Milk and Honey has a Q&A with Bishop Hilaron of Vienna on how to best deal with non-Orthodox groups and those who are interested in Orthodoxy. The complete article is here, but here is a sample:
- What do you think to be the typical mistakes Orthodox missionary Internet sites make, and how can they be avoided?
One of the typical mistakes is aggressive missionary work whereby Orthodoxy is shown compared to other confessions, and the other confessions are criticized in an aggressive and polemic way. At the same time, as I said, we are to tell the truth without being afraid of hurting anyone. Once I talked to a Lutheran bishop who asked me how I understand the Church. I tried to explain to him how Orthodox Christians understand it. And then he asked, ‘In this case it appears that you do not consider us a church, do you?‘I said, ‘It appears that we actually don’t.’ And he began to cry. The reaction was unexpected, but at the same time it was a natural reaction. I could not possibly display it in another light to cause a different reaction.
Telling the truth, however, does not mean to be polemical or aggressive. We should never turn a dialogue about Orthodoxy into a violent dispute with other confessions. There must be a very clear dividing line between defending the truth and aggression.
Another popular mistake Orthodox Internet sites make is that the Orthodox authors would often speak in a special Orthodox language that is inaccessible to a person who is not Orthodox. They would use their own terms and their own special logics. So it happens that the texts that they offer are meant only for an insider, but tell little to those who do not belong to the Orthodox Church. If this is a missionary Internet site, it is very important that the texts are written in a style understandable for any reader, that can attract people to the faith, that is not particularly Orthodox or particularly specialized.
- How does your diocese work with the newly-converted in order to make their churching full and profound?
We work with them the way we work with all other parishioners. I have noticed that in the West, among the so called Orthodox converts, there exists a certain syndrome: someone is converted and then for the rest of his life tries to prove to himself and to all others that he has done the right thing, that he is a true Orthodox, like those born in the Orthodox faith. For some reason this syndrome makes such people refer to their Orthodox faith every two minutes. I think there is something superfluous about it.
Orthodoxy must be accepted naturally, in the same way as one breathes the air. We breathe the air, we need the air, we cannot exist without the air, but we are not talking about it all the time. For people who have been brought up in an Orthodox family, who have Orthodoxy in their genes, in their flesh and blood from their early childhood, the Orthodox faith is the natural habitat, it does not need constant mentioning. It seems to me that people who come to Orthodoxy are to be brought up so that their conversion would not mean any break-down. When someone becomes Orthodox, there is no need to prove to oneself every minute that he has done the right thing.
One of the typical mistakes is aggressive missionary work whereby Orthodoxy is shown compared to other confessions, and the other confessions are criticized in an aggressive and polemic way. At the same time, as I said, we are to tell the truth without being afraid of hurting anyone. Once I talked to a Lutheran bishop who asked me how I understand the Church. I tried to explain to him how Orthodox Christians understand it. And then he asked, ‘In this case it appears that you do not consider us a church, do you?‘I said, ‘It appears that we actually don’t.’ And he began to cry. The reaction was unexpected, but at the same time it was a natural reaction. I could not possibly display it in another light to cause a different reaction.
Telling the truth, however, does not mean to be polemical or aggressive. We should never turn a dialogue about Orthodoxy into a violent dispute with other confessions. There must be a very clear dividing line between defending the truth and aggression.
Another popular mistake Orthodox Internet sites make is that the Orthodox authors would often speak in a special Orthodox language that is inaccessible to a person who is not Orthodox. They would use their own terms and their own special logics. So it happens that the texts that they offer are meant only for an insider, but tell little to those who do not belong to the Orthodox Church. If this is a missionary Internet site, it is very important that the texts are written in a style understandable for any reader, that can attract people to the faith, that is not particularly Orthodox or particularly specialized.
We work with them the way we work with all other parishioners. I have noticed that in the West, among the so called Orthodox converts, there exists a certain syndrome: someone is converted and then for the rest of his life tries to prove to himself and to all others that he has done the right thing, that he is a true Orthodox, like those born in the Orthodox faith. For some reason this syndrome makes such people refer to their Orthodox faith every two minutes. I think there is something superfluous about it.
Orthodoxy must be accepted naturally, in the same way as one breathes the air. We breathe the air, we need the air, we cannot exist without the air, but we are not talking about it all the time. For people who have been brought up in an Orthodox family, who have Orthodoxy in their genes, in their flesh and blood from their early childhood, the Orthodox faith is the natural habitat, it does not need constant mentioning. It seems to me that people who come to Orthodoxy are to be brought up so that their conversion would not mean any break-down. When someone becomes Orthodox, there is no need to prove to oneself every minute that he has done the right thing.
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