THE MEANING OF WORSHIP

What do the words “worship” and “church” mean to you, how would you describe true “worship” of the almighty creator of the universe? How would you describe what we do in church.

When we worship, we bow down to God acknowledging Him as the creator of all things and granting Him the adoration and respect that He deserves. The raison d’etre of the Church is to worship God the Creator of the Universe.

The two words “worship” and “church” are closely bound together in usage over the past two thousand years and are seen as such in both the New Testament and the Old.

The New Testament uses hagioi which is translated as saints plural and the singular never appears in the New Testament, because the Church is not a collection or gathering together as a synagogue of individuals but a corporate body of those Believers who are in the process of sanctifying themselves – hence saints. The word ekklesia which is translated as Church therefore retains its meaning as those called out. The concept of the qaahaal or assembly is central to the Old Testament as it means corporate body of the people of God. The word qoheleth, usually translated as preacher but has the meaning of calling the qaahaal or corporate assembly together. Individualism as we know today, it is simply not found in the Bible.

Worship means that the Church comes before God as her corporate work and both the Hebrew and Greek regard this as a prostration of His people before God. The word avodah is the word we translate as worship it is the word used for what the high priest did on the Day of Atonement at the Temple’s Altar of Sacrifice and it literally means just work – labour done in the serving at the altar of the Lord. The word shakah can be translated as to prostrate oneself and this is commonly used for worship.

The Church then, is in this sense, the qahai or congregation of those called out from the greater worldly society and which has a sense of consecration. We see it in a loaf of bread which is particles of wheat gathered to make a whole, much like a congregation as individuals are gathered to make one body and thus are individuals no more.

It is not, however only in the Old and New Testament that this corporate worship is enjoined. The document the Didache, a catechism written by the Apostles while the documents that would become the New Testament were as yet only two Gospels and no Epistles, also says “And on the Lord’s own day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. “

There is no such thing as being a Christian alone. Yes, circumstances may mean that you are distant from the congregation that you belong to and you may only be able to join them for worship occasionally, but that is the important part of belonging to the Church, you are part of those called out by the Lord and corporately you are His people. Of course in the interim between joining with the rest of the congregation, you should worship God and converse with Him at every opportunity, and you must make those opportunities. It is however vital that you are part of a congregation, visibly worshipping together as the called out People of God.

THE DIDACHE

The Didache, or Teaching of the Apostles

This should be read by every Christian believer as it is the teaching of the earliest Church. The name Didache is from the Greek word related to “doctrine,” The only known complete Didache is the Codex Hierosolymitanus, preserved at Constantinople which contains a complete Georgian version of the Didache, the title includes the words “written in the year 90 or 100 after the Lord Christ.” This is the teaching of the Apostles at such an early time that only two of the Gospels are quoted and none of the Epistles. The Didache recounts a primitive liturgy and was probably written contemporaneously with the Gospel of Saint Matthew. The Markan Gospel was probably written in the AD 70s and the Matthaian in the AD 80s but they were written independently in different geographic areas. The Didache, like the Matthaian Gospel is thought to be Syriac in terms of region of composition. The Church At that time of course had no New Testament – just a few documents floating around, yet here is the clear teaching of Christ being handed on to the Church by the Apostles in this short catechism-like document. We believe that this was the document sent by Saint John the Divine to the Church in Britain shortly after it was written.

Chapter 1

There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between the two ways.

The way of life is this.

First of all, Love God who made you;
Secondly, Love your neighbour as you love yourself.

Do not do anything to another you would not want to befall yourself.

Now of these words the doctrine is this. Bless those who curse you, pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you; For what thanks do you deserve, if you love them that love you? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? But do love those who hate you, and you will not have an enemy.

Abstain from fleshly and bodily lusts.

If any man give you a blow on your right cheek, turn the other to him also, and you will be flawless; If a man compel you to go one mile with him, go two with him; If a man take away your cloak, give him also your coat; If a man takes away from you that which is your own, do not ask it back, for you are unable to do that. Give to every man that asks of you and do not ask it back; For the Father desires that gifts be given to all from His own bounties. Blessed is he that gives according to the commandment; For he is guiltless. Woe to him that receives; For, if a man in need receives, he is guiltless; But he that has no need shall give satisfaction why and wherefore he received; And being put in confinement he shall be examined concerning the deeds that he has done, and he shall not come out from there until he has given back the last penny.

Yea, as touching this also it is said; Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you will have learned to whom to give.

Chapter 2

And this is the second commandment of the teaching.
You shall do no murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not corrupt boys, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not deal in magic, you shall do no sorcery, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born, you shall not covet your neighbour’s goods, you shall not perjure yourself, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not speak evil, you shall not cherish a grudge, you shall not be double-minded nor double-tongued;

For the double tongue is a snare of death. Your word shall not be false or empty, but fulfilled by action.

You shall not be avaricious nor a plunderer nor a hypocrite nor ill-tempered nor proud. You shall not entertain an evil design against your neighbour.
You shall not hate any man, but some you shall reprove, and for others you shall pray, and others you shall love more than your life.

Chapter 3

My child, flee from every evil and everything that resembles it. Do not be angry, for anger leads to murder, nor be jealous nor contentious nor wrathful; For of all these things murders are engendered.
My child, be not lustful, for lust leads to fornication, neither foul-speaking neither with uplifted eyes; For of all these things adulteries are engendered.
My child, do not be a dealer in omens, since it leads to idolatry, nor be an enchanter nor an astrologer nor a magician, neither be willing to look at them; For from all these things idolatry is engendered.
My child, do not be a liar, since lying leads to theft, neither be avaricious nor glory in vanities. For from all these things thefts are engendered.
My child, do not be a murmurer, since it leads to blasphemy, neither be self-willed nor a thinker of evil thoughts;For from all these things blasphemies are engendered. But be meek, since the meek shall inherit the earth.

Be long-suffering and pitiful and guileless and quiet and kindly and always fearing the words which you have heard.
You shall not exalt yourself, neither shall you admit boldness into your soul. Your soul shall not accompany the lofty, but you shall walk with the righteous and humble.
You shall receive as good the accidents that befall you, knowing that nothing is done without God.

Chapter 4

My child, you shall remember night and day him that speaks the word of God to you, and your shall honour him as you do the Lord; For wherever the Lord speaks, there is the Lord. Moreover you shall seek out day by day the persons of the saintly, that you may find rest in their words.
You shall not make a schism, but you shall pacify them that contend;
You shall judge righteously; you shall not make a distinction in a person’s status or class to reprove him for transgressions.
You shall not doubt whether a thing shall be or not be.
Concerning giving, do not be found holding out your hands to receive, but drawing them in. If you have ought passing through your hands, you shall give a ransom for your sins. You shall not hesitate to give, neither shall you murmur when giving; For you shall know who is the good paymaster of your reward.
You shall not turn away from him that is in need, but shall share with your brother in all things and not say that anything is exclusively your own.
For if you are fellow-partakers in that which is imperishable, how much more so in the things which are perishable? You shall not withhold your hand from your son or daughter, but from their youth you shall teach them the fear of God.
You shall not command your bondservant or your handmaid who trust in the same God as yourself when you are in a bitter mood, for fear that by chance they might cease to fear the God who is over both of you; For He comes, not to call men with respect of persons, but He comes to those whom the Spirit has prepared. But you, servants, shall be subject unto your masters, as to a type of God, in shame and fear.
You shall hate all hypocrisy, and everything that is not pleasing to the Lord.
You shall never forsake the commandments of the Lord;
But shall keep those things which you have received, neither adding to them nor taking away from them.
You shall confess your transgressions in church and not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life.

Chapter 5

The way of death is this:

First of all, it is evil and full of a curse: murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications, thefts, idolatries, magical arts, witchcrafts, plunderings, false witnessings, hypocrisies, doubleness of heart, treachery, pride, malice, stubbornness, covetousness, foul-speaking, jealousy, boldness, exaltation, boastfulness; Persecutors of good men, hating truth, loving a lie, not perceiving the reward of righteousness, not adhering to the good nor to righteous judgment, wakeful not for that which is good but for that which is evil; From whom gentleness and forbearance stand aloof; Loving vain things, pursuing a recompense, not pitying the poor man, not toiling for him that is oppressed with toil, not recognizing Him that made them, murderers of children, corrupters of the creatures of God, turning away from him that is in want, oppressing him that is afflicted, advocates of the wealthy, unjust judges of the poor, altogether sinful. May you be delivered, my children, from all these things.

Chapter 6

Be careful for fear that any man lead you astray from this way of righteousness, for he teaches you apart from God. For if you are able to support the whole yoke of the Lord, you shall be flawless; But if you are not able, do that which you are able. But concerning eating, bear that which you are able; By all means abstain from meat sacrificed to idols; For it is the worship of dead gods.

Chapter 7

But concerning Baptism, this is how you shall Baptise. Having first recited all these things, Baptise in living water in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. But if you do not have running water, then Baptise in other water; And if you are not able in cold, then in warm. But if you have neither, then pour water on the head three times in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. But before the Baptism, let him that Baptises and him that is Baptised fast, and any others also who are able; And you shall order him that is Baptised to fast a day or two before.

Chapter 8

And let not your fastings be with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second and the fifth day of the week; But do you keep your fast on the fourth and on the preparation day.

Neither pray you as the hypocrites, but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, thus pray you:

Our Father, Who are in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth; Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debt, as we also forgive our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; For Thine is the power and the glory for ever and ever. Pray this three times in the day.

Chapter 9

But as touching the Eucharistic thanksgiving give you thanks thus. First, as regards the cup: We give You thanks, O our Father, for the holy vine of Thy son David, which Thou made known to us through Thy Son Jesus; Thine is the glory for ever and ever. Then as regards the broken bread: We give Thee thanks, O our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou did make known to us through Thy Son Jesus; The glory is Thine for ever and ever. As this broken bread was scattered upon the nations and being gathered together became one, so may Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom; For Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever and ever.
But let no one eat or drink of this Eucharistic thanksgiving, except those who have been Baptised into the name of the Lord; For concerning this also the Lord has said: Give not that which is holy to the dogs.

Chapter 10

And after you are satisfied thus give you thanks: We give Thee thanks, Holy Father, for Thy holy name, which Thou hast made as a tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which Thou hast made known unto us through Thy Son Jesus;
Thine is the glory for ever and ever.
Thou, Almighty Master, did create all things for Thy name’s sake, and did give food and drink unto men for enjoyment, that they might render thanks to Thee; But did bestow upon us spiritual food and drink and eternal life through Thy Son. Before all things we give Thee thanks that Thou art powerful; Thine is the glory for ever and ever.

Remember, Lord, Thy Church to deliver it from all evil and to perfect it in Thy love; And gather it together from the four winds, even the Church which has been sanctified, into Thy kingdom which Thou hast prepared for it; For Thine is the power and the glory for ever and ever.
May grace come and may this world pass away.
Hosanna to the God of David.
If any man is holy, let him come;
If any man is not, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen.

But permit the prophets to offer thanksgiving as much as they desire.

Chapter 11

Whoever therefore shall come and teach you all these things that have been said before, receive him; But if the teacher himself be perverted and teach a different doctrine to the destruction thereof, hear him not; But if to the increase of righteousness and the knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord.
But concerning the apostles and prophets, do according to the ordinance of the Gospel. Let every apostle, when he comes to you, be received as the Lord; But he shall not abide more than a single day, or if there be need, a little more. But if he abide three days, he is a false prophet. And when he departs, let the apostle receive nothing except bread, until he finds shelter; But if he asks for money, he is a false prophet. And you shall not put to a test nor discern any prophet speaking in the Spirit; For every sin shall be forgiven, but this sin shall not be forgiven. Yet not every one that speaks in the Spirit is a prophet, but only if he have the ways of the Lord. From his ways therefore the false prophet and the prophet shall be recognised. And no prophet when he orders a table in the Spirit shall eat of it; Otherwise he is a false prophet. And every prophet teaching the truth, if he does not what he teaches, is a false prophet. And every prophet approved and found true, if he does anything as an outward mystery typical of the Church, and yet does not teach you to do all that he himself does, shall not be judged before you; He has his judgment in the presence of God; For in old times the prophets did the same.

And whoever shall say in the Spirit, Give me silver or anything else, you shall not listen to him; But if he tell you to give on behalf of others that are in need, let no man judge him.

Chapter 12

Let every one who comes in the name of the Lord be received; And then when you have tested him you shall know him, for you shall have understanding on the right hand and on the left. If the visitor is a traveller, assist him, so far as you are able; But he shall not stay with you more than two or three days, if it be necessary. But if being a craftsman, he wishes to settle up with you, let him work for and eat his bread. But if he has no craft, according to your wisdom provide how he shall live as a Christian among you, but not in idleness. If he will not do this, he is trafficking upon Christ. Beware of such men.

Chapter 13

But every true prophet desiring to settle among you is worthy of his food. In like manner a true teacher is also worthy, like the workman, of his food. Every first-fruit then of the produce of the wine-vat and of the threshing-floor, of your oxen and of your sheep, you shall take and give as the first-fruit to the prophets; For they are your chief-priests. But if you do not have a prophet, give them to the poor. If you make bread, take the first-fruit and give according to the commandment. In like manner, when you make a jar of wine or of oil, take the first-fruit and give to the prophets; Yea, and of money and raiment and every possession take the first-fruit, as shall seem good to you, and give according to the commandment.

Chapter 14

And on the Lord’s own day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. And let no man who has a dispute with his fellow, join your assembly until they have been reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be defiled; For this is the same sacrifice spoken of by the Lord; In every place and at every time offer Me a pure sacrifice; For I am a great king, says the Lord, and My name is wonderful among the nations.

Chapter 15

Elect for yourselves therefore bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men who are meek and do not love of money, and who are true and approved; For they also perform to you the service of the prophets and teachers. Therefore do not scorn them; For they are your honourable men, along with the prophets and teachers.
And reprove one another, not in anger but in peace, as you find in the Gospel; And let no one speak to any who have done wrong towards his neighbour, neither let him hear a word from you, until he repent.

Do your prayers and your alms-giving and all your deeds you as you find it in the Gospel of our Lord.

Chapter 16

Be watchful for your life; Let your lamps not be quenched and your loins not ungirded, but you be ready; For you know not the hour in which our Lord comes. And you shall gather yourselves together frequently, seeking what is fitting for your souls; For the whole time of your faith shall not profit you, if you be not perfected at the last season.

For in the last days the false prophets and corrupt doers shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate. For as lawlessness increases, they shall hate one another and shall persecute and betray.

And then the world-deceiver shall appear as a son of God; And shall work signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands; And he shall do unholy things, which have never been since the world began. Then all created mankind shall come to the fire of testing, and many shall be offended and perish; But they that endure in their faith shall be saved by the Curse Himself (Christ). And then shall the signs of the truth appear; First a sign of an opening in the heaven, then a sign of a voice of a trumpet, and thirdly a resurrection of the dead; Yet not of all, but as it was said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven.

At the beginning of Chapter 2: Two things here are new — “you shall not corrupt boys” and “you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born.” The present controversy over whether abortion is “murder” is ignored and a special category of acts not to be done by Christians is added. Paedophilia, abortion, and infanticide were common practices in the period of the early Church.

Prophets were inspired or inspiring preachers who were “forth-tellers” rather than “foretellers.”

“But you shall not test nor discern them” This is a startling interpretation of the mysterious unforgiveable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, mentioned in Matthew 12:31 and Mark 3:29. However one shall interpet this sin, it is obvious that the only unforgiveable sin is one that prevents a person from coming to the Lord for forgiveness. Thus it is clear that people who worry about having committed this sin have not done so.

PRAYER

 

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

If you do not feel like praying, you have to force yourself. The Holy Fathers say that prayer with force is higher than prayer unforced. You do not want to, but force yourself. The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force (Matt. 11:12). St. Ambrose of Optina +1891

Through the prayer, man is cleansed, brightened, sanctified. Elder Amphilochios of Patmos +1970

Prayer is the basis of our Christian life through which we come to know God. Prayer is the source and the reality of our experience of Jesus Christ, it is not an option; it is an absolute necessity for every human being.

Prayer is a living reality, a personal encounter with the living God, and as such it cannot be limited to a prescribed set of “prayers” and “practices” which while important in the beginning, lead us to further depth of prayer. Orthodox life goes through the stages of purification, illumination, and théosis. Orthodox prayer similarly progresses from oral to interior to noetic prayer, these stages and phases are not strictly seriatim, and often take place overlapping each other.

We first set out to cleanse our soul and our body of passions and lusts with as fasting and vigils, to prepare us for the next stage: illumination.

Initially we learn to pray by reading the prayers given to us by the Church. Saint Theophan the Recluse said that oral prayer is very important, giving “verbal expression and shape” to our prayers.

It is a common mistake to imagine that anything further than oral prayer is the province of monastics, something that ordinary lay people cannot aspire to. That is nonsense.

As we move from purification to illumination in our spiritual lives, the Light of Christ begins to enlighten our thoughts and actions. Similarly, as we practice the externals of a prayer life with steadfast dedication, we gradually begin to enter into interior prayer when we begin to pray with intent and, as Saint Theophan says, “the mind is focused upon the words, speaking them as if they were our own.”

Oral and interior prayer lead to noetic prayer, or prayer of the heart when prayer is no longer something we do but, but becomes part of our very being. Thus noetic or contemplative prayer is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and it is not necessarily given to all people. We are given what we individually need and can achieve, since all of us are different. We should not give up, assuming that it is not for us since Saint Theophan wrote, “Growth in prayer has no end, and if this growth ceases, it means that life ceases.”

Pray without ceasing is an Apostolic exhortation, and something we must take to heart. Our relationship with God is entirely accomplished within the bounds of our praying. Praying is not necessarily a conversation, it is rather a means of closeness. It is our highly personal approach to God, that gradually builds a relationship, that becomes slowly apparent to us. We “feel” God rather than anything else, we apprehend His presence as we progress in our prayer. That is as good as any human being can normally aspire.

SALVATION AND FAITH

Jesus Christ is God incarnate. God taking upon Himself the bodily nature of man, able in this body to suffer like man. His coming and His teaching did not make us sinless, because it is obvious to us that there is still sin in the world continuing since the time of the Resurrection. What happened was that we could now resist the power – the inclination to sin that man was unable to free himself from. Christ, by uniting mankind and God in His own person, the true “likeness to God”, opened again for us the path to union with God that had been closed at the fall. This is how the Church has always taught “salvation” brought by Christ.

Protestants use the words “salvation” and “faith” somewhat differently from the Orthodox, and it is important for us to know the difference. The word “salvation” is used in the Scripture in two different ways.

The Apostles, taught distinguishing between the salvation of mankind as a whole, which has already been accomplished by Christ, and personal understanding and working with the gift of salvation on by each of the faithful, which depends upon the individual – the individual faith being a gift of God, having said which, Saint Paul added “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians. 2:12). In other words, our personal salvation depends upon our personal work, cooperating with God’s Grace.

The definition of personal salvation is the restoration of our original Garden of Eden communication directly with God. Therefore everyone of us is called to that salvation which is a lifelong process and can be said to be both in the future and in the present. The start of our salvation process is the acquisition of Faith – a gift from God available to every human being. A condition of this personal salvation is of course, in the first instance, repentance . It is however acquired through fulfilling Christ’s commandments, remembering that the early Apostolic Church never looked at one’s struggle to fulfil Christ’s Commandments (one’s works), as the means to earn salvation for one cannot earn salvation. Diligently keeping Christ’s Commandments leads to humility, and this is where our salvation really begins, when the individual understands that he needs and relies upon Christ totally and gains a full understanding of precisely who and what he is. Until he understands what a comprehensive sinner he is, he cannot properly repent.

In Part II, Command 8, Verse 8 of the Shepherd, it tells us “Abstain not from any good works, but do them. Hear, he said, what the virtue of those good works is which you must do, that you may be saved. The first of all is faith and the fear of the Lord, then charity, concord, equity, truth, patience, and chastity”. Note that the Church in those Apostolic days regarded Faith as a work, unlike today’s protestants who differentiate faith from works.

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REPENTANCE

 

As one gets older, thinking about one’s life can be a somewhat disheartening occupation. Nothing is perfect, nothing was done perfectly, almost everything could have been done better. There is little cause for genuine satisfaction. Yes, perhaps you did this or that in the distant past which worked well and to your “credit” but really there is very little that gives us unalloyed satisfaction.

We always see the flaws in the things that we make. Others may not see them, but we can, because we are aware of our own imperfections, and the imperfections that we pass on to the things that we try to do whether it’s carpentry at home or writing a book or painting a picture or carrying out some task for an employer, looking back, we are acutely aware of how much better it might have been done.

So seldom do we actually consciously bring God into everything that we do, seek His guidance, think how He might approve or disapprove. If we did, far more of our life would be carried out properly.

Like most people, I am very, very far from perfect. I can look back on my life and see all the mistakes, sometimes catastrophic mistakes I’ve made. I made them myself, there is no one to blame but me. I can (and often do) try to lay the blame elsewhere. Certainly I have flaws that I can claim to have been born with and which went unrecognised for most of my life and therefore contributed greatly to my offences, omissions, mistakes. I assume that God makes His own allowances for my built-in flaws and then assesses my efforts taking that into account. It doesn’t necessarily lessen my own private embarrassment at what I have done as I see and recognise it now.

Some of our errors and offences are beyond repair because events have moved on and there is nothing that can be done. Lessons can still be learned and re-thinking of our behaviour can be put into place.

However, I’ve talked about repentance before and that is what comes next. If you have never really done it, its difficult to understand. Understanding exactly what repentance is and what it entails is vitally important because repentance is the major action that God requires of us in the aftermath of the mess that we continually make in our lives.

Insofar as one is responsible for some mistake or offence, one can decide never to go that way again. That is in effect, repenting and repenting is what one does, if one understands the term properly. In the first place, repenting isn’t loudly bewailing or bursting into tears. The “tears” are the initial Godly sorrow for one’s failings and that sorrow comes from recognising just what it is that we have done and the magnitude of our offence. Seemingly small things that we do can have great effects which we don’t recognise until we think them carefully through. Tears, however, are only a beginning; someone who weeps and never moves on is like the seed that fell on stony ground.

Once that time of sorrow is done in whatever way, the repenting is more profound because it now involves changing our life significantly. It is literally a re-thinking of the way one lives. Our offences, however small, are nevertheless significant in that they reveal problems in the way we are living our lives. We so blithely carry on often never realising the great effects, negative effects we can unknowlingly have on those around us. The wake of trouble that we can leave behind us as we carry on can be truly very large.

Our pride and our selfishness are often very great causes of the trouble that we cause others. Often we think ourselves to be the soul of care for others not recognising the basic selfishness of our actions. Often we simply do not recognise basic dishonesty in our behaviour. Of course we are not stealing or doing overtly dishonest things, but nevertheless there is an underlying dishonesty in many of our actions and words.

Often enough, it is selfishness or pride that leads to offences, mistakes if you like, things that are wrong. Those things may seem unconnected at first, which is why we do need to analyse how and why they happened because until we do, repentance is impossible. You cannot resolve to change selfishness if you don’t understand that it was the cause of an offence. Many of us lie in tiny, almost nuanced statements, things that are not quite the truth, and we don’t even recognise our lying because it really is second nature to us. Pride is the most insidious of all for it permeates most of our lives. We don’t recognise it but it is there, hidden but active. Therefore analysing what we do minutely is so very important because it reveals to us the multitude of otherwise unrecognised failings that we have. These are submerged into the fabric of our lives and that means that we need radical and ongoing monitoring and changing if we are ever to get closer to God.

You may regret the wrong action, but that won’t lead to repentance. Understanding what caused the action in the first place – our habitual ways of thinking and behaviour – gives us the clue as to how to change our attitudes and habits in order to obviate the repetition in the future.

I could go on and on about this, but there isn’t much point. Analysing the root cause of a wrong action enables us to properly re-think things in order to ensure that we don’t go that way again.

Righting wrongs that we have done is extremely important and must be done if it is at all possible. Of course there are (rare) occasions in life where force majeure intervenes and prevents the righting of a wrong or the taking of a right course. All that can be done then is sorrow and analysis and repentance. Wrongs committed in the distant past may be beyond righting. The very method of righting a wrong may be incalculable. There are however other ways of making recompense sometimes and it is worth being inventive at times.

Sometimes we make major blunderings in our life that have far-reaching effects – perhaps long into the future. We need to look at these events to see as far as we can the effects that have attended our mistake, to understand the magnitude of the unintended effects of what we have done. This is important to our ability to change our ways because the nature of our mistake may not be immediately clear. Righting such wrongs may be difficult or impossible or others may deliberately prevent us from correcting matters because to do so could cause added distress. However if we show willing, then at least we are clear, we cannot force others to cooperate.

Life is complicated and unravelling it is far from easy. Probably none of us has an easy conscience. Those who converted late in life and were Baptised know the immense feeling of relief that immediately and unexpectedly overtakes us as the weight and burden is suddenly lifted. There is no denying that the previous lifetime of wrongdoing is forgiven and lifted from our shoulders.

For all those contemplating converting, I can only recommend a thorough life analysis, repenting and Baptism into The Church for the benefits that will suddenly accrue even against our expectations.

There is no easy path through life. The Way demands that we follow the narrow path – the Royal Path – and that demands a good deal of our concentration. A huge part of this is cutting back the silly pleasures (magazines, much television, internet quizzes, video games and other time wasters) which we seem to have more of than ever, and using that time to spend time with ourselves, with our guardian angel who watches over us and who is pained by our sins and tries continually to guide us to better things, and with God Himself who is always there, always waiting. Take a cup of tea into the garden and watch the birds in thankfulness. Read a good book, perhaps the life of a saint, and ponder it in your heart for a time before moving on to the next book. Go to Vigils. Make your confession more often. Discuss the Scriptures with other believers. All these things will help open your heart and mind to a better understanding of yourself and a clearer vision of the path ahead.

MODERNISM

 

“There is a species of person called a “modern Churchman” who draws the full salary of a beneficed clergyman and need not commit himself to any religious belief” Evelyn Waugh.

Modernism is the name given to a movement which originated in the Roman Catholic church, but which quickly spread to the other churches including the Church of England – perhaps first coming to real notice in England in 1860 in a set of essays “Essays and Reviews” one of them by Frederick Temple, later Archbishop of Canterbury. These essays were vigorously condemned by the Convocation of Canterbury and two of the essayists were sentenced to a year’s suspension by the Court of Arches. These were followed by leaders such as Inge and Gore.

             

                Dean William Inge                                            Bishop Charles Gore

                    

                     Fr Pierre Batiffol                                                 Fr Alfred Loisy

Modernism, in a sense, resulting from the Enlightenment, believed that religion needed to be interpreted afresh to modern man and it welcomed without reserve the results of historical criticism and scientific discovery with their new outlook on the world, and recognised that the time has come when formulae and doctrinal statements require revision. Modernists could believe or not the Virgin Birth, the empty tomb, the Divinity of Christ. They often distinguished between the historical Christ and the supernatural Christ, and prefer a resurrection of the personality rather than of the body.

The term modernism is used, but today it is just liberalism. Every Archbishop of Canterbury since Randall Davidson in 1901 has to greater or lesser degree been effectively a modernist, with the degree becoming greater as the twentieth century wore on. They had their own magazine from early in the twentieth century the “Modern Churchman”.

It can quite safely be said that today there is not a single bishop in the Church of England who is not a modernist-liberal, for it would not be possible to be recommended for consecration if one were not such. In any case no ordinand is taught anything else.

Modernists maintain that ideas are conditioned by the times, thus they generally believe that most dogma or teachings of the Church came about because of specific circumstances in history. At the same time rationalism reduced the role of miracles, so that the teaching was that the existence of God could never be known and it was argued that religion was caused by, and centred upon the feelings of the believers. This argument weakens any favouring of one religion over another on the principle that if no reasonable assumption of truth can be made, then there should be no privilege given to any particular religion.

The final overall teaching of Modernism is that teachings of the Church, which are required belief can evolve over time not only in expression but in substance rather than remaining immutable. This was what made Modernism unique in the history of heresies. Using the teaching that doctrines could evolve, made it possible for the modernist to believe that both old teachings and new, though contradictory, could be correct. This permits any new belief to be introduced, and hence Modernism has been called “the synthesis of all heresies”.

Modernism has also crept into corners of the Orthodox Church, such as in Paris, and the Phanar, but hopes that it isn’t there widespread beneath the surface, making progress, are just not be realistic.

What this means is that the western churches (Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist and Roman) have already to a very large extent fallen to a form of religion that is ever-changing, ever moving further away from the norms of the first 1,000 years. Those norms persisted even in the west more or less until the 1400s beginning to change with the preceding Renaissance, but they began their really radical path with the Enlightenment in the early eighteenth century.

While the Enlightenment reached its peak perhaps in the 1790s, it persisted particularly moving into the churches by the 1860s. That is where the real downfall began.

Modernism can – and always has – flourished very well beneath the external trappings of traditional worship. So seeing a seemingly traditionalist minister/priest doing a traditional service is absolutely no guarantee of his orthodoxy. Of course after the great break-out in the aftermath of the Vatican II council, the modernists felt quite free to express their views in new forms of worship, and, in keeping with their ideas of doctrinal development, liturgical development has continued apace.

From time to time, one sees resistance but it is of no avail. There is simply no place to shelter in the western churches for it is simply everywhere.

We need to thoroughly understand that in our time, we are living in a great era of heresy. One may, as Orthodox, comfort oneself with the thought that it is mostly a western thing. That however is foolish. As I said earlier modernism has been in Orthodoxy for around a century and it is even now in the Phanar. Names such as Lampert, Florensky, Bulgakov, Evdokimov straight away spring to mind together with Clement, Bobrinskoi, Schmemann, Men and Meyenforff as well as others.

    

Olivier Clement                                           Fr Boris Bobrinskoi

                        

          Fr Alexander Schmemann                                           Fr John Meyendorff

It is time to worry and to chase it into the open every chance we get. If we do not, then an heresy every bit as widespread as Arianism could gain control of the whole Church. It is probably as omnipresent today within Orthodoxy as it was in the Western churches eighty years ago.

A few years ago the Diocese of Yekatrinaberg in Russia held a public burning of every modernist “Orthodox” book they could get hold of. That got a lot of people’s attention. Perhaps it should happen more often and in more places.

There is no real difference between the modernists, whether they are Anglican, Roman Catholic or Orthodox, their beliefs and aims are much the same. The new interpretations of the Scriptures, the careless attitude to the Tradition, saying that ‘the fathers were rooted in their times, which are not relevant to our times’, talking about ‘the historical context’ of the canons and Scriptures, and a perceived “need” to adapt to the teaching and praxis of the Church to the passing times that we live in are in most cases just developing Christianity steadily away from Christ’s original Way, towards a unity with the secular fads of the present day.

Some modernist writers wrote some very valuable things and are not themselves wholly bad. Here one can only warn people that there is a serious problem and point in very general terms to where it may be found. The intricasies of the whole history of the various modernists-liberals is too complicated for a short introduction such as this. Those with access to the university system can no doubt find further papers. Modernism was not necessarily what they taught as the way they taught it. Modernism opened the entire path for the liberalism that followed, and indeed became commensurate with it. Without the modernism of Inge et al, the liberalism of Holloway probably won’t follow. Once you establish that doctrine is not fixed once for all, and open the idea that it can be developed, then you open the path that we all witnessed as it gathered pace during the last fifty years.

While Schmemann, and Meyendorff certainly said some things very well, they nonetheless had fatal flaws in places and their thinking has ultimately led to liberalism such as has now overtaken St Vladimir’s. Hopko too did some very good work, but nonetheless he too has taught some things at odds with the Orthodox truth. This is the problem – as it always is with Liberals wherever they are, their work can seem attractive, but in the long run it leads us away from the right path. It is seductive and it leads both ordinary clergy and laity alike onto a divergent path. It is not for nothing that Elders have warned us to guard our souls and take great care from whom it is we learn the Faith. Listen to the Fathers, they were not merely writers for their times, they were inspired men who opened the Scriptures for us as well.

LENT IS COMING

 

LENT IS COMING (from the 14th of March to Easter 1st of May 2016)

The Church has been talking about Lent for nigh on two thousand years. In the lead-up to Lent – the four Sundays preceding the beginning of Lent, we begin to prepare ourselves for what should be a genuinely serious undertaking. I want here, to try to impress on people just how vitally important this might be for each and every one of us. Things that we may not previously have thought about.

There is, however, a problem with Lent. It is seen by many as something that “the Church does” that is a “custom” that is somehow what one does because one ought to. That I’m afraid is the attitude of the vast majority of people who populate churches the world over.

The proper view of Lent – of really fasting during Lent is quite, quite different. It is a difficult concept to “sell” and very difficult to explain.

Lent is the time for reflection – serious reflection on our SINS – the real ones that we individually and corporately commit that were the reason for the passion of Christ.

This is the time for us all to get serious and to look at what we are doing in our lives and to repent and confess our sins.

Most of us have virtually no real concept of sin. It is something that each of us has to talk through for ourselves in order that it might dawn on us that while we imagine that we are nice, normal, harmless people, in fact we daily fall very short of what God expects.

We were created by God with the potential to be “like” Him – we have truly remarkable brains that are still largely unused – we have the capacity for vastly more than we use our brains for at present. We truly are “gods” on this earth.

We have the capacity, if we work at it, to thoroughly align ourselves with God’s will, His teaching, His Way. We have all the information that we need – its right there, He gave it to us. Its there for us to read and understand. He even gave us a whole panel of Fathers of the Church and Councils to explain in depth what His teaching meant.

So what is stopping us? We know (if we read) that there has been a river of men and women down the last two millennia who actually have succeeded in aligning themselves closely with God’s Will.

These saints have lived in all sorts and conditions of life, some seemingly very unpropitious, but they have managed to become close to God and to reflect Him in their lives. Some few like Saint Columcille of Iona and Saint Seraphim of Sarov have in the sight of others, been surrounded by the uncreated light of God, and many, many others have glimpsed it.

For the first time, God opened the gates of His Kingdom on Pentecost when the Apostles and all the Disciples received the Holy Spirit. The point of Hesychasm in Orthodoxy is seeing the uncreated light which is a witness that we are already communicating with God even from this present life. We have it described in the levels of prayer how one can pass through stages towards having a vision of God.

Seeing/glimpsing fleetingly the uncreated light simply means that we are getting to know God on a spiritual and personal level, that we are beginning to interact with Him. It is for God alone to determine if we see the uncreated light in this life, or the next. It may be more likely that a serious Orthodox Christian may begin to experience God in this life in small degrees. We may experience God’s uncreated light, but not really understand it as such, or perhaps don’t even notice it.

All are called to theosis and many of the Fathers have indicated what theosis is and how it may be experienced in this life. It is possible, in this present life, for a man to experience theosis as already starting.

Archimandrite Saint Sophrony (Elder Sophrony of Tolleshunt Knights, England +1993) writes, “This wondrous light … eclipsed all else”, “everything within and without is illumined: only the Light is seen.” “The manifestation of Light affords man existential knowledge of God …” telling us that such a vision of the light is proof indeed that we have had an encounter with God Himself – “participation in the Divine Life, contact with the Unoriginate Being”.

“Divine Light”, says Archimandrite Sophrony, “is eternal life, the Kingdom of God, the uncreated energy of the Divinity”.  1 John 3:2: “Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” “The complete vision of God is ‘the mystery of the eighth day’; it belongs to the age to come ‘the prelude to Christ’s second coming’, the common reward and garment of Christian theosis”.

Through our genuine, total repentance we begin our recovery from our fallen state which always involves an illumination, as Saint Gregory Palamas says, “to the re-assumption of his vestment of light”.

Grace is not some sort of a reward for our works or virtuousness – it is a gift from God given where there is a a true beginning of alignment with God’s will. Saint Sophrony said “contemplation of divine realities is possible only if one’s spirit is to some extent in harmony with the object of contemplation … Every true vision of God is a gift from the High God making us participants in His life, granting us humility and peace, wisdom and knowledge, love and goodness.”

This is what we should be thinking about as we begin Lent. This is where our Lenten repentance should begin to lead us. We may not think of ourselves as “saints” but nevertheless, that is what Saint Paul called us for we are they who are beginning the road of sanctification, thus are we “saints” indeed. It is for us to start down this road in all earnestness, this road to sanctification, this road to thorough alignment with the will of God.

We need however some idea at the outset of the total awesomeness of God, the Master of the entire Cosmos, the one who conceived the Cosmos with its billions of galaxies, its trillions of stars and planets, the One who holds it in being by His steady, ongoing input to this universe.

When we understand that it is He whose will we seek, it is with Him that we seek to align ourselves, that we are made by Him in His image and likeness in the expectation that we would unite ourselves with Him. Then we know what we are setting out to do.

It can all start during Lent with serious fasting and personal repentance for all our falling short of The Way that Christ taught. It must continue with our forgoing many of the comforts of this world, the petty “entertainments” on television and worthless books. We have so very little time – a mere seventy or eighty years in which to align ourselves with the High God. There is so much reading to do – so much learning and discovering – the Fathers will however guide us through the Scriptures, showing us their real inner meaning.

Do not waste time dear brethren, but set out here and now to change your life totally for there is so little time left.

 

CANONICITY – ITS USE AND ABUSE

 

There is much misunderstanding about the use of the word “canonical” in Orthodoxy. The word has acquired a quite wrong meaning in popular usage, which ought to be corrected. Canonical is now used to mean “connected to a Patriarchate”. This is of course a nonsense inasmuch as the very word obviously means adherence to the canons. There are lawful reasons for not being connected to a Patriarchate. There are also examples today of groups which started out in a “canonical” jurisdiction which through no fault of their own have been wrongly and quite unjustifiably abandoned by their original jurisdiction – and left that way through obstinacy on the part of that original jurisdiction.

Though all of these “non-canonical” jurisdictions may have Apostolic Succession as has been admitted by many “canonical” Bishops, and while they say that they take lawful stances as allowed by the canons, they nevertheless are not permitted to participate in joint deliberations should they wish to.

The “canonical” joint episcopal committees in various locations around the world are essentially political organisations comprised of jurisdictions which have common attitudes towards ecumenism and modernism in the Church and being to greater or lesser extent sympathetic to both tendencies.

They however, determine who is “canonically” Orthodox on a political, not actual canonical and ecclesiastical basis.

In both the “canonical” and “non-canonical” jurisdictions, it is not possible to find other than political criteria for applying the notion of “canonicity”. Mere possession of Apostolic Succession, or adherence to the canons of the Church, or even commemorating a Patriarch satisfies the political judgement. The only thing that satisfies it is being mutually connected to a Patriarchate. It is political or personal judgement, not spiritual that prevails.

Apostolic Succession is not understood in the Orthodox Church in a legalistic way. One may have tactile Apostolic Succession, yet violate the canons, ignore the conscience of the Church, and preach heresy. This, then, estranges such a bishop from the grace of the Church, though we can’t point to a moment when that grace ceases. Hence real heretics were received back into the Church in various ways in the Early Church: some by confession, some by Chrismation, some by Baptism.

What constitutes the criteria by which Orthodox validity is established is that firstly, the Bishops who head any Church must have the fullness of Apostolic Succession. They must trace their Consecrations to valid Orthodox Hierarchs. This is the most basic definition of validity in Orthodoxy. Secondly they must demonstrably adhere to the canons of the Church, and teach the same doctrine as the Church.

When Bishops separate from their jurisdiction over matters of Faith, they are often suspended, excommunicated, or deposed by the very hierarchy to which they are in resistance. Some of the greatest Fathers of the Church, including Saint John Chrysostom himself incurred this treatment. So we must discern very carefully the reasons for their separation, their sincerity, and their purposes.

Essentially, we judge the validity of any Orthodox group by its possession of the fullness of Apostolic Succession, including adherence to basic canons, teaching the fullness of Orthodoxy without any innovations and, in the cases of Churches which are separated from their original jurisdictions, by the patristic foundation, canonical justification, and sincerity of their separation. Especially looking at whether they consider themselves out of communion or merely considering themselves in communion when their original jurisdiction does not. There are very few clear-cut cases, and there is no infallible authority to adjudicate matters.

Surely then, it is better not to apply blanket condemnation to all who may not be in “communion” with a patriarchate. Surely it is incumbent on all authorities to attempt to rectify matters. And surely it is not right to condemn those whose consciences have deep misgivings about some major problem which they see in their original jurisdiction.

THE CHURCH, GROWTH, NUMBERS AND TRUE CHRISTIAN WITNESS

 

Today, we are seeing the remnants of (even heretical) Christian belief evaporate all over the western world. We see the great western churches – Roman Catholic, Anglican, Protestant all in steep decline everywhere, with no end in sight.

More to the point, we see Orthodox churches going nowhere. Yes new churches are opened occasionally, but what are they? Are they some sort of national remembrance-club in a foreign land? Or are they filled with genuine Christian Believers?

In any case, what should we be doing? Do numbers count? Should we be going after numbers? The coffers will be better filled if we get numbers, and thereby the institution that we call The Church will be better served won’t it?

If the Orthodox Church is a great and powerful institution, that will secure our place in the world won’t it? Souls will be saved won’t they? Or will we, like the independent mega-churches simply descend into materialism, so that no matter the beauty of our church services, we are just a materialistic institution, like business corporations, intent on organisational survival?

I fear the latter may be precisely what we are in danger of becoming. Perhaps all unknowingly, as bishops are pressured, to mind the business and property, with little real time for reflection and praying.

What then can we do about it?

Lets try looking back, initially to the first two hundred years of The Church. How did it act – and what was it?

Right at the beginning, the Church comprised the Jewish followers of Christ in and around the Roman province of Syria-Palestine, centred upon Jerusalem. Persecution caused it to disperse to Antioch and other cities. The community at Tyre which had been started by Jesus Christ Himself continued without a break and still exists today.

The Apostles appointed leaders in the various centres of Believers – overseers in the Greek word episkopoi – from which we get the word bishops. Apparently this word was in use exceedingly early because Saint Dorotheus of Tyre records that Aristobulus, one of the seventy Apostles sent out by the Lord (Luke 10:1–24.) was sent from Tyre as bishop of Britain in AD37. In other words he was sent as a sole leader of a new Church. So the concept of a Church Overseer (bishop) was there in the Church at Jerusalem at that very early stage.

We know that the Church spread throughout Greece to Rome, south to north Africa, and had jumped west to Britain in the very early years after the Resurrection.

We know that the Apostles appointed bishops in each city that they had evangelised and we know that those bishops appointed presbyters as they needed assistance and deacons.

But still – there was no Holy Scripture other than the Septuagint that Jesus had used. All they had was various papers and oral accounts of what Jesus had done and taught. They had The Way that Jesus had taught, they could Baptise and they could celebrate the Eucharist. That much we know because we have it recorded in Scripture and other contemporary documents.

The primary duty of Christians was to live The Way and worship God. The Way is set out for us in the New Testament and it is still the Way for Orthodox Christians to live.

So why did Christianity spread so far and so fast?

Obviously for some people the Christian’s attitudes towards one another would have been attractive, especially in a world where a fair amount of sexual and other abuse was routinely carried out. Their peaceableness would stand out in a world where war and brutality was common even as a public spectacle.

That alone (plus of course preaching in Synagogues) got the Church going. For several hundred years The Church was a fairly loose federation of dioceses which all recognised each other and held the same doctrines. Apart from the letters of the Apostles, there were other documents circulating like the Didache and the Shepherd which taught Christianity. After the Apostles, there were the letters of Saint Polycarp and Saint Clement all of which we still have. Christians didn’t need to be a large corporate institution. The amiable federation of dioceses worked rather effectively. Maintaining the Apostolic tradition wasn’t hard for the first hundred years – for most of which Saint John was still alive.

The Early Church was certainly not afraid of evangelising the non-Christians. It was close-knit enough for most of the Christians in any given town to know each other – there was only one church – very often a converted synagogue or a large private house. Christians tried hard to worship God, respect their fellow man and obey the lawful government.

Their Faith however was both strong and communally held. It was a faith not of this world, but in those days it was to them a very rationally held belief because they had Apostles who had lived with and known Jesus and been there at the major events that they were teaching about. And after the last Apostle, there were still the bishops they had appointed who had learned directly from the Apostles. It is also worth remembering that at the end of 250 years there would have been up to five hundred thousand people whose father, mother, grandfather, uncle or aunt had met or heard Jesus.

After this, we come to the acceptance of Christianity by the Empire, a momentous event that had immense consequences.

The Roman Empire now had its real centre moving to Constantinople, and Constantinople was the centre of the Byzantine Roman Empire.

The centre of Byzantium was Constantinople. A great city of over 800,000 people setting the tone of the empire. What exactly was Constantinople?

Christianity was the official religion of the empire. For a millennium the great city was the capital of Christian civilisation. This was the city of the Great Church, of the emperor, and of the brilliant administration. In short it was the City of God, the Christian Jerusalem. Confidence in eternity and the divine protection of Constantinople and its emperor, and in eternal victory of the faithful was the community attitude.

The belief system of the whole people was rational because the Church at the beginning of Byzantium was only two hundred years from the death of the last living Apostle who had personally known Jesus Christ and that Apostle (Saint John) had lived at Ephesus, just a hundred or so miles from Constantinople, well inside their empire. The history of Christianity was short and immediate, the Bible had not yet been put together. There were no questions as to Christianity’s historical reality and the truth of its premises, there had been no pseudo-enlightenment, this Faith was based on facts.

As Christianity faced up to the world and all the problems it caused them, they held great Councils of bishops, priests, laity and they expected as of right that these Councils would be led by the Holy Spirit. The Councils sought God’s way of dealing with the problems. Most of those Councils were held in the Empire not all that far from Constantinople and in Constantinople.

Constantinople possessed the world’s greatest church building – Hagia Sophia – Holy Wisdom cathedral and its associated compound and buildings which was served by six hundred men including eighty priests and was built in AD 537. There was only one Christian Church in the whole world, it was the Orthodox Catholic Church that Christ Himself had founded. The Apostles had all functioned within the boundaries of the empire, some just a few miles from Constantinople. This was the place where the Emperor, the Patriarch and all the people came to worship before God. Hagia Sophia was the Temple at Jerusalem writ into the Christian Church and everything else a mere synagogue.

Here was the high point of mankind communicating with God, the pinnacle of humanity, the Emperor and Patriarch, Bishops and Priests moving in solemn ministration before the Throne of God on earth in Hagia Sophia. Here too were the ‘akimitoi’ or “those who never sleep”, the monks of Studion whose continuous prayer, day and night through the generations, kept the universe in permanent contact with its Creator in an endless cycle of hearing His words and returning glory. Only in Byzantium, nowhere else on earth, not even in Jerusalem, had this been done, and it is still done today on Mount Athos, the only direct remnant of Byzantium with us, where the twenty monasteries still pray ceaselessly for the world. There were other monasteries in Constantinople, and all over the Empire. Some had started earlier, and a few still exist, but Stoudion was different, it was the beating heart of the Empire, praying continuously for the whole world, and keeping the Empire in continuous formal conversation with God. This was necessary to the well-being of the Empire. This was the secret of the Empire’s success.

This Christian Empire lasted for an entire thousand years in one united Church with a continuously praying centre and only ceased at the point of invading swords.

This same Church existed in the British Isles as one united Church (connected to that in Byzantium) with a praying centre of real monasteries – and it too lasted for an entire thousand years (and only ceased at the point of invading swords).

The same Church existed in Russia for a thousand years and is now growing rapidly with what quality only time will tell.

But these were unified societies with only one Church. We in the west have a bewildering variety of groups calling themselves Christian. The Orthodox Church is in a minority with few claims on the population. It must attract in an entirely missionary way amongst the unchurched majority of the population. This means that the Orthodox Church in say the United Kingdom and Europe must look to the methods by which it approaches this task. It must at all costs avoid the American corporate-business models that so-called Christian bodies there are promulgating.

In the United Kingdom and Europe the Church must first of all adopt the local language and divest itself of its alien ethnicity. Until it does that it will achieve nothing.

It must adapt its architecture and worship more to the local culture. This does not mean altering/shortening the services, it does mean using familiar vernacular forms exclusively. It means that the internal appearance may begin to reflect local tastes.

Ultimately can we say only that what will grow the Church is exactly what grew it in the first few centuries: Christians living seriously Christian lives – in all aspects of their lives – with fully functioning, obviously Christian families, with proper Christian or home schooling. Such that they are indeed attractive to those who see them. Yes, parishes should engage in care for the poor, homeless and sick, but it should be at parish level and no higher.

It is at the family and parish level that all missionary activity should be carried out. If the diocese by itself wants to put a missionary church into some disadvantaged area or country then it should do it as a diocese and no higher level – it should be personal. Perhaps every diocese should be encouraged to sponsor a mission in some place where the Orthodox Church has not hitherto existed, in order that Saint John of ShangHai’s prediction will come true: that the end will not come until the Orthodox Church has preached to all the world.

We must make the Church truly local again and de-institutionalise it. We should look to the idea of very small dioceses, where the bishop is not forced to be a politician in order to become a bishop, or a corporate manager in order to manage the diocese. There should be no great cachet to the office of bishop and small dioceses where the bishop can personally know every priest and his family, as well as a lot of the laity, where he has the freedom to be guide and spiritual father to all those in his care.

This is the case in Greece where in a country the size of Scotland, there are eighty dioceses and there it works, the country bishops could in many cases literally walk around their dioceses.

I think that the de-institutionalising, the small dioceses, the outreach at parish and family level is the only way forward that will work. I am sure that may objections will be raised, but these have to be overcome if we seriously want the Church to preach the Gospel to all