Tag Archives: Alliance of Orthodox Christians

Lies We Tell Ourselves #1: “We’re Growing!”

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Over the next few days, I’ll post my slides and notes from the talk I gave recently in Grand Rapids for the Alance of Orthodox Christians:  “10 Lies Orthodox Christians Tell Ourselves.” Here’s the first thing we get wrong about ourselves.

In Christ,

+Fr Gregory

We’ve heard this a lot over the years that Orthodoxy is the fastest growing religion in America.   The numbers tell a different story. We’re shrinking. We aren’t shrinking any faster than the Catholic Church or the Mainline Protestant communities but we are shrinking.

We can add to these numbers the fact that some 60% of those baptized as infants will leave the Church by the time they’re 25. Of the young people who stay, only about 1 in 4 will attend Liturgy on a weekly basis.

And while exact numbers are hard to come by, converts—those who become Orthodox as adults—tend to leave the Church at the same rate as young adults.

10 Lies Orthodox Christians Tell Ourselves

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  On Tuesday night, I gave a talk in Grand Rapids, MI titled “10 Lies Orthodox Christians Tell Ourselves.” The talk was sponsored by the Alliance of Orthodox Christians Speaker Series, a non-profit lay Orthodox ministry. The video will be up soon. For now though, here are the 10 lies we as Orthodox Christians tell ourselves.   In Christ,   +Fr Gregory  
  1. “We’re the FASTEST growing religion in America!
  2. “We just need better PROGRAMS!”
  3. “The most loving thing I can do is tell the truth.”
  4. “It’s all about culture.”
  5. “God loves you and wants you to be happy!”
  6. “The Orthodox understanding of salvation is therapeutic, not legalistic.”
  7. “But we’re called to live a life of ‘interiorized monasticism!”
  8. “Well, all I really need to do is be obedient to my priest!
  9. “But my priest is my spiritual father!”
  10. “A personal relationship with Jesus Christ isn’t ORTHODOX it’s a PROTESTANT idea!”