June 13, 2007
Glory to God for all things!
There is a lot that could be said about the almost 2 year struggle undertaken by an Orthodox Church
parish council in Fort Wayne,
IN. In the overall scope of things, it is both a small
thing and yet sublime.
It involves Issues that concern: money and the church; treatment of clergy by bishops and laity;
the rights, duties and responsibilities of the laity and their elected parish councils; church governance, politics, influence,
due process and transparency.
With all the rancor in the various Orthodox jurisdictions in the U.S. and around the world, thinking
about and resolving these issues is certainly both daunting and yet absolutely necessary if the Church is to carry out its
mission, its role in this world and in this age.
The answers to the most complex questions are often quite simple and involve getting back to the
basics.
Every Sunday we chant that “we have found the true faith”. Have we?
Does our faith really mean anything? Then come, let
us act like it.
We forgive those who brought this matter into court, and whose inexplicable actions created far-reaching
tragedy for many individuals, formerly members St. John Chrysostom Church in Fort Wayne. We forgive, but we cannot
forget.
As for the parish's former priest, Fr. Isaac Henke, it is up to him to forgive those who willfully
and maliciously tormented him and his family (continuing to this very day), turning their world upside down for absolutely
no good reason.
We give glory and thanks to God. We thank Him for His
mercy, and His Sacrificial Love.
We glorify and thank the Theotokos for her intercessions on behalf of those who suffer.
We thank the 12 former parish council members of St. John in Fort Wayne who, horrified by the
inhumanity presented them one day in May 2005, had the guts to stand up and try to right a wrong committed before their very
eyes. May God bless you for your courage and commitment to Orthodox Christianity
while many (including your loved ones) were telling you to give it up.
We give thanks and wish God's blessings for our wonderful Orthodox attorney, Alan VerPlanck and
his family.
We give thanks and wish the same for Judge Stanley Levine who had the wisdom to discern fact from
fantasy and keep the case focused on the law.
COCA thanks its supporters and friends in the U.S. and
around the world for your generosity and most importantly, your prayers. The challenges abound, and our work is only
beginning.
There are several dozen Orthodox priests in the U.S. right now living at or below the poverty level.
Many have been evicted from their homes, lost lost their health insurance, denied spiritual courts, and denied the opportunity
to serve Christ while in some semi-permanent state of bogus ecclesiastical suspension. To put food on their tables for their
families they are selling sofas, satellite television services or flipping hamburgers while waiting for a phone call
or letter from a hierarch that never comes.
Many others are preparing for their annual diocesan clergy-laity retreats anxiously wondering what
will happen: will they be pulled aside and told that they've "been on secret probation for a year"; will they constantly be
looking over their shoulder to see who is preparing to stab them in the back?
Meanwhile, others (clergy, laity and hierarchs) who are alleged to have committed crimes or
enabled them are protected by a wall of silence.
Is this the kind of Orthodoxy we want in America? If the True Faith matters to you, if you take
it seriously, please get involved-- for your sake, the sake of your neighbor, and the Church.
