SCOBA
STATEMENT ON UNITY (May 1-3, 2001)
Orthodox
Bishops Issue Statement Affirming Need To Bear Public Witness Together on
Matters of Spiritual and Moral Concern.
Washington, DC – The largest gathering ever
of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas concluded a three-day Conference
today by issuing an official statement calling for coordinated action on, and
witness to, the mission of Orthodoxy to have a decisive voice in matters of the
spiritual, social and human needs of 21st century America.
The
theme of the Conference, organized by the Standing Conference of Canonical
Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA),aimed at working on the implications,
theological and pastoral, of the SCOBA Encyclical on the occasion of the Third
Christian Millennium which was released on December 14,2000,entitled,”And the
Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us”. The Conference started on Tuesday
evening May 1st at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. The final session was held
Thursday, May 3rd at St. Nicholas Cathedral when the 34 hierarchs present
approved unanimously, and enthusiastically, the following statement:
STATEMENT
To our Beloved, The Faithful Clergy and Laity of the Holy Orthodox Church
throughout North America,
We greet you in the name of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ: Christ is
Risen!
At the
invitation of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios and the other Hierarchs of the
Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), we
have gathered together in Washington, D.C. for the past three days to discuss
issues of concern for the entire Orthodox Church in North America. Numbering
thirty-four Hierarchs we represent every canonical Orthodox Diocese,
Archdiocese, and Church that our good and loving Lord has planted here in North
America. It has been an historic meeting, only the second time we have gathered
in such a forum. Mindful of the presence of our Lord, we have prayed together;
we have engaged in theological reflection; we have come to know each other
better; and here in our nation’s capital we have given witness to our Orthodox
Christian faith.
As we
came together, we were heartened by words of encouragement and prayer from the
heads of our Holy Orthodox Churches. His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew of
Constantinople said, “the spiritual unity of the Orthodox Church and the
harmonious collaboration among her Hierarchs, clergy, and people [must] be
demonstrated, so that the existing organizational status not be interpreted as
dissonance in faith and unity.” His Holiness Patriarch Maxim of Bulgaria
greeted us “with brotherly love and the belief that you will labor with
endeavors worthy of praise for the benefit of Holy Orthodoxy.” His Beatitude
Patriarch Teoctist of Romania pointed to our gathering here as “a foretaste of
whatever will fully occur with the help of God and by ways only known by Him
for achieving the full unity of the Church of Christ on the American
continent.”
The
Millennium Pastoral Letter of the SCOBA Hierarchs And the Word Became Flesh and
Dwelt Among Us… formed the framework for our discussions and conclusions. This
was extremely appropriate because that Letter is first and foremost a
missionary document. It is the proclamation of the Gospel that brings us
together even as it enlivens the Church. As the Letter says, “Our intention is
to make the Gospel of our Lord and God the Savior Jesus Christ known and
embraced by more and more people in this land to which God has called us.” [5]
In his
opening presentation Archbishop Demetrios immediately drew our attention to the
challenges facing us in North America both as Church and society at this dawn
of the 21st century. He highlighted six areas for our reflection: the area of
bio-ethics and bio-medical engineering; the challenges facing the institution
of marriage and the family; the increasing relativization of everything where
“truth” has become a matter of opinion; the developments in information
technologies and the ways in which the Church might make use of these; the
challenges affecting society and the environment; and lastly, the challenge of
offering our society the gift of our Orthodox spirituality.
Bishop
Joseph of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese offered us reflections on the
important themes of the Millennium Pastoral Letter. He highlighted the need for
us to “get back to basics” in theology by presenting to our faithful and to our
society the “overarching vision of the divine economy as it has been outlined
in our Orthodox tradition.” He said that we need to “look back to the sources
of our Faith, but only to allow us to face forward again toward our future with
a renewed sense of who we are as the Body of Christ.” He urged us to take up
the Church’s missionary imperative “to unite the world into this baptismal
faith, recapitulating it into the unity of Christ” while pointing to the
“artificial jurisdictional boundaries in North America that hamper this
mission.”
Bishop
Seraphim of the Orthodox Church in America offered us pastoral and spiritual
reflections on the practical application of our faith. In emphasizing the
importance of the virtues of humility and simplicity, he pointed to the
perceived gap between what we profess and what we actually do. He said that we
must in particular direct our “work with the poor and underprivileged and
homeless.” In emphasizing our own role as archpastors he reminded us that “we
must be examples of forgiveness and reconciliation, and merciful dispensers of
canonical medicines.”
One of
the greatest challenges before us remains the imperative need for strengthening
the unity of the Orthodox Church on the North American continent. The question
is how to perfect the unity that is given to us as “a gift from God.” [143]. It
is clear to all of us that “the future of our Church lies in our willingness to
work together.” [145]
We
affirm the value of the present structure of the Standing Conference as the
preeminent vehicle for our cooperation and as a sign of unity that our Lord
wills for our Holy Orthodox Church here in North America. We are encouraged by
the fact that the SCOBA Hierarchs meet on a regular basis to strengthen our
common witness. This vital work of SCOBA needs to be communicated better to all
of the Hierarchs here and abroad. Based upon this blessed experience of
gathering here, we affirm the importance of all of the bishops meeting on a
yearly basis. We also affirm the importance of the working commissions of SCOBA
for our common ministry and encourage greater engagement by members of the
hierarchy in the activity of the commissions. We also have a number of
practical suggestions that seem to us within our power to accomplish and are
necessary ways of strengthening and perfecting the unity we share.
The
first is to strengthen and expand the current SCOBA commissions. Each of these
either provides or has the potential to provide a rich opportunity to deepen
our witness here. Some work very well; others need our genuine attention. For
example, the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and the Orthodox
Christian Mission Center (OCMC), both organizations chartered by and
responsible to SCOBA, provide a service to the Church not only here in North
America, but also worldwide. The various dialogues that the Orthodox Church
here in North America has with fellow Christians, the Roman Catholics, the
Lutherans, and the Episcopalians, have always come under the coordinated
supervision of SCOBA. The Orthodox Christian Education Commission, one of the
oldest SCOBA Commissions, has coordinated religious education, produced
religious education materials, and provided a forum for all Orthodox Christian
religious educators. The Orthodox Theological Society in America (OTSA) has
provided a forum for our theologians to gather and reflect upon the important
theological concerns confronting the Church today. The same is true of the Military
Chaplaincy Commission which over the years has provided Military Chaplains for
all Orthodox Christians serving our nation’s armed forces. Each of these has
worked extremely well and has broad representation and participation from the
SCOBA jurisdictions. More recently, the commissions on Scouting, Campus and
Youth Work, and Contemporary Social and Moral Issues have been reorganized.
We
clearly recognize that if this work is to be done fruitfully, we must commit
ourselves to providing sufficient staff and resources.
As
shepherds of one flock of Christ in this land, we realize that we participate
in the same ministry and that we face the same challenges as pastors and
teachers of the faith. We affirm the need to bear public witness together on
matters of spiritual and moral concern. We have the profound obligation to
address the crying needs of the society in which we live. We must reach out.
These are issues of vital concern to the future of humanity and the planet.
There are people suffering from economic and political injustice. Many in our
society are morally adrift. We cannot remain silent. The oneness of our voice
will help to provide spiritual direction not only to our own faithful, but will
also offer a witness of the truth of the Gospel to those around us.
We
rejoice in the fact that in many places there are positive expressions of
Orthodox cooperation and witness. We see in this the Body of Christ in action.
In these places, jurisdictional distinctions have not inhibited the witness to
the unity of the Church. In fact, in our discussions we have come to see this
kind of common testimony to the Gospel of Christ grow and take ever more
practical forms. We give thanks to God who has enabled us to join together not
only for prayer, but also for common ministry in service to the poor, in
nurturing the young, and in encouraging all in their life in Christ. We affirm
this activity, and we commit ourselves to encouraging, strengthening, and
regularizing this sort of cooperation throughout the land.
We give
thanks to our good and loving Lord for His having given us this time together.
We also were strengthened by the prayers of our beloved clergy and faithful all
across America. Many of them were generous benefactors for this event. We are
also grateful to the Washington area parishes, and especially the Cathedral
parishes of St. Sophia and St. Nicholas for their hospitality.
As we
closed our work here we gathered together for the Holy Eucharist. Each of us
partook of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. There can be no more
perfect sign of our unity. Our experience of the Divine Liturgy renews us and
reminds us that “every good and perfect gift is from above, from him who is the
Father of lights.”
We are
deeply conscious of the fact that we are bearers of the Tradition. It is the
Tradition of the Gospel of Christ that unites us to the Apostles themselves.
This is for us both a profound burden and a source of joy, for we know that we
are servants of God’s people. “The Church is not a museum, and we are not Her
curators. The Church is a living and breathing community, the Body of Christ.”
[136] In this land we are strengthened by the witness of countless saints in
every place and every time who proclaim the Gospel of Christ in word and deed.
Glory to God who offers us this opportunity to witness to Him! Glory to Him who rose from the dead! Glory to Him who breathes life into all that is!