Philippa asks a question what words of comfort I could share in the wake of all that has transpired in the OCA. My church does not belong to the OCA so I will not enter the fray of commenting on any particular event or person.
I will say this however. The church is bigger than one bishop or one priest! If you place all of your hope in one man you will be disappointed. If you place your hope in the institutional church it will let you down and you will be disappointed. I will also say this, if you leave the church because of one man or what the institutional church has done, I am not talking about abuse here that is a different story all together, then I will hold the door open for you.
Again the church is bigger than any one person or any one headquarters. Our hope should be on Christ and His saving message and nothing else. The church came off the rails as soon as Jesus left it to us to run. Power, sex, money will win out with men, and women by the way, every time. Our hope is in the Lord and no where else. Keep this in mind and all will be well. The Church of Jesus Christ will continue, all we need do is pray.
Father, I am grateful for this words of comfort and reminder. I wish that the Church hadn’t become derailed once Christ gave it to us. We are poor stewards. Lord have mercy.
By your prayers.
its true there are many people in the church who disappoint us but every now and then a great person steps forward and reminds us who we are and why our churches are so important. true we are all human beings and being so puts us in the position of making mistakes. but if you keep you eye on the prize then i think everything works out in the end.truly good people can do truly great things.anne
Fr. P.: I beg to differ with you. Power, sex and money do not win out with me. (Not all women are the same, that statement is degrading). Some women are still content to be just women. I guess some men are still trying to understand just what that is.
Okay Anon you missunderstood my statement it had nothing to do with women. Sex, greed, money, power DO win out in the end becasue we are all fallen creatures and it is in our nature. The church is weak and is tempted daily and becasue of the fallne nature of humans we fall for it everytime. The OCA problem was all about sex, money, power, lies, cover up, and not women.
I am sorry if you felt is was degrading but it should not have been since it had nothing to do with women. In fack everyone involved was a man.
Throughout this present-day mess, as well as throughout my reading of church history, I’ve come to reflect on how when God became human in the person of Jesus Christ, he didn’t descend from heaven in a bullet-proof body impervious to the ills, injuries and injustices of human existence. He was incarnate in a body that got hungry, thirsted, grew tired, bruised and bled — and yet, it was nonetheless the medium through which divine grace worked. And so it is with the Church, “the body of Christ,” the continuance of his incarnation. Despite sordid imperfections in its human fabric, the divine still manages to work through it for those who would have it. “My grace is enough for you; my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Yes, there are sinners in the Church (some repentant, some not), but there are saints too — and lots of people along the broad spectrum in between the two. At this stage of the eschatological game, both wheat and weeds grow in the field of God’s Church, but that in no way means that he isn’t there or isn’t looking out for it. In fact, it’s evidence that he is. (See Matthew 13:24-30 and 13:36-43.)