Despite over 200 million adherents, Eastern Orthodox Christianity attracts little scholarly attention. While more-covered religions emerge as powerful transnational forces, Eastern Orthodoxy appears doggedly local, linked to the ethnicity and land of the now marginalized Eastern Europe. But Eastern Orthodoxy in a Global Age brings together new and nuanced understandings of the Orthodox churches—inside and outside of Eastern Europe—as they negotiate an increasingly networked world. The picture that emerges is less of a people stubbornly refusing modernization, more of a people seeking to maintain a stable Orthodox identity in an unstable world. For anyone interested in the role of Eastern Orthodoxy in the 21st century, this volume provides the place to begin.

This is the second collection of essays, compiled from opinion columns written during the period 2012-2020, when George Matsoukas served as executive director of Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL). The first collection, "A Church in Captivity: The Greek Orthodox Church of America," is also a collection of opinion columns, this one written during the period 1990-2007. This series of observational essays can be considered a first cut in putting together the history of Orthodoxy in America during this 30-year period. These essays also tell the OCL story and provide an insight into how the organization functions. The essays are written from the point of view of how societal events and concerned faithful were energized to advance the mission of Orthodox Christian Laity. OCL is a pan-Orthodox educational and advocacy ministry formed in 1987 to: + advocate for the restoration and strengthening of the historic role of the laity in the conciliar governance of the Orthodox Church in the United States. + support the spiritual renewal and regeneration of the Orthodox Christian Church in the United States in its Apostolic Mission. + advocate for and promote transparency and accountability in the governance of the Orthodox Church in the United States. + advocate for and champion the establishment of an administratively and canonically-unified, self-governing autocephalous Orthodox Christian Church in the United States. Matsoukas’ musings in his first volume, "A Church in Captivity," reflect the deep political changes transpiring after the "fall" of Communism in the captive "Orthodox" nations, and then in what manner those "national" churches began to respond to their "diasporas," those still existing multiple jurisdictions in The United States. This weighing of the ongoing strain between those who continue to uphold that "a unity through a simple Eucharistic oneness is sufficient" and those who insist on a "canonically unified Church administration" is the stuff of volume two, "Under One Roof: Uniting the Orthodox Church of America." It is the fruit of the author’s essays of the past 13 years. Matsoukas’ objective is to call us to be faithful to the Canonical Tradition of the Church so that it can bring forth the fullest witness of Orthodoxy through uniting all Orthodox in The United States. Considering the low percentage of Orthodox believers vis-à-vis others in this nation, the call to strength in unity makes practical sense as well. There is strength in numbers. Matsoukas reminds us that although we seem to be under one Eucharistic roof, he calls for a oneness which must not be as a loose federation of jurisdictions dependent on Synods abroad, but an authentic unity in itself total, canonical, autocephalous, as other local churches each became. The reader is grateful for the wide coverage given us of thirteen years of new Orthodox witness in the six divisions (Orthodox Christian Laity Story, Promoting Unity, Holy and Great Council, Assembly of Bishops, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, Renewal) of this new volume. The reader can take each article, one by one, and enjoy the author’s convincing presentations, and then sit back and enjoy arguing with him! Can an assembly of jurisdictions occasionally gathered at an altar, receiving from one cup and one diskos, be the fullness of Orthodox witness under one roof? The author’s answer is an emphatic, "No!"

Orthodox Christianity at the Crossroad: A Great Council of the Church When and Why The purpose of publishing the papers presented at the Twentieth Annual Meeting of Orthodox Christian Laity is to improve lay and clergy literacy on the conference topic of The Need for a Great and Holy Council. The papers are presented with the hope that the information will motivate the faithful to participate in the conciliar decision-making process that moves the Church forward on the issue of developing the council or another appropriate meeting. The forces, factors, and history that inhibit calling a council are presented in these papers. The hope of what can be accomplished when brothers work in synergy with each other and the Holy Spirit is also evident. The renewal of Orthodox Christianity and the renewal of its witness in the contemporary world of global religious pluralism depend on such a meeting. The calling of a council free of worldly, political, power, turf, ego and ethnic considerations will renew the Living Tradition of Orthodoxy, which is its Apostolic calling. The world is looking for this Living Tradition, which cannot be well-expressed by a fragmented Orthodox Church. A council is a step toward renewing the Church and making it whole in order to teach this Living Tradition. It is interesting to noteas this collection of papers points outthat the children of Orthodox Christians living in America have come together as Americans, in order to remain Orthodox, through campus ministry programs that they are developing. The young adults are leading the way to Orthodox unity. Is it not time for the Church elders, the hierarchs, the clergy, and the faithful to look at the example of unity that the youth are providing and move ahead to do what is necessary to renew the Church through this conciliar council? ABOUT THE EDITOR George E. Matsoukas, Executive Director of Orthodox Christian Laity since 2000, recently published A Church in Captivity, The Greek Orthodox Church of America. He co-authored and edited Project for Orthodox Renewal and continues to publish articles in various journals, newspapers and local history publications. He is an active member of his church and community. Mission of OCL Orthodox Christian Laity (OCL) is a national, voluntary movement dedicated to syndiaconia (co-ministry) of clergy and laity who are concerned with the spiritual renewal, accountability, and transparency in Church governance. OCL encourages the laity to exercise its legitimate responsibilities as part of the conciliar governance process. OCL advocates the establishment of an administratively and canonically UNIFIED SELF - GOVERNING Orthodox Church in North America, which is in keeping with the theology and tradition in fulfilling its Apostolic mission.

Christianity's center of gravity has tilted from the Euro-American West to the global South. Driving this shift is the emergence of charismatic renewal movements among Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox churches. This reshaping of the theological landscape has inspired prominent theologian Amos Yong to construct a cutting-edge theology for the twenty-first century. Within a Pentecostal and evangelical framework, Yong's Renewing Christian Theology is a primer on how to think theologically in a global context. Students seeking an introduction to systematic theology will not only discover the treasures of the tradition but will also encounter a revolutionary pastoral theology that bridges Pentecostal, charismatic, evangelical, and ecumenical traditions. Yong's theological imagination prioritizes Christian hope, gifts of the Spirit, baptism, sanctification, and healing. Renewing Christian Theology unveils an inclusive theology conversant with contemporary theological movements--theology and science, contextual theologies, intercultural theologies, theology and disability, public theologies, theology and the arts, and theological aesthetics. Renewing Christian Theology is theology for the twenty-first-century church.

This book explores the struggling genesis of a women's movement in the Orthodox Church through the ecumenical movement of the twentieth century at a time when militant conservatism is emerging in Orthodox countries and fundamentalism in the diaspora. Offering an understanding of the participation of women in the Orthodox Church, particularly during the 50 years of the membership of the Orthodox churches in the World Council of Churches, this book contributes to the ongoing debates and feminist analysis of women's participation, ministry and sexuality in the life and practice of the Church universal. The book reveals both the positive contributions to ecumenism and the difficulties confronting Orthodox women wishing to participate more fully in the leadership and ministry of their church.

In this literary gem Vigen Guroian chronicles not merely the changing seasons but the course of his own life as he and his family move from Maryland to a new home near the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Leaving the old garden behind and cultivating another garden become an emblem of our journey through life, marked as it is by both bitter losses and sweet new blessings. While deeply personal, The Fragrance of God vividly unfolds the great biblical themes of the grandeur of God s creation, the senses as paths to experiencing God, and the garden as a place of birth, death, and renewal. Laced throughout with quotations from Guroian s beloved church fathers and replete with theological reflection, The Fragrance of God will lead readers down a path of deeper insight into the creation and the Creator.