Because modern Orthodox theology for more than a century has focused so heavily on the experiential nature of our Church, our common faith, even our dogmas and doctrines, the following article raises important questions which—while perhaps not receiving precisely the same answers from an Orthodox perspective as the author suggests—must be foregrounded as fundamental  to any Orthodox consideration of theological anthropology in general and sexuality and gender in particular.

Among these questions for us Orthodox: How does personalism differ from individualism? How does personal experience differ from individualistic experience? How does ecclesial experience inform, shape, and transform personal experience, and how does personal experience affect our understanding and articulation of ecclesial experience? Both theologically and pastorally, when is it ever appropriate to tell a person—say, a same-sex oriented or transgender person—that his or her experience of life, love, his or her own self, God, simply does not matter?

What role does experience play in doctrinal formulation? Perhaps more importantly, what role should experience play in doctrinal formulation?

Those questions were provocatively raised in Atlanta on Friday, November 20th during the annual “Word Made Fresh” lecture at the American Academy of Religion. The lecturer this year was respected evangelical ethicist David Gushee as he shared his own journey toward full acceptance of gay Christians. Gushee published his change of mind on this issue in the appropriately titled 2014 book Changing Our Mind: My Journey as a Christian Ethicist Toward Full LGBT Acceptance (Mercer University Press). Read More

Editorial Foreword

On November 20, 2019 the US-International Coptic Media Center posted the following brief report on its Facebook page:

Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria

On Saturday, November 16, His Holiness [Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria] concluded the fifteenth convention held by the Synodal Committee for Mental Health & Anti-Addiction titled, “Homosexuality: Preservation and Recovery.” His Holiness spoke about the life of purity and holiness by studying chapter 1 of the second Epistle of St. Peter.

The convention lasted three days and was comprised of about 400 priests and servants representing 52 dioceses and districts. H.G. Bishop Mikhail, General Bishop for the Churches of Hadayek El-kobba and the head of the Synodal Committee, gave the opening lecture. H.G. Bishop Youssef of the Southern US attended the convention as well as professionals in this specific field.

For additional context see the press release of August 26, 2003 from the Coptic Orthodox Church Network entitled Coptic Orthodox Church Formally Condemns Homosexuality, Ordination of Homosexuals, and Same-Sex Marriage and the Human Rights Campaign’s Stances of Faiths on LGBTQ Issues: Oriental Orthodox Church. 

In publishing the following Open Statement we wish to convey Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s solidarity with, and prayers for, our LGBTQI+ brothers and sisters, their families, and their allies in the Coptic Orthodox Church. Read More

The following editorial appeared earlier today at The Orthodox World under a slightly different title, Exclusive Analysis: Should the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America Accept Financial Support from the Greek Government? 

This should sound a number of alarm bells for Orthodoxy in Dialogue’s readers, among them: first and foremost, if the Orthodox Church in the world’s wealthiest nation cannot support itself after more than two centuries of presence and growth on American soil, we are, proverbially, screwed; second, money from any government, let alone a foreign government, never comes without quid pro quo expectations of the recipient; third, the morality of the GOA’s acceptance of nearly $2.25 million from a government whose own people suffer from ongoing economic hardship; and fourth, when will the Orthodox Church in the United States finally become the Orthodox Church of and for the United States? (This last question is addressed no less to the OCA, which takes orders from Russia.)

The Orthodox World bills itself as the most comprehensive English-language news website on the Orthodox Church. Check in often for new content.

Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis visited the United States earlier this month. By most accounts his trip was a success. He met with the most senior officials in government including President Donald Trump. His trip showed the continued influence and reach of the Greek community in America.

The Prime Minister also attended and participated in a number of events of the Greek Diaspora, including religious celebrations. Most notably he joined His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros for the feast of Theophany in Tarpon Springs, Florida — a marquee Orthodox event each year.

Among the announcements made during the visit was news of annual funding support by the Greek government of two million Euros to the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in “support of its survival, programs, and advancement.” First reported by The National Herald, this story has received minimal coverage in the English Orthodox world. Read More

I’ve tried to keep out of the discussion on Orthodoxy in Dialogue the past week or two. Out of the Rod Dreher discussion [Rod Dreher’s Limited (and Theologically Meaningless) Vocabulary], out of the Father Aaron Warwick discussion [Pastoring LGBTQ Individuals in the Orthodox Church]. I am, after all, not homosexual and hardly qualified to comment.

What grew over the past weeks though, is a desire to share my perspective on this, and Father Seraphim Holland’s Open Letter to Father Aaron Warwick was, well, the last straw, if I can put it that way.

I was introduced to Christianity and theology through Evangelical schools of thought, so my exposure to any positive sounds regarding homosexuality was limited. I have known people who were and are homosexual since I was a child, people who were and are important to me in my life. Still, the movement—the “homosexualist (?!) rhetoric,” as Father Seraphim puts it—frequently made and still makes me raise my eyebrows. Read More