Orthodoxy as True Church

        A closely related gift of Orthodoxy is its embodiment in a historical community, the true Church, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic, identified with the family of Orthodox Churches throughout the world. The Church is the Body of Christ. The Church is wholly centered on Christ and the Gospel, nurturing its communal faith and life by the power of the Spirit through sacrament, proclamation, teaching, practice and witness. Its unity is confirmed by a common faith and life, not by one world organization controlled by a single center. It is a Church which rejects both clericalism and congregationalism. It is shepherded by a hierarchy defined by conciliarity and the synodical system. The Church lives by a synergy of gifts and talents of clergy and laity, together making up God’s people, all mutually supportive and accountable, all serving as the conscience of the Church, all being the guardians of the faith. As a family of Churches, the universal Orthodox Church welcomes all nations to join the family according to the principle of one Church in one region, without enslaving them or prohibiting them from retaining their cultures and governing their lives. Today there are about fifteen independent Orthodox Churches throughout the world. There could be fifty or a hundred and fifty, provided they are united striving together toward the fullness of faith and life in God.

        Once again, the challenge for Orthodox Christians is to integrate theory and practice in ecclesiology, eschewing on the one hand the spirit of institutionalism, authoritarianism and factionalism, and showing on the other hand that the Church is truly the redeemed community, a witness to the new creation in Christ, an image of unity in love which God offers to the world. Our respective cultural and ethnic treasures are advanced by inspired work, and not by rhetoric or polemics against those perceived to be less ethnic-minded. According to Saint Paul we are to welcome all to the Church, for there is no Jew, Greek, barbarian or slave in the Body of Christ. We have the strength and creativity to cooperate and establish effective ways of perpetuating our respective ethnic traditions while allowing the Church to focus on saving souls and manifesting its catholicity. We have the wisdom and patience in Christ to discuss the issue of jurisdictional unity in a timely and appropriate manner. We want to foster personal freedom, dignity and justice in the Church because, while the Church is not a democracy, it is far more and not less than a democracy. The Church is a loving community of brothers and sisters ready to lay down their lives for each other.