Wow!

The newly-elected Metropolitan JONAH+ made this speech the day before his election:

Christ is in our midst!

One of the reasons the Holy Synod wanted to postpone the answer of these questions was in order to give it more serious consideration, and so that we could come up with a conciliar answer to these questions.

But part of that discussion that we had, was that I would try and set out some theological principles which underlie these questions so that we can look at them together, and consider what we are doing together as the body of Christ in America –as according to the calling that we have been given - according to that calling that we have been given to be the very presence of the One, Holy Catholic Church in America, constituted by the Gospel, constituted by our faith, constituted by the canons (the holy canons of the holy fathers, the traditions of the holy fathers and those traditions that have been passed down to us).

Because ultimately, what I see in many of these questions, and from the results of the town hall meetings, is a plea from the Church for teaching – to be taught. What is the ecclesiology of the Church? How do we understand how the Church is to operate? Who are we and what are we trying to do? And we have to be able to separate what is going on in the Orthodox Church in America (according to the canons and the traditions and the statutes) from a lot of the preconceptions that float around in our culture about how organizations operate. A lot of the very notions are distinct.

We are a hierarchical church, but what does that mean? I think history has given to us an inheritance where hierarchy has been completely confused with imperial aristocracy. Sometimes bishops, in particular Bishop Benjamin, like to joke about it. What happens to a guy – you put him on a stand in the middle of the Church, dress him up like the Byzantine emperor, and you tell him to live forever!

As Americans, and I would assert first and foremost as Orthodox Christians, our leadership, the leadership of the Church (that element that comes from above is the divine element), but the leadership that is within the Church – the leadership of bishops and the dioceses and the metropolitan of the synod (because what is the metropolitan; he is the chairman of the synod) – the leadership of a parish priest in his parish… If you sit there and you lord it over your parishioners that “I am the priest, and I can do whatever I want, and I can spend the money however I want without accountability” you’re not going to get very far. You’re likely to get thrown out, because you’ll get into all kinds of problems.

That form of leadership is over.

Obviously it is over in the parishes – it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work in a monastery, where I’ve been for the last 12 years. It doesn’t work, obviously, on a diocesan or on a national level. Our leadership is leadership from within. And underlying this is the essential theological principle that is in every aspect of our theology. It underlies our soteriology, it underlies our Christology, and it underlies our ecclesiology. And that’s the principle, in the word of St. Paul, of “synergy” – of co-operation. And it has to be a voluntary co-operation. Obedience in that context is not some guy who can lord it over you and make you do what he wants you to and get you in trouble one way or another. Obedience is co-operation out of love and respect. Monasticism is the sacrament of obedience. You see what it is incarnate when you experience that communion of brother with its spiritual father in a spirit of love and respect. Everything goes smoothly! I mean, boys will be boys, but everything goes smoothly.

And what happens when that love and that respect break down? When the passions enter into it, when jealousy comes in, or anger or bitterness or resentment or revenge? It all breaks down. On a broader level, our whole life in this church together is a life of synergy – a life of voluntary co-operation, a life of obedience to Jesus Christ and to the gospel. If it’s not about obedience to Jesus Christ and the gospel, what are we doing here? What are we doing here? The gospel has to be first and foremost above every other consideration. And it is the canon by which we measure ourselves.

So when we look at our ecclesiology, when we look to see what the Church is and what the Church can be (for it is always in that process of becoming, of entering into that divine synergy which is nothing else than the very process of our deification together as one body, with one spirit, with one heart, with one mind). It is a mutual decision to cut off our own will, to cut off our own selfishness, to cut off our own ideas, to enter into that living synergy which IS communion. Otherwise, our Eucharist is a sham, and we are alienated from Christ. If we are not at peace with one another (now that does not mean we cannot work out our disagreements; God knows as Orthodox we love to fight!) but we need to work it out so we can enter into that living experience of communion in co-operation and mutual obedience and mutual submission in love and mutual respect.

Now, with this as our basic principle, how do we look at some of these questions? There are some of these I cannot address. I’ve been consecrated a bishop, what, 10 days? I’m rather new to this august group of bishops, each one of whom I profoundly respect – profoundly respect. I see each one in their own uniqueness, each one with their gifts to offer – and thank God for that!

So, the first question; what is a communion of love and respect trying to work towards synergy? A culture of intimidation is alien to Christ. Unfortunately, this culture has prevailed and still prevails in certain sectors of the Orthodox Church, and this demon needs to be exorcised. Intimidation, fear, is never appropriate. Now, that doesn’t mean you aren’t going to get a rebuke, because what father doesn’t out of love rebuke his children? Even the Scriptures say so! God chastises those whom He loves. But for our life in the Church to be controlled by fear and intimidation (and I’ve had been plenty of it, more than I ever want to think about; and I resolved that never, ever, would I allow myself to fall into such a thing, because power corrupts and that power needs to be renounced, because it is only in our powerlessness, its only in our weakness, that we can allow ourselves to become vessels for Jesus Christ, the ultimate image of whom is the ultimate in weakness surrendered dead upon the Cross).

We need to be able to speak our minds, but we need to do so in a sober way. Sobriety is not just about the use of substances; sobriety is in regards to the passions: anger, bitterness, resentment, vengeance. It’s all selfish passions. And whenever we are possessed by those passions we need to sit down and shut up, because all we are doing is sinning and compounding our sin by the words that are coming out of our mouths. It is so important to keep watch over ourselves – to keep watch over our words and watch over our thoughts. Because if we are possessed by anger, by judgment of someone who has sinned – have they sinned? Obviously. Do you sin? Obviously. How can you judge? It is the same kind of hypocrisy that St. Paul condemned.

The elder that founded the hermitage of Pt. Reyes, Fr. Dmitri Yigorov of blessed memory, had a saying which I think is of the greatest value to us: as a fundamental spiritual principle, you must mercilessly persecute hypocrisy within yourself. If we can do this as a community the gospel of Jesus Christ will shine through us.

The SIC report, if you look at it in a certain way, basically said that the last two Metropolitans were corrupt – that they abrogated their responsibility of leadership on all levels. So is it a wonder that the synod, being leaderless, would not function as well as it should? Is it a wonder? Because of the culture that only a few knew about (of fear and intimidation) which operated in the walls of the chancellery in Syosset? A culture which was fundamentally sick! And that has been removed, thank God! Thank God!
And so the bishops attended to their dioceses, and I think we all know how much in each diocese we love and care for and respect our bishops. The problem is not in the dioceses, it’s not in the parishes. The problem was in Syosset – the problem was in the chancellery. And because of that absolute vacuum of leadership in a sick, dysfunctional situation, the Church was looted. It was an expensive lesson, a very expensive lesson. And I don’t think that in any way, shape or form, that the next Metropolitan (that will be elected from among this group of men) is going to let down the confidence of the Church if he knows that we are operating in a atmosphere of love, of respect, and of hope. If we can have that, build that community of love and respect, seeing how our passions have distracted us from that living communion with God, and have turned us against one another - have created all sorts of hostility between the body of the All American Council and the Synod of bishops. I heard boos, right? Between the Synod of Bishops and the Metropolitan Council. Talk about a sick, dysfunctional situation.

Why? Because our passions have gone awry.

Yes, we were betrayed. Yes, we were raped. It’s over. It’s over! Let it be in the past so we can heal! When we maintain resentments in our souls (and it doesn’t matter if it’s on an interpersonal level, it doesn’t matter if it’s in a parish, within a family, between friends, or within the Church on the largest level) – if we maintain resentments within our soul it’s a cancer that will eat away our souls and destroy us as persons, and it will destroy that community that we have with those other persons. And who do we resent the most but the people that we love the most?

And so what is the essence of the gospel? It’s repentance and forgiveness? And what is that repentance? It is to see that these things have become distractions for us, that they have become ends in themselves, and that we have lost sight of God, and to turn back to God. Repentance also means conversion; it means transformation of the mind. And that is a constant process for every single committed Christian. It is a constant process that we have to engage in both personally and corporately. And when we engage in that process, we have to confront the anger and the bitterness and the hurts and the pain and the resentment that we have born within us as reactions against the people who have hurt us. And by forgiving, we’re not excusing the action. We’re not saying that Kondratic was right to loot the Church! We’re not saying that Metropolitan Theodosius was right to abdicate all of his responsibility to the bottle, or whatever. We’re not justifying anything! What we’re saying is “My reaction is destroying me, and I need to stop it. If I value Jesus Christ and the gospel and communion with God, I need to stop it and move on.”

The Holy Synod needs a chance to function normally with a leader who’s engaged – who’s not drunk, who’s not preoccupied. With somebody who’s engaged! Who’s engaged in building that synergy and building that communion. It’s not just about that particular Metropolitan or that particular leader. It’s about every single one of us – and you, all of you here, you’re the leaders of the Church. Every priest here has probably dozens or hundreds of people who look to you. And your authority is based, is founded, on that responsibility to convey the gospel – to convey the message of Christ 95% by your actions and by your attitudes, and 5% by your words.

Authority is responsibility. Authority is accountability. It is not power.

So we look at some of these questions. Was the Holy Synod leaderless? Yes. For 30 years. Metropolitan Herman and Metropolitan Theodosius. We need to give the Synod a chance, with the full, complete, voluntary, willful support of the Church. Let them, and help them, bear their responsibility, so that you can bear your responsibility. Hierarchy is only about responsibility. It’s not all this imperial nonsense. Thank God we’re Americans and we have cast that off. We don’t need foreign despots. We are the only non-state Orthodox Church – the only Orthodox Church that doesn’t exist under the thumb of a state either friendly or hostile.

So the Church is our responsibility personally and collectively, individually and corporately. What are you going to do with your part of that responsibility? Maybe you haven’t been entrusted with the leadership of a parish. Maybe you’re not a priest. Maybe you think, “Oh, I’m just a housewife.” What incredible responsibility you have to your children, to your friends, to your neighbors, to the parish! What incredible responsibility: to bear witness to Jesus Christ by how you love and respect one another.

If you’re a priest, think of the responsibility you bear as the spiritual fathers of your parishioners. One of the hardest things that happened in my ministry was the death of a 22 year old brother, who decided to go river-rafting on the spring thaw (thinking, as a 22 year old would, that he’s immortal). As his spiritual father, I knew the sacrament – this mystery of spiritual fatherhood – because after his death there were times when I knew I was standing before God with him at the last judgment pleading for his soul. As priests, you have the same responsibility. To stand at the last judgment before the throne of God with those whom God has entrusted to you. It is an awesome mystery – an awesome thing. And as bishops! Think of that responsibility.
We need to come together in love and respect. To be willing to put aside the anger and the bitterness, and show love for one another – show respect for one another – recognize the awesome responsibility of those who will give an account for your souls. We will stand before God for you at the last judgment, whether it is your personal last judgment or the general one. This is the Scriptures, and this is the reality of this great mystery of our union in Christ.

How do we re-establish trust? There is only one way. It is to choose to love. It is the only way. There is no other way. There is no organizational methods, no kind of business practices we can invoke, no corporate ideologies; none of that. If we are Christians, we have the choice. Do we chose to enter into the love of Jesus Christ for one another, including our hierarchs, including our priests, including those who have betrayed us, including those who have failed us miserably, including those whom we judge and criticize to our own damnation. We have to choose to love. We have to choose to forgive. And this is the only way, if we are Christians.

Now, we can have a nice organization. But who cares? We can have all the nice rituals. But to quote Fr. Alexander Shmemman of blessed memory, Jesus Christ did not die on the cross so we could have nice rituals. It’s not about religion, it is about our souls. It is about our salvation. It is about our life. Our life as one body united by the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ sharing His own relationship with the Father. If we choose that, everything will be clear. If we choose the other, things may be clear organizationally, but our salvation is forfeit.

So I think I’ve addressed most of the questions on here. Please forgive me.