I have begun research for a Ph.D. that I am pursuing in Romania. My area will be Church History, but more specifically American Church History. I have a theory that I would like to explore and see what comes of it. The theory is this. Communism affected the church in America both in it’s formation and in it’s decline. Continuing along this train of thought, some hold that during the time of communism, specifically during the 1970’s the Orthodox Church in America was very close to uniting in one cohesive group. Then the wall came down and more immigration began and we retreat back to our ethnic corners. So this is the theory. Communism slowed down immigration and the church started to become more indigenous, or more American, and with the fall of communism the church became more ethnic and less American. Not that any of those things are bad on their face, just a theory.