Orthodox Forum | by Cathy Tatusko | Jan. 28, 2010
I write in support of two Orthodox priests, Fr. Patrick Reardon and Fr. Mark Hodges, for their principled and public stance on the decision by St. Vladimir’s Seminary to invite Rowan Williams to deliver the Schmemann lecture and to confer upon him an honorary Doctorate of Divinity. As Fathers Reardon and Hodges so accurately and forcefully state, these actions are scandalous not only to many of the faithful Orthodox Christians in this country whose priests have been schooled and formed at this seminary, but also to the many Anglicans and other Protestants who may have been contemplating a move to the Orthodox Church to escape the immoral practices within their own communion with respect to homosexuality.
The decision to confer an honorary doctorate on Archbishop Williams seems almost intentionally provocative, as it is difficult to imagine a more polarizing individual on the contemporary Christian world stage. Are we really being asked in the OCA to overlook this man’s stature as the leading clerical advocate of a homosexual episcopacy, as Father Mark so aptly referred to him, simply because he has studied and written about Orthodoxy? I am baffled by the idea that our new Metropolitan, who has signed the Manhattan Declaration and who has openly invited disaffected Anglicans to take refuge in the Orthodox Church, would have sanctioned this action by St. Vladimir’s Seminary.
Is Orthodoxy destined to become just one more variation of vanilla Christianity in America? Aren’t there enough such “expressions” of the Christian faith in this country to satisfy the appetites of those who seek spirituality without moral accountability? Are we so desperate for the world’s approval that we are willing to sacrifice our moral teachings to obtain it?
Have we forgotten that friendship with the world is enmity with God? The faithful Orthodox in this country are deserving of answers to these questions with respect to this action by St. Vladimir’s.
While I hope that the Orthodox Church will always be a hospital for repentant sinners (whatever the sin), I pray we will not lose our ability to distinguish between sickness and health. For our part, my husband and I will be withholding any future support of St. Vladimir’s Seminary until some explanation is offered to the Church as to why this action was taken. I doubt that our puny protest will be felt by the seminary, but it will satisfy our consciences that we are not blindly supporting false teaching in the name of Orthodoxy.
In Christ,
Cathy Tatusko
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More information regarding this unfortunate situation:
Archbishop Rowan Williams to deliver annual Schmemann Lecture at St. Vladimir’s Seminary
www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2009/12/14/archbishop-rowan-williams-to-deliver-annual-schmemann-lecture-at-st-vladimirs-seminary/
TOUCHSTONE Editor criticizes conferral of Doctorate on Rowan Williams
www.aoiusa.org/blog/2010/01/touchstone-editor-criticizes-conferal-of-doctorate-on-rowan-williams/
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Dear Cathy Tatusko,
The criticisms of Fr. Patrick Reardon and Fr. Mark Hodges about the moral teachings of Rowan Williams, Archbishop of The Church of England are accurate. His support for homosexuality before becoming Archbishop cannot be denied. The attempt to stem the tide of consecrations of homosexual clergy was supported by Rowan Williams in order to foster some kind of unity within the Anglican communion. Indeed, the Anglican communion was and continues to be in “grave peril”. Actions like a letter writing campaign seeking to correct Rowan Williams must be supported. Love must act.
Anglicans world wide have been caught in a quandry of loyalty to their Mother Church, while seeing the apostasy and heresy of their own bishops and priests. Many, many good Christians are caught in a state of suspension, not knowing how to act, where to move to, or what to do while struggling with the errors of their clergy. We as Orthodox Christians, know their pain, wounded hearts, and conflicted souls.
On Saturday, Jan 30th “Saint Vladimir’s Seminary will also confer upon the archbishop a Doctorate of Divinity honoris causa, in recognition of his contribution to the academic study of Eastern Orthodox theology and spirituality.” As an academic Orthodox Christian institution, St. Vladimir’s Seminary is not conferring a doctorate for the homosexual teachings of Rowan Williams. St. Vladimir’s is honoring a man for spreading Orthodoxy at Oxford, throughout England, and in print through the English speaking world. “Give honor to whom honor is due.”
By creating a link between St. Vladimir’s Seminary and Oxford, a academic opportunities are being created in the Episcopalian realm. Anglicans will now look to St. Vladimir’s Seminary and other Orthodox Theological Schools as a source of sound biblical and patristic teaching with respected academic degrees. A further dialogue with Anglicans will be established. Those who deepen their understanding of Early Church life and history will be led to logical conclusions and decisions.
Most Anglicans still do not truly know that Orthodoxy exists. Therefore they have not heard the fullness of true teachings. Many Anglicans, through the news of the speech may discover Orthodoxy, as a reality, may even read Orthodox literature and listen to Orthodox teachings. Some will ignore the event all together. Even so, a window is being opened. An open window lets in fresh air (when you live where the air is pure).
It is my hope that you Cathy, Fr. Patrick and Fr. Mark do not ignore the event. In fact, all four of us just may learn more about Orthodoxy by listening to the archbishop speak on “the topic “Theology and the Contemplative Calling: The Image of Humanity in the Philokalia.” I certainly hope that none of you believe you have Orthodoxy mastered, for from the heart we seek the moderate path: Love the sinner, hate the sin. Embrace the sinner first. Love the sinner fully. Fully. Love the sinner, totally, completely. Listen to the sinner thoroughly. Then, much later, speak the truth in love, to draw the sinner to Christ who cleanses the sin over time.
Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. James 5:19-20
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Galatians 6:1-3
The Lord has given Orthodoxy bishops and priests of high integrity out of the Anglican communion. We have been and continue to be blessed by the fruits of their leadership and teachings. Many of these never wandered from the truth, but were given a full opportunity to discover the truth in Jesus Christ and were led by the Holy Spirit into Holy Orthodoxy. For this we thank the Lord for His harvest in our midst.
Sometimes we believe Holy Orthodoxy is equal to “holy criticism.” Most often that “holy criticism” is our self-righteousness acting out. This is a great weakness of our faithful and clergy in Orthodoxy for very often it is rooted in fear and a lust for power. In fear we most often criticize those who are most like us. We fear to face ourselves. We fear to love as God commands us to love.
Let us turn our efforts to sowing and watering the Anglicans around us, rather than criticizing those who are casting the net. Are we strong, are we loving, are we gentle, are we resilient, in order to draw the net in?
“Fear not..” “From this day onward you will be fishers of men.”
Mrs. Cathy Tatusko wrote:
“…I write in support of two Orthodox priests, Fr. Patrick Reardon and Fr. Mark Hodges, for their principled and public stance on the decision by St. Vladimir’s Seminary to invite Rowan Williams to deliver the Schmemann lecture and to confer upon him an honorary Doctorate of Divinity…”
Below is the letter from Father Patrick Reardon to Metropolitan Jonah dated Jan. 17, 2010, and sent approximately two weeks before St. Vladimir’s bestowed honor on Rowan, who is “chiefly known for his public support for sexual perversion within the Anglican Communion:”
The Very Reverend Patrick Henry Reardon
Archpriest and Pastor
January 17, 2010
The Most Blessed JONAH
The Orthodox Church in America
PO Box 675 Syosset, NY 11791-0675
Your Beatitude;
I beg your pastoral blessing, please. You receive this letter as President and Chairman of the Board of St. Vladimir’s Seminary, and I send it as a friend of the seminary.
I write to complain of the seminary’s decision to confer an honorary degree on Rowan Williams later this month.
Although the scholarly publications of Dr. Williams may be cited as adequate reason for his lecture at the seminary, news of the plan to honor him is already prompting a popular consternation and even scandal.
Outside of academic circles, this individual is chiefly known for his public support for sexual perversion within the Anglican Communion.
I write on behalf of two groups of people: First, I speak for the simple faithful who worship in our Orthodox parishes, those friends of the St. Vladimir’s who feel betrayed by the seminary’s decision with respect to Dr. Williams.
Second, I speak for thousands of loyal and believing Anglicans, in this country and around the world, for whom the public policies of Dr. Williams have been a source of pain and distress during the past seven years of his unfortunate tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Some of these Anglicans, in fact, have been pursuing a path toward membership the Orthodox Church. The seminary’s resolve to honor Rowan Williams is causing them to reconsider their hope to join the Orthodox Church.
I learned of an instance of this as recently as this afternoon. Indeed — -if I am permitted a personal note — -let me mention that in those dark days, a quarter of a century ago, when I was a struggling Anglican trying to find his way to the Orthodox Church, my weak faith could not have sustained such an offense.
If a major Orthodox seminary had conferred such an honor on such a man as Rowan Williams back then, I likely would never have joined the Orthodox Church.
Your Beatitude, I suffer no illusion about the seminary’s strength of resolve to honor Dr. Williams. I am confident, rather, that no contrary plea from me will be taken seriously.
I write only to satisfy my conscience that a grave moral duty has been met — -to wit, the obligation to warn fellow Christians that they have embarked on a path that will lead only to scandal and disgrace to our Holy Church. Indeed, this scandal is already in play.
I beg the forgiveness of your Beatitude if I have expressed myself intemperately. This is likely the case, I suppose, for this situation is truly heartbreaking.
Kissing the Sacred Omophorion, And seeking your Beatitude’s paternal benediction,
I remain,
Your faithful son in Christ our Lord,
(Very Reverend) Patrick Henry Reardon
cc: Metropolitan PHILIP Bishop Mark
Bishop Basil
Father John Behr
Father Chad Hatfield
Father Thomas Hopko
Father Robert Munday
Father Wilbur Ellsworth
Mr John Maddex
Many thanks to Father Pat and Father Mark, and may God bless you for it.
Thanks for this post I found by Divine appointment. For the hundreds of souls I outreach to on a regular basis, those who are still outside of Orthodoxy but within more faithful conservative camps of Christianity, this kind of promotion by Orthodox Church leaders on an open promoter of abominable homosexuality even on priests and Bishops, this action places a major stumbling block on them finding the Fullness of the Faith that many of us now experience inside of The Church. For the former bastion of Orthodoxy like St. Vladimir “Orthodox” seminary to turn its back at this important juncture and join itself publicly with the homosexual promoter of anglicanism is a disgrace to all that is Orthodox in The Faith. As one who was fairly recently brought to the Church, I know that if this would have been done prior to that, it would have made it 1000 times harder to make the necessary journey into The Kingdom of God found in The Mysterion Holy Orthodox Church. This act of unfaithfulness cannot go without notice. I was shocked to also find that Metropolitan Jonah, Fr. John Behr, & Fr. Chad Hatfield are on the st. vladimir picture promoting this abomination of “honorary degree” on such a man who openly promotes against even the basics of the Christian Faith regarding marriage between one man & one woman and absolute necessity of a life of repentance and holiness for our priests and of course our Bishops! Can you imagine the response of St. Nicholas and St. Athanasius , the True Orthodox faithful trusted Saints and heroes of our Faith against such an abominable action?
LORD Jesus Christ Son of God Have Mercy on us! I urge all students at St. Vladimir to flee for a more holy place . I pray St. Tikhon is safe place to minister The Gospel and keep our ONE Faith unadulterated from such unwise and unseemly actions. Please pray for me a sinner saved by God’s Grace and kept in The Faith by The Power and Presence of The Holy Spirit that my words would reflect the heart of our God without tainting my soul with over-response to such an abominable act. LORD Have Mercy! How could have this happened ?????? Was there a public repentance by rowan williams? As our Apostle wrote in the beginning of our Church, we are not to judge those outside of the Church, but those who call themselves Christians, are there not some wise among us that can put them outside of The Church with hopes of the longing of the fellowship of the brethren would bring them back to The ONE Faith, so their souls would be saved (1cor 5,6). Did not our LORD tell us that it is better for a millstone to be hung around the neck and cast into the depth of the sea than to have one of these lead God’s children away from obedience to God’s Moral Laws ?
May our Holy Saints pray for our Church here in America & The West that we would not continue in this awful path, but return to the purity of fellowship of LOVE we were called into and may God deliver all who are willing to repent of their sins, including Mercy for my own soul as chief of sinners. The Father is my Hope, The Son is my Refuge, The Holy Spirit is my Protection! LORD Jesus Christ Son of God Have mercy on us sinners and deliver us from torment of soul that our ordained leaders are now putting us through.
humbly,
Anthony
With all due respect to Tymofiy Hawrysh and Anthony,
If you think this action by St. Vladimirs will lead to greater Christian witness into the Anglican and Episcopal Churches, you are sadly mistaken. As someone who came out of the US Episcopal Church, the bishops in that church are openly hostile to ANY witness. They openly forbid prospective priests fro attending the 2 remaining conservative Episcopal seminaries, and won’t hire graduates from them.
40% of the Anglican church membership couldn’t affect any change over the last 20 years .. and now they are being openly persecuted with lawsuits and being told to “leave” by the hierarchy. Rowan Williams has enabled this, and sat on his hands over the last decade. He is about intellectual prestige – period.
All St. Vladimir’s did was validate Williams …
And watch for creeping revisionist theology entering the seminary … it may take 50 years, but it will come in like a boiling frog.
When it rains…
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/60952
Thankfully the witness of The True Orthodox Church is not dependent on any worldly powers, even if they are hidden in the Church. We have gone through times when it seemed impossible for God to bring us back to The Faith, but God faithfully always reminded us of the living connection we have with our Heavenly Orthodox faithful by The Presence and Power of God The Holy Spirit in His Church and the gates of hades will not prevail against us.
To have given Rowan Williams an “honor” in the Name of Orthodoxy is an abomination of the evil one. The students were falsely led to be quiet about this by telling them this was “only an academic honor by the Orthodox Church because of Rowan Williams study of Orthodox writings”. Why did not svs go more fully into its practice, and grant “honors” to the devil for having “studied Orthodoxy”? Did not our LORD face the devil in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 4 with the same reality that the devil could quote the Orthodox Christian Bible because he had studied it so well. In Orthodox theology, we have not ever separated academic study of God’s Word from living out the life of Christ specially through a life of humble prayer in the fellowship of The Holy Trinity. Rowan Williams denial of the Power of God in his Church by proclaiming a “new Gospel” is anathema to the Church (Galatians 1). We read in the Holy Spirit inspired words of our Apostle to The Orthodox Church, the following in 1cor 5: It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife (or obviously in this case, one who ordains practicing lesbian and homosexual bishops and pastors in the name of Christ). And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed,
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
As our Apostle Paul was also led to write by God The Holy Spirit in the letter to the Orthodox Church in Galatia, there is no other Gospel and all who preach another Gospel are anathema , unless they repent and humble bow down before God of Heaven & earth and worship Jesus Christ while living out a life of faith through regular repentance so that true Faith works out one’s Salvation with fear and trembling.
A simple reading of The Holy Spirit’s words given with Saint James would reveal to any open minded reader that The Christian Faith is not by Faith Alone (James 2) for it is in this passage that we find the only reference to “faith alone” regarding Salvation and we are told that we are NOT saved by “faith alone”. Just because Rowan Williams writes about the Orthodox Church’s writings does not qualify him a Christian when he is openly promoting homosexual pastors and Bishops INSIDE of his organization under his demonically inspired leadership. There is no room for compromise with the devil and we certainly do not grant his minions “honor” by the Orthodox faithful anymore than we would grant the enemy of Christ and the enemy of our souls a ‘special honor’ be it academic or otherwise.
It is Western humanistic theology that led men to be called “theologians” for only intellectually studying ancient writings apart from a life of humble prayer and repentance. The western so called “theologian’ can write words full of doubt in the name of “scholasticism” and live a life contrary to scripture and the correct understanding of The Church but there is no such concept in our Orthodox faithful teachings.
The original and continuing Christian Church bearing witness/martyrdom through the blood of our many Holy Martyrs and Saints that are now in Heaven worshipping our LORD & Savior Jesus Christ does not know of any “study of God” that does not include a life of humble prayer and holy living. While on this earth we must live a life of repentance and can never promote abominations of the most perverse sexual sins in our congregations , let alone in the life of The Church’s pastors and Bishops. We honor our Bishops and Pastors offices by submitting unto them as unto The LORD, but when Rowan Williams promotes this kind of abomination , and spits on Christ and the Holy Orthodox Church’s continued witness to the Truth of Christ in holy living, he cannot be granted an “honor” by The Orthodox faithful.
This is not the first time those inside of the Orthodox leadership acted abominably. Recalling a bishop named Arius who tried to infiltrated the Church with his abominations a few years back. After misleading many priests and bishops for a few years, he was openly called out in a Council and rebuked by the faithful Church of the persecuted Orthodox. Not even Rome’s powers on earth could contain Saint Nicholas’ and Saint Athanasius open condemnation of the evil one’s minions. Rather than granting him “academic honor”, the holy followers of Christ were led by The Holy Spirit to punch out the erring bishop publicly. Our hopes is always that all erring sinners would repent as we cry out for our own souls to continue a life of moment to moment repentance as we worship The Holy Trinity in fellowship and communion with The Holy ONE. Arius could not overcome The Orthodox Church because The Holy Spirit is with us from the beginning. Roman popes could not overcome The Holy Spirit’s faithful witness in The Church, and had to repent when faced with the decision of the Orthodox ecumenical councils guided by The Holy Spirit. Certainly svs and Rowan Williams will not succeed in dumbing down our faith to an “academic exercise” either.
May God grant this humble servant to speak the Truth boldly without going outside of any bounds of The Holy Spirit, but I do not trust even myself, and ask God to be Merciful unto me the chief of sinners in the Name of The Holy Trinity by which I was baptized into The Orthodox Church of Heaven & Earth, where Christ is our Head. Whether out of weakness or zeal for The Truth I write, I will not judge myself but plead with God for His Mercies always that I might remain true to the Orthodox path of honoring Christ always.
humbly in Christ,
Anthony