OCA’s upcom- recognize, in theory if not in practice, ing All-American Council in July of the dominical imperative to proclaim 2015, I believe what follows applies the Gospel to all people. Yet, for the to all Orthodox Christians in North Church to expand its mission to and America. The theme of mission and for the life of the world, it must strive evangelization permeates our eccle- to examine itself in relationship to the sial atmosphere. From the beginnings people it is entrusted to serve and of Christianity, mission and evange- ultimately save. This ecclesial intro- lization have compelled the Church spection or μετάνοια is necessary if to enter the new and unknown. This the Church is to maintain its credibil- is seen in the Pauline letters and in ity among an informed audience that the Acts of the Apostles regarding is often justifiably critical of its inabil- the reception of Gentiles. Guided by ity (and unwillingness) to hear and the Spirit, this monumental move- respond to its questions. This ecclesi- ment on the part of the Church to al μετάνοια is necessary if the body move beyond the confines of Juda- of Christ is to take upon its shoulders ism was fraught with fear, suspicion, the sin and agony of the world. To and opposition. Yet, in the end, as the expand its mission the Church must Church expanded its mind and heart, renew and therefore expand its mind Christianity was saved from becom- and heart. —RMA ing another Jewish sect as it engaged and transformed its surrounding cul- I tures. The 18th All-American Council bas- How to expand the mission has chal- es its overall theme on the words of lenged and continues to challenge the Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow. Church on the national, diocesan, and During his ministry in North America parochial levels. It would not be an (1898–1907), the then Archbishop Tik- exaggeration to say that virtually ev- hon convened the first All-American ery Orthodox church in North Ameri- Council in Mayfield, Pennsylvania, in ca seeks to expand the ministry of the February of 1907. This council, per-

The Wheel 1 | Spring 2015 9 haps the last significant and prophet- of jurisdictional pluralism and over- ic act of Archbishop Tikhon’s North lapping episcopal boundaries, the American ministry, recognized not Mayfield Council provides us with only the difficulties but also the many the moral support to stay the course opportunities for the Church to carry of a local church. out the missionary mandate of the Gospel. Based on the minutes record- Gathered around Saint Tikhon, the ed by Saint Alexander Hotovitsky, the Mayfield Council stands as a- hum vision of the 1907 council looked to- ble and courageous paradigm to be ward the future. For Archbishop Tik- emulated by those who will gather in hon, “the defining goal of the council Atlanta in July of 2015. Just as world was the question of ‘How to Expand events at the beginning of the twen- 1 Gregory Afonsky, the Mission’ in order to prepare the tieth century radically changed eccle- A History of the way for self-governing, unsubordi- sial life here and abroad, our church Orthodox Church in America, 1917– nated existence and development” in in America—poor and mainly com- 1 1934 (Kodiak: St. North America. prised of immigrants—continued the Herman’s Theolog- struggle to carry on and to expand its ical Seminary Press, Clearly, the Mayfield Council - un mission in and for America. Similarly, 1994), 11. derstood expanding the mission to as the Church will gather in council include the unity of the various eth- in 2015, one can only hope that it will nic Orthodox communities within seek ways to implement a vision for a united hierarchy and the future “expanding the mission” when life establishment of an autonomous if here and abroad have placed before not autocephalous church in North its doors unprecedented challenges America. Though the Russian Revo- as well as new opportunities to re- lution of 1917 together with the large spond to the ever changing culture(s) waves of immigrants from Eastern of our time. But for this to occur, the Europe and the Mediterranean de- Atlanta Council will need to consid- layed Orthodox unity in America er other ways to understand Saint and the establishment of a self-gov- Tikhon’s vision of “how to expand erning local church, the Mayfield the mission.” Council still remains an important signpost in the history of Orthodoxy II in America. It stands upon the vision and labors of missionaries extending If how to expand the Church’s mission back to late eighteenth-century Alas- is to be perceived as more than the ka and points to the granting of auto- development of commissions and cephaly by the Moscow patriarchate programs to bolster membership and in 1970. This organic development revenue, and if the Church is to have leading to the establishment of the a credible presence in our culture, Orthodox Church in America serves offering it more than a condemning to remind us that our autocephaly is word couched in the language of love, a sacred gift that is given to sustain then it is necessary for the Church to a multifaceted, multi-ethnic demo- expand its mind and heart. The task is graphic bound by hierarchical and formidable for it demands a reassess- sacramental unity. Though our au- ment of how to speak and act in a cul- tocephaly continues to challenge the ture that, while infused with religious irregular and uncanonical status quo pluralism, continues to turn a critical

10 Participants at the first All-American Council in front of St. John’s Church, May- field, Pennsylvania, 1907. Photographer unknown. Courtesy Orthodox Church in America.

eye toward Christianity. By no means its decrees, exhortations, and admo- is the Orthodox Church in America nitions, which often ignore sophisti- spared this public scrutiny. In spite of cated and refined theological schol- our small numbers, our Church has arship, science, and technology. If the assumed a noticeable posture in the Church is to “expand its mission,” it public square that varies little from can no longer turn away from, ignore, that of Christian fundamentalists. or condemn questions and issues that Consequently, the biblical, patristic, are a priori presumed to contradict or and liturgical pillars of our tradition challenge its living tradition. Among are being toppled by a hermeneutic the most controversial of these issues that precludes dialogue, nuance, and are those related to human sexuality, change. the configuration of the family, the be- ginning and ending of human life, and Should this closed hermeneutic— care for the environment. If the Church which has made its way to semi- is to “expand its mission” then, in and nary classrooms, parish ambos, and through the Holy Spirit, it must be synodal proclamations—continue to able to expand the understanding of itself spread, the Church will steadily lose and of the world it lives in. its ability to listen and respond to the questions of the day. If the Church is The ministry of Christ, who is “the to stem the polarity of ideas and opin- same yesterday, today and forever” ions growing within itself, and if it is (Heb. 8:13), cannot and has not been to be the presence of Christ in society, proclaimed by only resorting to what then it can no longer allow its mission has been said in the past. So long as to be impeded by fear and ignorance. the mind and heart of the Church ac- Within and outside of the Church, cept the fiction that all questions per- questions are being raised relative taining to God, human life, and soci- to issues that were once considered, ety have been raised and answered from a theological and pastoral per- in the past there can be no possibility spective, outside the realm of reexam- to expand its life and mission. More ination and reevaluation. specifically, when the Church is ori- ented only to the past, it cannot be No longer can the Church expect its the Church of the Kingdom which is faithful and the wider public to accept to come.

The Wheel 1 | Spring 2015 11 III will be unable to articulate the “mind of Christ” here and now. This bold If the Church is to expand its mind concept of Saint Paul, “we have the and heart then each of its mem- mind of Christ” (1 Cor. 2:16), can easily bers—clergy and laity—is compelled be misconstrued now, as it was among to expand his or her mind and heart. some of the Corinthian Christians of Unless there is a renewal of those com- the first century. To possess the mind prising the Church, the Church’s very of Christ is not to be understood as a catholicity—that is, its quality of life and static mode of consciousness that can faith—are jeopardized, inasmuch as only repeat what was said in the past. those called to have “one mind and The mind of Christ is inexhaustible, heart” cease to allow the Truth to grow and therefore human consciousness 2 Georges Florovsky, within themselves. Often the inability and awareness are eternally dynam- “Le corps du Christ to grow in the Truth leads to a course ic, ever expanding, ever extending vivant” in La Sainte Eglise Universelle: of mutual exclusion and division. into the divine mystery. “Speaking the Confrontation truth in love, we are to grow up in ev- oecuménique (Neu- A closed mind and a hardened heart ery way into him who is the head, into châtel: Delachaux et cannot repent and ultimately prevent Christ” (Eph. 3:15). Niestlé, 1948), 34. a union and communion of persons. A closed mind and heart also lead to a With the expansion of the Church’s type of faith that is bereft of Divine en- mind and heart, what is of the past ergy and life. This, in turn, creates an can be augmented. Consequently, ecclesial environment that is myopic, Holy Scripture can continue to be in- oppressive, fearful, and self-contained terpreted and clarified. Patristic writ- —the very antithesis to catholicity. ings can continue to be reassessed “The human aspect of the Church is and even corrected. Liturgical texts never fully conformed to the divine can continue to be composed while model. The Church must not cease to existing texts can be revised. With make itself catholic. But this is possible the expanded mind and heart of the only because it is essentially catholic in Church, the ministry of Christ will be its Lord... The main problem to resolve able to expand through the creative is always that of recreating the catholic operation of the Holy Spirit. This will and full mind...”2 allow the Church to maintain its au- thentic voice, the voice of Christ, as it Without an ongoing process of repen- expands its mission for the life of the tance among its faithful, the Church world and its salvation.

The V. Rev. Robert M. Arida is Rector and Dean of Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral in Boston, Mas- sachusetts. He is a graduate of St. Vladimir’s Semi- nary. Some of his published and unpublished articles and essays can be found on the HTOC website at holytrinityorthodox.org. © 2015 The Wheel. May be distributed for noncommercial use. www.wheeljournal.com

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