"I am the door. By me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." - John 10:9 At every parish where I have had the pleasure of attending services, there is always a small group of people who find their way all the way up to the church building but don't actually attend services. At one parish it was a group of male gypsies who talked on cellphones or smoked cigarettes. At another it was a few Protestant husbands who, though they never attended services, opened the parish doors for people as they filed in. At yet another parish the men stood in the narthex and chatted until it was time to receive and then got in line. Latin or Greek Catholic, Eastern or Oriental Orthodox I see the same small throng of men standing next to the front door, but not standing, sitting, or kneeling amongst the people. If it were me (and I can only speak for myself here) this option would be an unsavory one. The boredom would be immediate. The anxiety of som...
Is that in effect the news from this meeting or just your title for it :-)? The Ukrainians are have a clergy conference in New Jersey right now - are they circling their wagons too? :-)
ReplyDeleteWho knows? Though the Ukrainians are under Constantinople so they have a different perspective on the whole process I expect.
DeleteWagons? Circling? Maybe, but the title assumes facts not in evidence.
ReplyDeleteIt's a wise move. +Philip of blessed memory had some choice words for the EA process. The Russians see no reason to kowtow to a few Byzantine outposts in the Mediterranean.
ReplyDeleteThis was simply a regular Synod meeting, held in conjunction with the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the birth of St. Sergius of Radonezh, which the MP exarch was naturally invited to.
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