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LOL, I've had the privilege of joining both Stuart and his lovely wife for both coffee and meals. Always good conversations among friends.

But, back to the topic at hand.

In places where the Greek Church has moved back towards tradition (Byzantine, not necessarily ethnic Greek) it is growing. This can be true of any Eastern Church. There was an article in First Things (one of the last few issues) that discussed the growth of Islam in Scotland. It seemed that the Scots were attracted to it because Christianity there had become so banal and they found Islam challenging. In some of the Protestant Churches you can believe almost anything - or nothing - and be called a Christian. Some RCs are not much better. How unattractive, and no wonder the churches are empty! It is those places where Christians are believing and center their lives on worship, and living the Christian life (a difficult thing) is where they are growing.

This does not mean that America must become Little Russia or Little Greece. Americans can radically embrace Christ without adopting someone else's ethnicity. New schools of things like liturgical music can spring up to serve.

I feel that we are talking to each other here rather than to the questioner.

To the questioner.
First of all, I know the Orthodox parish of which you speak. My son was a catechumen there, although he wound up being Chrismated at another parish in the end. I attend there, if I can, whenever I visit the Annapolis/Baltimore area. (after first attending an early mass at St. Mary's where I was received into the Catholic Church.) I also feel that it would be a wonderful thing to belong to that parish, that it has beautiful liturgy, good sermons, and a close, young, energetic community. If I lived near there, I might be dealing with what you are feeling. I attend as my home parish an old ethnic Ruthenian parish. The people are also wonderful to me, more than I deserve, but it is true that there are few young people (At 61, I am one of the young ones; now that I have let my hair go grey I blend in better The new priest is trying to move back towards a fuller expression of Eastern Christianity. But it certainly isn't like Holy Cross.

But it really can't be a matter of this parish or that parish. You have to figure out what you believe. Even if you convince yourself that it wouldn't really be too bad as a Catholic, to become Orthodox, the Orthodox don't want you on those terms. They want you to believe that Orthodoxy is The Church. Fr. Gregory has had experience with Catholics who became Orthodox because they loved his church, and who then continued to attend, and commune at, Catholic churches when they had reason to, with friends, family, or when traveling, or because they missed some Western feast. He told me that he told a certain person like this, who thought the two were really one church, that "this isn't the reality on the ground." He told my Orthodox son that he felt betrayed by this person.

I think you really have to decide what you believe. If you become Orthodox, whether they ask you to say so or not, you will be renouncing the "errors of Rome." Which include, at least, the position of the Pope as currently understood, as doctrinally taught, in Catholicism. I know Stuart will jump in and say that he rejects that too, as an Eastern Catholic. ( I don't really get this; I freely admit that I am a mostly a Western Catholic who loves the Divine Liturgy although I am letting Eastern ways sink in as much as I can) but even Stuart finds communion with the successor of Peter to be important enough to make him stick around on this side of the fence. It isn't easy to do because holy, wise, and learned people exist on both sides, and can make good arguments for both sides. Study is good, but it will never finally decide the issue for you. Prayer is what is needed.

You can be at peace while you pray, because God does not set us a puzzle and then blame us if we get the answer wrong. You study, you pray, and then you do your best to make the choice you believe is the truth, the one God wants you to make.

One thing you might think about is that it isn't necessarily the parish which seems to fulfill all your needs and desires which is the place you need to be. Of course there are some places (not usually Eastern ones in my very limited experience) where one really cannot pray, where what is happening is too disturbing for you to stay there without harming your spiritual life-and what that is, is different for different people . But a parish which just isn't "vibrant", which doesn't have much going on, which lacks much, could still be the place for you, so long as you can truly worship at liturgy there. God might have something particular to teach you there, or He might have something for you to do there.

I think you have the prayers of all of us with you as you struggle with this.
Susan Peterson

Circumstances recently arose where to worship in a Byzantine way, I had to attend the Liturgy at the local Greek Orthodox parish. They are trying to introduce congregational singing of the Liturgy - before, the choir did almost all the responses while the congregation just watched the ceremonies.

While I'm all in favour of congregational singing, what made this Liturgy a bit bizarre was that it was not accompanied by the organ (as usual) but by a piano. That was a first for me.

Once more I'd like to caution inquirers into Eastern Christianity to be on guard against idealising us. Sometimes our respective communities are more Christ-haunted than Christ-centered.

Susan,

Wonderful post! And thank you for the reminder to folks that we've strayed afar from the original poster's point of inquiry.

Many years,

Neil