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I don't want to open a jar of worms. Scratch that -- I *do* want to open up a jar of worms, but I don't want others to suffer for it! So, I'm more than happy to recieve private responses to my following query if that's more appropriate, but those who cannot answer charitably need not respond at all. No vitriol wanted!

My question is for anyone who has moved from EO to EC or vice versa: why did you do it? I'm asking for my own personal reasons which I'd rather not go into publicly, at least not now.

Thanks in advance,

Ephrem

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ephrem (.a.t.) tuirgin (.d.o.t.) com

Ephrem,

That shouldn't raise any hackles. I haven't had this experience, having been a Latin prior to my entry into the Melkite Church many years ago, so I'll leave it to those who have "crossed over" to explain why they've done so.

I'd just offer that we have folks who have done both, and very openly, during their time here. With only a couple of exceptions (zealous folk who suddenly decided that those they left were less Christian than those they had embraced), those who have made these changes have done so for what they see as their spiritual needs and have been accepted by the rest of us with prayerful love that they find everything they seek in their new spiritual home.

Many years,

Neil

Originally posted by Irish Melkite:
> That shouldn't raise any hackles.
<snip>
> zealous folk who suddenly decided that those they left were less
> Christian than those they had embraced

These are the ones I was concerned about.

> those who have made these changes have done so for what they see as
> their spiritual needs and have been accepted by the rest of us with
> prayerful love that they find everything they seek in their new
> spiritual home.

This is what I am impressed with in this group. It is something I haven't seen much of in other venues.

Ephrem

Aha - but Ephrem - when you have been here a while you will see that we are a family and like all families we fight from time to time BUT we support our brothers and sisters in their time of need - and we will fight for them too.

Anhelyna - who was given her name by one of her brothers here

I'm thinking that I should have been more open about "my own personal reasons"... a bit unfair of me to ask personal information when I'm withholding it myself.

The following is adapted from an e-mail to a kind soul who did respond.

I converted into the Orthodox Church almost 3 years ago, having previously been a very disenchanted Baptist. I'd had some exposure to sacramental theology, Catholic mystical writers, and was quite influenced by these things.

Eventually, I knew that I must be either Catholic or Orthodox and after my first Divine Liturgy I never turned back. 6 months later I was chrismated and received into the OCA. Even with my love for the Catholic writers I'd been exposed to, converting to the Catholic Church would have been a much harder decision on a rather pragmatic level: I cannot count the number of times my family had referred to her as `the whore of Babylon', an epithet I find (and found) extremely offensive. At least Orthodoxy was more or less `off the radar'.

While having been received in the OCA I still had strong ties with traditionalists -- more for their traditional spirituality (or perhaps for the aesthetics of their piety) than for their stances. But -- not necessarily their fault -- I found myself getting more and more drawn into a sectarian mentality, more and more critical of my own parish (some of this had nothing to do with traditionalism, but rather some very quirky responses by a priest to my spiritual troubles). And then I would start feeling pulled into the opposite direction -- I began to feel quite battered between various contrasting extremes until finally I broke and began avoiding church altogether.

At times I've been drawn back -- I need an active faith, and an active community. Living in the snow-bird retirement area of SW FL makes this harder as most of the Orthodox in our parishes are quite old and only here part-time (nothing against our elders -- not at all -- but we are a young family needing some contact with other young families, too). And I cannot seem to get away from those who harbor rather hard feelings toward everything not Orthodox -- and I wonder whether this stems more from Orthodox themselves or from the old (or new) biases of converts. I feel as if too much time is spent debating who's right and who's a heretic and meanwhile -- despite the great beauty of Orthodox spirituality -- my spiritual life is a mess and I feel as if I cannot breathe. Doctrine is, of course, important -- but love is also important and it just strikes me that those people which demonstrate it are rare birds. I guess I'm just sick of the way Orthodox -- as a friend of mine wrote -- `"chew" an each other to find consensus.'

To be honest, my issues are not dogmatic. I am convinced that at heart, in her teachings, the Roman Catholic Church is as much `the Church' as the Orthodox Church -- I see schism rather than some greater divide. Unfortunately, the majority of Orthodox that I personally know see heresy rather than schism. I really need to find the place where I can -- to use my old Protestant terminology -- "plug in". I need to find the breathing room and the soil to grow in my love for Christ, and the encouragement to do so without being drug back into sectarian polemics. I need to work out my salvation rather than be distracted with politics... but maybe it is naivete to think that this can be achieved anywhere without much discipline and determination on my part.

I'm looking for insight into these matters.

Once again I find I need to apologize for length. I hope I haven't gone to the other extreme and been *overly* personal.

Thanks,

Ephrem

Oh, I saw in the archives some of the hackles raised by at least one former EC who had become an EO -- still, I was impressed with the way he was handled. My problem isn't with conflict, but the spirit in which it is conducted... and by and large I'm impressed (having done some rather extensive searches in the archives before joining up).

Ephrem