The AHEPAN_AHEPA_75th_Anniversary_Commemorative_Edition - 12

Continued from page 11
*******************************************************************************************************************************
The major liturgical churches in this country, moreover,
are ripe for a mass conversion to Christian Orthodoxy.
Roman Catholicism faces a crises because of the celibate
priesthood and the glaring gap between its proscriptions
and what its members practice. Many Episcopalians are
dismayed at the social trends they see as ascendant in
their congregations. A significant movement toward
Christian Orthodoxy from these disaffected parishioners
can be expected to the degree our Church is not viewed as
ethnically exclusive. Already, evangelical Protestants
seeking a canonical Church are coming over to Eastern
Orthodoxy in large numbers.
Paradoxically enough, the more the Church reaches out
and accepts non-Greeks, always without compromise of its
doctrinal tenets, the more it insures its own flowering and,
therefore, guarantees some form of Greek-American ethnic
survival into the indefinite future. Now that intermarriage
has become the rule rather than exception, its meaning has
also been transformed. Marrying a non-Greek no longer
carries a stigma, thus it is much easier for exogamous
Greek Americans and their spouses to play an active membership
in the Greek American community. Rather than
bewailing mixed-marriages, we should look at these marriages
as opportunities for advancing the faith.
If Hellenism in the Church is to become less nationalistic,
the maintenance of Greek identity in this country must
follow a different path. The key to bolstering Greek ethnicity
is to foster connections of Greek Americans with the old
country. The advent of inexpensive airfare makes travel
and stays in Greece much more feasible than ever before.
Today's youth - and here we include those of Greek stock,
mixed parentage, and even philhellene non-Greeks - will
be the repository of future Hellenism in America.
Well designed education programs in Greece can be the
major means to foster both a Greek American identity and
a revival of the Greek language in this country. For example,
more and more college students are spending a " junior
year abroad. " What better country for Greek American
youth to do so than Greece? Already over a half dozen
American college programs can be found in Greece.
Likewise, excellent summer courses in Modern Greek and
Greek culture already exist. Thinking ahead, we could
easily envision an exchange program of a high school year
in Greece or a " fifth year " of study in Greece following
college graduation in America. Many older Greek
Americans would also find a language and culture vacation
in the old country very attractive.
In this country Hellenic studies programs in colleges and
universities should be fostered and linked with continuing
education in Greece. Whether in America or in Greece, it
is the " E " for education in AHEPA that will matter most in
the long run.
For Hellenism to have a future in America, then, we
must proceed along two avenues: the religious and the ethnic.
Each is different, yet complementary to the other. By
opening up to the spiritually hungry, the Church will bring
more Americans into contact with Greek ethnicity. By
becoming more Greek in a secular sense, more people will
find their way to Greek Orthodoxy in a spiritual manner.
In brief, as our Christian Orthodox membership becomes
wider, our Greek ethnic identity must become deeper. This
is the way for Hellenism to have a future in America.
II
SUMMER 1997 * THE AHEPAN
The Future of The
Greek Orthodox
Church of America
After seventy-five years of expansion,
adjustment, and adaptation to
the American experience, the Greek
.
Orthodox Church in the United States
is now embarking on what may be
the most critical stage of our growth
as part of the American religious and
cultural landscape. I would note the
following three profound and lifechanging
questions which destiny is
posing to us; for which we must be
poised and ready to answer for our
own sake and the sake of our children.
1) Are we going to be able to maintain
and transmit to our children the
essential elements of the Greek
Orthodox Faith, Worship, Practice
and Tradition within the pluralistic
marketplace - the " agora " if you
will - of this, the most powerful
country on earth?
2) Are we going to be able to maintain
- not a dual identity of Greek and
American - but a unified identity as
Greek Orthodox Christians who have
both a proud Hellenic heritage and legacy and an equally
proud citizenship of this great country?
3) Are we going to be able to embrace diversity in our
local church communities, our families, our children's
choices of spouses, and at that same time resist assimilation
and homogenization of our unique gift and I would
go so far to say our God-ordained responsibility to
America - to be ourselves, to be who and what we are?!
With pride, not arrogance. With humility, not embarrassment.
With truthfulness, not compromise. With
love, not envy.
The answers to these questions will speak volumes
about the future of the Greek Orthodox People of
America, and I believe that it is a bright future indeed.
After four or even five generations in this country, the
process of simmering in the greater melting pot of America
has changed the complexion of our communities. Local
parishes, for the most part, do not serve the principal social
and educational needs of the average Greek Orthodox
FAITH, CULTURE, ETHOS,
HI STORY, LANGUAGE AND LOCAL
TRADITIONS FORM A COMPLEX
FABRIC OF SELF-IDENTITY
SOCIAL IDENTIFICATION.
AND

The AHEPAN_AHEPA_75th_Anniversary_Commemorative_Edition

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The AHEPAN_AHEPA_75th_Anniversary_Commemorative_Edition