All points are well taken here.
That said though, I am worried that the various Byzantine Churches will lose any real identity. Ethnicity shouldn't be an issue in America, though the various particular churches should retain as much as possible.
The various particular Churches have a certain mindset in which a kind of mandatory mentality has been mostly rejected. So, there is obvuously room for variance. Here, I am speaking about what lanague is used at the Liturgy. It should be an option to use Arabic and Greek for the Melkites, though not only those should be used in a predominately English speaking country.
There may be some instances when even in the US, it might be justifiable to utilize a bit of Spanish. Here though, it shouldn't be an issue of mandatory.
If a few prayers in the Divine Liturgy are said in the ethnic language, its no problem. For those who find a parish as home, they will quickly learn/understand these prayers. Even an English translation does not ensure understaing (for an English speaker).
The translation for the ethnic language should be provided. If it is not though and it only constitutues a small part of the prayers, I still do not see an problem there. I have found that many EC churches are warm and welcoming and have social time after the Divine Liturgy planned, which makes an excellent time to ask Abouna and Shamas questions. Heck, even some parishers are qucik to approach newcomers and explain everything.
This is a wonderful character of the EC churches I have had experience with, they are family.
