If you want to remain separate and be the tertium quid, so be it. But you'll be marching to the beat of your own drummer.
As to your observations, remember, abusus non tollit usus. Specifically:
1. The Orthodox are aware of the non-canonical nature of their present ecclesiastical arrangements. Such anomalies are not uncommon through Church history, in both the West and the East. I don't know any Orthodox hierarch or theologian who says the present situation is normative or appropriate. And, of course, we are no better.
2. Organs and other musical instruments are representative of a phase of Orthodox life in this particular country. I've never seen an organ or piano outside of a Greek church, and, mercifully, these are now disappearing. Like many immigrants, the Greeks wanted to fit in, and their attempts at assimilation extended to making their churches look and sound like those of the dominant Protestant culture. A more self-confident and assertive Greek Orthodox community has no need for such crutches, and has been actively working to remove these abuses. It's interesting that this summer I visited a Greek Orthodox church in Greenville, SC. Not only was it the largest church in the entire city, it was also built and decorated in canonical fashion--and not an organ in sight, despite being in the heart of the Bible Belt. Also interestingly, I have visited many Greek and Russian churches in the UK and Western Europe. Not an organ in any of them.
3. Westernized icons likewise are the product of a particular time and place--in this case, Russia in the 18th and 19th centuries. Early immigrants to this country brought them along, as they were all that they knew. Of course, you would have to be blind to ignore the renaissance in Orthodox iconography of the last half century, which has seen the restoration of canonical norms and the emergence of powerful, talented iconographers working within the ancient canon with a modern sensibility.
4. Altar girls--yeah, but very rarely.
5. Confessionals: Now you're picking nits, but I would have to say they are very rare indeed, and might be most common in former RC churches taken over by the Orthodox. Again, in all my visits to Orthodox Churches outside the United States, I have never seen a confessional box.
In any case, I fail to see what your point is, other than "So's your mom!" If we can be examples of Orthodoxy to the Orthodox, so much the better.
Stuart, you have made my points as your response. Thanks. As to icons, you are right on spot. Most of the Slavs followed the Russian trends in iconography (and choral music) which were western influenced in the late 18th and through the mid 20th centuries whether they were EC or EO.
