Grew up Protestant, just went to my first Divine Liturgy today! And WOW I feel like I’ve found what I’ve been missing. Pray for me as a journey deeper into Christ!
Before you decide look into the Traditional Latin Mass. Also, the Catholic Church has 22 other rites which are all eastern. After the schism in 1054 as word traveled, not all eastern bishops thought it acceptable to be out of communion with Rome. They returned. The Catholic Church looks almost identical to the Church before the schism. God bless you on your journey
I am a black american who grew up Protestant, but am beginning to believe that Orthodox is the true church. I knew I was missing something in the Protestant community.
What you are missing is the truth of the Bible. The manmade cult of orthodoxy has nothing to do with the Bibles Christianity. It is an antigod/antibible/antichrist abomination.
@@קעז-מענטש ,...Catholicism and orthodoxy are sisters, and both are 100% antigod/antibible/antichrist cults. They are the false manmade religions of the accursed of God. Repent!
Too many white people. Orthodox could very well be the true church though. I don't think I'd fit in well with a bunch of Ethiopians even if I did decide that Enoch was canonical etc. Seems weird.
@@Volleyball_Chess_and_Geoguessr ,...Orthodoxy/catholicism has nothing to do with the Christianity of the Bible. They are both 100% apostate, Godless, manmade, abominations. They are the religions of the accursed of God.
Elderly Eastern European immigrants are dying and middle eastern immigrants are flocking to the U.S.. In Eastern Orthodoxy, ethnic parishes are disappearing, while English-speaking parishes are growing, mostly from American converts.
@@wiktorhoffmar1984it's dangerous because many converts refuse to actually convert in the heart and learn the theology so they effectively keep all of their protestant presuppositions with an Orthodox paint job over the top of it, when this happens they are like a hidden tumor in the church only to be revealed during the next apostasy.
I think I've begun to see some pushback against this. While many Slavic and even Greek parishes have declined in membership, the Greeks atleast have created a formula that maximizes youth involvement and prioritizes teaching them the language. For this reason, I think it'll be quite a long time before the Convert parishes can grow large enough to compete with the Greek presence which will likely survive as the predominant and largest American Orthodox group for quite some time.
Im a Syrian Orthodox Christian living in India. Im so happy that our members are growing in the US. We here have a strong community all thanks to St. Thomas who established the first Christian community in the indian subcontinent. May they grow even stronger and lead our the people into the true path. Amin✝️♥️
@@Pitbullsareevil6969 ,...You are all completely blind, lost, and deceived. As well as outside of the kingdom of God. Completely steeped in deception. Repent!
It will. The stats for Eastern Orthodoxy don't paint the full picture. Ethnic parishes are declining, while english-speaking, "Americanized" parishes are growing rapidly. Weekly attendance at my parish has nearly doubled in 2 years. The ethnic parishes will die off, and what will be left is a growing and thriving brand of uniquely American Orthodoxy.
@methodius--9405Same man, I just started going to this Antiochian western rite church called Saint Patrick’s Orthodox Church in Virginia. It is very nice, there is around 300 people who attend it and man, it’s just amazing. The priest said after three months of attending I can become a catechumen there :D
In the Coptic church there is a lot of immigration and many marry Americans who must be baptized first. This accounts I think for much of the growth. Growth from evangelism that I’ve seen seems to be most in the Antiochian churches.
So curious about Ethiopian orthodoxy. I would love to read the books you guys have that we don’t. But last I checked they’re not translated yet? Is that still the case?
@@TheDeadPirateBob A lot, if not all of the books in our Bible have been translated already. The book of Enoch is a good example - it has many audiobooks on RUclips as well. I agree that we have a ton of books that are yet to be translated. I'll try to make a list of the ones that have been translated.
Appalachian Orthodoxy has been a huge interest of mine lately as an Orthodox myself, I kinda hope one day Appalachian Orthodoxy represents American Orthodoxy as a whole.
@@anluisa9960 it's a term I only just recently started to hear, basically it's a collective of Orthodox churches throughout the Appalachian that were once associated heavily with the Russian Orthodox Church, but for whatever reason seem to be establishing their own American traditions and values within the church. I don't think they have any major theological differences, rather I believe it's just the birth of a true American Orthodox Church that could possibly get accepted by the Bishop of Constantinople, maintaining the Orthodox way while ingraining American culture, allowing people to feel more connected.
@@anluisa9960it’s a nomenclature given to certain Antiochian parishes in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina that uses Appalachian style plainchant instead traditional Byzantine chant during services.
@@Kommunist_Kittens it doesnt matter whether the Patriarch of Constantinople accepts it, he isnt a supreme pontiff, it just has be be accepted by God and the Church as a whole, America is a difficult one, personally i assume it will have adlest 2 to 4 Orthodox Cultures, that of Alaska which is already firmly established, that of Appalachia, which is being formed and growing, then i assume the coasts will either accept the Appalachian tradition, mould their own, and if they mould their own it will either be together or separate, and God Willing the OCA will get a Patriarch
@@amygdala9857 very well said, perhaps my original comment was a bit ignorant. I do believe those on the coasts will either associate with Alaska or Appalachia Orthodoxy at some point, at least it is my hope. Better to all be united than divided further. The Appalachian culture is so beautiful and in my opinion it's beautifully fit into Orthodox tradition, I just pray it becomes an American beacon and people travel for miles upon miles to find themselves in the mountains.
@mikebastiat The word 'cult' is highly disparaged among scholars of religion for several reasons, including its origins in debunked european racial theories, its charged and pejorative nature, and its incredibly vague and subjective definition. We as a society would do well to avoid using it.
As a Catholic, I wish the best for my Orthodox brethren. An increase in Orthodox Christianity, while we have our disagreements, would be a net benefit for the country in terms of reclaiming a more historic and more apostolic from of Christian faith.
I bet the disaster of David Platt's takeover of Mclean Bible Church has boosted Orthodox Christianity around D.C. or greatly harmed protestant churches around D.C. People have heard bad things from way out of D.C. about what happened to that mega church.
When I was in middle school, our Social Studies class went on a field trip to various local places of worship. One of the churches we visited was a Greek Orthodox (I am in Knoxville TN, so... lots of churches.) It was a very curious and beautiful place. Thanks for the video sir.
5:30 Oh no, even the copts have fallen for the "no beautiful architecture allowed" meme! STOP BUILDING UGLY BUILDINGS THAT COST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, I BEG OF YOU
For decades, the local Greek parish was the only Orthodox community in my area. Now, we also have Serbian, Russian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Coptic congregations. It's a beautiful thing to see.
I´m a Greek Orthodox in South America i really love the Greek cause the bible was written in Greek and Christ is a Greek word, but all my Orthodox brothers are also part of my hearth
@@danvinsontrailor2339 You do not learn Biblical truth nor the Bibles Christianity in the orthodox church, nor in any church. Everything called and known as the church is apostate from God. What the world/church knows as "the church" is not the church of Jesus. Jesus's church is a spiritual church not a physical church. Again, everything known as the church is all made up of those who went out from the apostles who were not of the apostles. "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." 1 John 2:19 KJV All the actual Christians are outside of everything known as the church. They are taught the actual truth of Gods word by the Holy Spirit, and are not deceived by the churches phony priests, pastors, preachers, teachers. If anyone has anything to do with anything known as the church, they are outside of the kingdom of God. "But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." 1 John 2:27 KJV
@eucharistangel4662you come from a background that has polluted the definition of faith. You treat faith as if it is something that is stated and sits there idly. St. Paul’s definition of faith is “faith working through love.” Indeed, St. James agreed with him and taught us that “faith without works is dead.” Faith is kinetic. In Christ’s parable of the talents, the wicked servant could’ve believed in compounding interest all day and night. It is the fact that he did NOT ACT that got him kicked out into the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. The church fathers are in agreement that faith is not merely a text message you send a megachurch while sitting cross legged sipping on a latte.
@eucharistangel4662 you continue to bang your head against a wall and misdefine faith. Show me ANY early church father quote and I’ll show you that their definition of faith is KINETIC. Let your cherry-picking quotes commence so that we can save you from the blindness. Throw out good works to your own peril! May the intercessions of St. Paul and St. James heal you of your corruption.
@eucharistangel4662 and no one said that our works were sin cleansing. No amount of works can give us salvation. It is entirely through the grace of our Lord. BUT we still have to do our part and have a FAITH WORKING (Kinetic) through LOVE in order to be considered “good and faithful servants.” Join the demons if you merely want to call Him “Christ”
When we lived in Oak Ridge, TN we attended the Episcopal Church there. The rector was Fr. Stephen Freeman. A couple of years after we moved to Las Vegas for my work, Fr. Freeman became an Orthodox priest and moved to St. Anne Orthodox Church that was established in Oak Ridge in 1998. I have often thought I would like to have the opportunity to attend a service at St. Anne should I ever get back to Oak Ridge.
Coming from an Episcopal background you might also look into the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter and look for a Parrish near you. The Masses of theirs that I’ve been to are extremely beautiful and valid!
I've been attending a small Antiochinan Orthodox mission for about a year and a half and I'm now a catechumen. I belive in my church with all that is in me, but I had no idea the non chalcedonian orthodox churches were growing so much. There aren't any "Oriental" Orthodox churches near me and I have fallen in love with my church, I wonder if I would have joined a Copic one instead if that was my only option.
Catechumen in a Greek Orthodox church here and have had the joy of attending the liturgy at the Coptic Orthodox Church near me. I have had a few people give me their weak theological arguments as to why the Copts aren't the complete Orthodox Church. Bunch of bologna to me. They are Orthodox! God willing we will reunite in our lifetime.
@@nickdavila94 I've looked into reconciliation efforts between the 2 churches and it seems like many think that the differences between the two are mostly cultural and differences in translation, however some "Eastern" Orthodox Authorities hold that the anathemas proclaimed in later ecumenical councils must be accepted by the "Oriental" Orthodox to reestablish communion. A difficult situation that I thankfully I don't have to play a role in as a catechumen. Glory to our God in all things.
@@microcolonel At the Coptic Church I attended the priests were all hopeful. My brother was baptized in a Greek church and his priests were likewise hopeful.
Eastern Orthodox is much more similar to Catholicism (with both being Chalcedonian) than to Oriental Orthodox (which is non-Chalcedonian). First the Eastern Orthodox and Catholics need to unite before even considering Orientals.
@@RunawayYe they can not unite unless ths catholics denounce their innovations and repent, the orthodox will not allow it, maybe the corrupt Bartholomew will bring his church, but then he would just be eastern catholic and would not be recognized by 80% of other orthodox .
@@RunawayYe not so; though on paper the Oriental churches are "non-Chalcedonian", both Eastern and Oriental have acknowledged officially that their differences at Chalcedon were entirely semantic, and the Orientals are not hostile to the remaining councils. As for the Romans, though in theory the theology is reconcilable, they have decided within themselves many things that Eastern Orthodox would see as heresies. On paper going just by councils, we are much closer; but in practice the political machinations that caused the schism of 1054 have new political machinations to replace them; will Orthodox accept Pope Francis, a communist activist, as Ecumenical Patriarch? Will we change the powers of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (jurisdiction over autocephaly, for example) just in time for Rome to take its seat again?
I'm a convert from Protestantism to Eastern Orthodoxy (Greek) and I'm seeing growth in my parish. While its primarily comprised of Greeks and the Liturgy is half Greek and half English, there have been a lot of Protestants coming in. The worship, the people and community are wonderful and there's a good mix of non-Greek parishioners.
The video touched on it a bit, but I wonder if Oriental Orthodoxy will see the kind of influx of converts that Eastern Orthodoxy has. I get the impression that Coptic and Malankara (South Indian) churches are open to using English in services, but I get the impression that Ethiopian, Eritrean and Syriac churches are not. Of the Oriental Orthodox churches, I am most familiar with the Armenian Church, and I am aware that their canons require the use of Grabar (Classical Armenian) in worship. If that were not the case, I am sure that Armenian churches would be flooded with converts, since the Armenian liturgy has similarities to both the Byzantine and traditional Roman rites, and this would be very attractive to converts seeking traditional styles of liturgy. As it stands, virtually all of the people that I know of who converted to the Armenian Church did so because they married into an Armenian family.
As a convert to Coptic Orthodoxy, I have met many converts to Coptic orthodoxy both in real life, and online. I have also met many more who converted to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church aswell.
Grabar is a form of Armenian that was spoken a thousand years ago, so most Armenians who are fluent in modern Armenian dialects have trouble understanding it. I have a friend who was recently ordained a priest in the Armenian Catholic Church. He has started to deliver the mass in English once a month and says it is going well.
Thats amazing! Godbless him and his Church. Also understandable they are having trouble understanding the language, Godwilling it can be understood more properly.@@anthonystreeter7808
The Ethiopian and Eritrean churches are supposed to use the language of the people but for cultural reasons that has been very slow, recently our youth have been advocating for it and doing a lot of work in that area. The habesha people in the US and Canada have been pretty "isolationist" from what I've seen
As an EO I am delighted by this news. You may count me firmly in the camp that believes 90% of the alleged communion separating differences between the EOs and the OOs can be attributed to poor communication and prejudice.
Even if you say this, the OOs are in the wrong for denying a council with correct theology and splitting themselves off from the rest of the Church, are they not?
@@The_Ballo perhaps I should, but in my study of history this seems to be the case rather than anything else, I may if the opportunity arises nonetheless if you would do the same for EO
@@The_Ballo maybe he could explain the Coptic icons of Jesus holding up one finger, which symbolizes their claim of one nature of Christ. the doctrine of fully human and fully Devine really isn't subject to nuance.
The Holy Spirit wouldn't allow a schism to exist for 1500 years over a simple language barrier. Some prominent copts have even denounced theosis as demonic even though it is clearly exposited by Saint Athanasius.
There's also just a lot of converts from Protestantism. My priest baptized like 2 dozen converts this year into the Coptic church. When I talk to them, they usually say that they find Protestantism to be backwards and more of political movement than a religious framework. My parish here in LA is very ethnically diverse and our liturgy is a mix of Arabic, Coptic, and English
I also live in L.A. and I have yet to meet a protestant who has converted except for those who have become tired of the leftist woke garbage of some "mainline protestant" churches. Evangelical protestantantism is growing rapidly, if you are from L.A. you should know that.
I’m Catholic and while I don’t know what our numbers look like, I do read a lot online about former Protestants converting to either Catholicism or Orthodoxy when they discover the richness of the faiths. I know we have our differences, but I do have a lot of respect for the Orthodox Churches as well.
Question for the Ethiopians/Eritreans! I attend a Greek Orthodox church, but unfortunately it’s 500km from home. There is an Ethiopian Orthodox church in my hometown, and I believe in miaphysitism. Is there much difference in our worship? Where would I get the white headcloth? Is there anything I should look out for?
Just go there ask anybody you meet and they will tell you where to get the headcloth, it's called 'netela' in Amharic. It is not mandatory for men. May God bless you.
The main difference is in the nature of Christ but you've mentioned in believing in Miaphysitisim so its ok. Other than that there's going to be a language and cultural difference. Most parishes use Ge'ez, an ancient language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church so that might be difficult to understand. But there are some Ethiopian churches that give services in english. A recent one that was planted was the SPOT Church (Saint Paul Orthodox Tewahedo Church). They give services and Liturgy in English. You can look up the Church. Another thing that you might find diffrent is that the use of instruments mentioned in the old testament like drums, harp of David, flute.. during singing hymns. (Ethiopia accepted belief in one God and become jewish and later on converted to Christianity. So you'll find some jewish customs. You can read more about this if ur interested.) And aboit the white head covering, it is worn by both men and women. The difference is that the women cover their hair with it but the men don't. U can look at some Ethiopian Liturgy Videos to see how it's worn or u can ask an Ethiopian.
The main difference is in the nature of Christ but you've mentioned in believing in Miaphysitisim so its ok. Other than that there's going to be a language and cultural difference. Most parishes use Ge'ez, an ancient language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church so that might be difficult to understand. But there are some Ethiopian churches that give services in english. A recent one that was planted was the SPOT Church (Saint Paul Orthodox Tewahedo Church). They give services and Liturgy in English. You can look up the Church. Another thing that you might find diffrent is that the use of instruments mentioned in the old testament like drums, harp of David, flute.. during singing hymns. (Ethiopia accepted belief in one God and become jewish and later on converted to Christianity. So you'll find some jewish customs. You can read more about this if ur interested.) And aboit the white head covering, it is worn by both men and women. The difference is that the women cover their hair with it but the men don't. U can look at some Ethiopian Liturgy Videos to see how it's worn or u can ask an Ethiopian.
Orthodoxy has always promoted use of the vernacular in liturgy. But, with the original parishoners not having English as their first language, it ia natural that the old languages (be it Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Coptic, Geez, etc) remained the language used. Their children grew up speaking them, and this lasted for generations. I went to a Ukrainian Catholic church growing up, and we were among the last to have fully Ukrainian (at times, Church Slavonic) liturgies. When I started taking my daughter, it was mostly in English. This is definitely a part of the lack of converts. One of the biggest issues for Luther and the other reformers was the exclusive use of Latin; the common people simply could not understand what was being said, and could not fully grasp what orthodox belief was. If I remember correctly, Tikon, metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church in the early part of the 20th century (under whos authority the Antiochans, Serbians, etc fell because they had no hierarchies of their own) was pushing for a truly American Orthodox Church, to eventually be autocephalous. He was made Patriarch of Moscow, and the idea died out (not to mention a lot of outside influences from other groups). Personally, I still favor the old traditions and language: the Slavic ways were (and are) different than thoughs of the Greeks. Or Arabs. Or Georgians. But, the vernacular is they key.
"Tikhon...was pushing for a truly American Orthodox Church, to eventually be autocephalous." But that is what the OCA is, and it has been autocephalous since I think 1970.
Reminder to all, both Ortho and others Strength in Numbers ≠ Truth (Lest we say Sunni Islam is true because it has more followers than the largest communion of Christians being the Roman Catholic Church)
@@POTATOSOOPS if you are to use the theological schools of Sunmi Islam as a denial of their unity, then we must also consider the theological schools of Catholicism to be an example of division in that communion, and I'm certain no catholic would allow such an accusation to be considered a just one. Sunnis consider themselves united on the key doctrine of Islam, which is to accept Muhammad as prophet and Allah as the one god, and the Shia schism over viewing the hier of Muhammad to be an additional key point in their doctrine. The reality for the situation is that Islam doesn't have as strict bounds of unity as Chrsitianity does, and so Islam is united on different a basis than us, but is united nonetheless and so fits the requirements of this argument (and if not Islam then we can also use the Arian controversy in which it is an accepted historical fact that most Christians of both laity and clergy would have affirmed the incorrect view of Christ before the Council of Nicea I in its nearly unanimous decision, save for 2 bishops, rendered its authority over both the laity and clergy, saving large swaths of Christians with an Arian Christology from their heresy.)
@@Rome_77 the fact you feel the need to run over to a separate comment of mine from the other discussion wherein I demonstrated that you are not worth speaking to about such things due to your internal biases is telling of your own insecurities (as well as you throwing the accusation back at me to no success, as I am not anti-western, I am in fact a proponent of Western Rite Orthodoxy and will be visiting a WR liturgy soon, for your information) and personal fufillment needs to point the flaws of people on the internet (ironic for your pointing to my views as a solely online affair, i do in fact attend church and do all my irl requirements of my faith, and can see the reality of the Faith, whereas you have demonstrated the opposite, being a terminally online trad cath who seeks nothing more than "gotcha" moments on those who disagree with you), as I said before, have a good day, and I will apply the same position of not throwing my pearls to swine who cannot see their value. God bless, please do not respond to any of my comments further as I will have to go through the trouble of explaining this yet again. (And also your lack of knowledge that I was in fact a westerner proves you didn't read or comprehend at least one of my responses in our earlier discussion, wherein i used my position as a westerner to prove a point, which further shows your dishonor in engaging, or rather refusing to engage, with the points I have made)
EO ethnic legacy parishes are dying out and their youth don’t care because they were raised to be “Greek” (or other nationality) instead of Orthodox. Convert parishes are growing exponentially. I’d rather see 5 small convert parishes with 10 people each than a big 500 person cathedral with only a few yia yias left
That was the previous generation, those who were raised going to Greek school and in Greek culture tended to stay in the Church, but many of them did not like their Greek cultural education or, more to the point, they didn't like that it marked them as an outsider in American society, so they didn't force the same experience on their children. It's that generation that became thoroughly 'Americanized' and left the Church; it's not that they converted to another religion or sect, they just became irreligious like most of American society, left to the suburbs and stopped going to Church altogether. American culture has had a corrupting and corrosive effect on every people who have migrated here, it's sadly just a matter of time until their cultural identity is subsumed into the greater culture. There was a lot of criticism about those Greeks who seemed to want to be 'Eastern Rite Anglicans' 30 years ago, those Greeks did not raise their children to be Greek or even particularly Orthodox. We're seeing the impact of that today in the once large urban parishes that were built around Greek immigrant communities. Similar effects can be observed in the Russian emigre communities that were very strong in the 20's and 30's, but have declined over the decades as their children became more and more Americanized.
The Greek parishes I've been around appear to have found a way to maximize youth involvement and teach them the language, from where I'm sitting, it'll be a very very long time before the Converts, with less money, less infrastructure, and far less population, can even compete with the Greeks.
@@the_albanian_meme6041 compete in terms of money and stuff sure. But that doesn’t really matter as much as being faithful. I’m not dogging all Greeks by any means
@@amyyiannikouros8116 wherever is available and best fit for a person, whatever it takes to become who we are. I love and respect my Greek Orthodox brothers sisters fathers and mothers
In addition to growth by immigration I also wonder about growth from former Protestants. I get more of a sense that Protestant churches are abandoning their roots in the historic Christian faith. Many Evangelical Protestants in the US think of Christianity as merely a set of doctrinal statements. There is little concern to be connected to Christians through the world and throughout history. I wonder if people are becoming more dissatisfied with the individualism in American Christianity and are looking for deeper connections.
Former presbyterian here, God spoke to my heart and called me home the moment I stepped into a Greek Orthodox Church in Phoenix, AZ. The beauty, the engagement of every one of the senses, and the theology embedded into every action and detail is truly the life abundant that Christ promised us.
I think you make a good point but I’ll add that in the most simplistic sense, with no offense intended, the evangelicals are filtering out more and more history and bears zero tradition, it’s been diluted down to simple feel good entertainment with no substance and certainly no sacrifice and therefore no real worship. I’m RC, not EO, and still 100% believe the the RC is more valid but the distinction for me is something like 51%-49% so it’s a net positive when people find themselves in the presence of valid Sacraments.
Count me in the arm that’s helping grow the church in America, ex-evangelical, current and future orthodox, when studying church history and the church fathers, I can’t be faithfully anything if I’m not Orthodox, it has radically changed my life
Was baptized into the Coptic church 4 years ago. It’s difficult being an immigrant in my own country but it’s a similar reality most of my fellow congregants experience daily.
I am Armenian who was baptized in the Armenian Apostolic Church, however I tend to visit eastern orthodoxy churches because the AAC's outreach program is virtually non-existent. On top of that the services they conduct such as the liturgy is mostly in Armenian and I have hardly ever heard a service in English. They speak in a dialect of Armenian that I cannot understand and it is partly ancient. This is probably why they never get an increase in attendance and I fear that if they don't change with the times they will not be around. And I am talking about churches in SoCal with huge populations and churches everywhere.
Yes, the entire church is 100% apostate. Without Gods mercy, no one would be saved. Thankfully, God will save a few. And the few God saves have nothing to do with anything known as the church.
You may need to look at immigration numbers from Egypt to get a more complete picture. And the question of those who convert in order to marry vs “study-in” conversions. The dynamics are perhaps more complex than the limited data being used suggests.
Very interesting! I’m Antiochian Orthodox and I’m aware that some Copts attended my parish before they got their parish going, years ago before I began attending. My understanding is the Antiochian patriarchate is in communion with the Coptic church. I believe it’s the only Eastern Orthodox Church in communion with the Copts.
We are definitely not in communion with the Monophysites. They would not be allowed to commune with us and we would be excommunicated for communing with them.
No Oriental Orthodox Church is in communion with any Eastern Orthodox Church. You are likely misunderstanding the Patriarchate of Alexandria as the Coptic Church. Same nation, different churches.
I don’t think I’m mistaken. In Antiochian Orthodox we have official limited intercommunion. The dire circumstances of Christians in Syria have provoked great cooperation. They really were Copts that were openly communed at my parish before they got their own parish going. Look into the Orthodox joint commission. This might not apply as much to parishes in North America, I think it depends on the Bishop, but it definitely does apply in some places. orthodoxjointcommission.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/unity-in-antioch/
This nonsense right here is why I will forever firmly remain Catholic. The dissension right here breeds further separation and isolates rather than have one episcopally elected head helping to mend divisions. Orthodoxy has valid Sacraments and means well but is a victim of the blind leading the blind.
I became Orthodox after a long time away from God. I come from a Protestant so i inivted family to my baptisim and my mom was proud of me and loved the service will she convert? Probably not but she will attend liturgy with me
Praying matters more than convincing, and if you want to convert others work first on purification. You can help your brother and sister when you see clearly.
I am Coptic Orthodox, I am a white American with no connection to the Coptic Church. Florida has a HUGE growth of Coptic Churches which is amazing to me. I always am happy to see when we have more parishes crop up! Edit: As a convert, I want to state I have NEVER felt like an outsider. I prefer the Arabic liturgy despite not being able to speak it. I am not a fan of the Coptic American style that Abouna Messah has and a lot of people I know have an issue with him being more "protestant" but he adheres to the Coptic theology just fine, I think people are just a bit standoffish about the style he has.
Unfortunately, Coptic Orthodox are not Orthodox. You can only pick one, either you're coptic (a monophysite) or you're Orthodox. So you should learn more about Orthodoxy and the church history, and read more of the teachings of the holy fathers.
What made you want join the Coptic church? I was raised Protestant but I’m currently not attending any church. The southern US is dominated by Baptists, Methodists, and Pentecostals and some non denominational churches. I’ve always disliked how empty and bare their churches look and feel; and their Protestant church culture is more like a social club than being about worshipping God and following the example of Christ. Just mention Matthew 25: 31-46 to a Protestant and they will immediately quote “by grace are ye saved, through faith, not of works lest any man should boast” by Paul. That’s what so many Evangelicals don’t get, Paul did say that but he didn’t mean how Protestant preach it today. Paul completely lived for Christ after his conversion traveling the world spreading the gospel and telling the churches to follow the commands of Christ. They only preach salvation through faith but Christ himself said you have to back up your faith by following the commands of Christ or he will spew you out like lukewarm water on the day of judgement. I’ve not joined the Catholic Church and will not join any church that calls it’s ministers and preachers by the title Father because God and Jesus said not to call any man father because God is the Father. I won’t join any church that prays to saints because Jesus taught us to pray to God directly and to pray to God in the name of Jesus and to do the work of God in Jesus’s name like laying hands on the sick and casting out unclean spirits. He told his disciples “do this in my name.” I want to join a church but I’m not going to join a church that does anything against the direction of Jesus Christ, so I want to know your theological reason for joining the Coptic church.
@@one_step_sideways You need to catch up with Christology. According to *_The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica:_* The churches that until the mid-20th century had been traditionally classified as monophysite, those of the so-called Oriental Orthodox communion, have always disputed the label, preferring the term miaphysite (from the Greek mia, “single,” and physis, “nature”) to identify their shared view that both divinity and humanity are equally present within a single nature in the person of Christ and describing their traditions as “non-Chalcedonian.” These Oriental Orthodox churches-the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Syriac Orthodox Partriachate of Antioch and All the East, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church- *_have since resolved almost all of their Christological disputes with the Roman Catholic Church, the major Protestant churches, and Eastern Orthodoxy and have been generally accepted by those traditions as essentially orthodox in their doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ._*
What? You're the same schismatics as the Roman Catholics. Just because one of the five patriarchs have separated doesn't mean that the rest of the four patriarchs are heretics. You still cannot justify nestorianism because it's inherently wrong, as it is a heresy. How do you even know that the nestorianists are "the true orthodox churches" anyway? Because the number goes up? The fastest growing religious cult in the world is mormonism - doesn't mean that it's true.
So what we're seeing is that the longer-established Orthodox churches, as their communities become more rooted in America, begin to experience the same erosion as the mainstream Protestant churches, while there are those among the Oriental Orthodox that are boosted by a still active immigrant movement -- notice the high growth of the African-based ones, mostly immigrant in the last generation, vs. the Armenian, here for a hundred years.
The Russian Orthodox churches are also there for 100 years. It's evident that it's not the same reason as with protestantism. And no, ROCOR is not exactly as widespread as it could have been, mostly because Russians didn't simply migrate to the US, they migrated everywhere outside the Russian Empire.
I am so gld to be home. Christ left the 99 and found me. Pray that rest of us here in America head God’s call to His one Holy Catholic Apostolic Orthodox Church!
I am so gld to be home. Christ left the 99 and found me. Pray that rest of us here in America head God’s call to His one Holy Catholic Apostolic Orthodox Church!
@@josephnugent3065the Lord richly bless you. I long for the day when we don’t have to be just called “Oriental” or “Coptic” but truly what is intended “Followers of Christ and Children of God.” Honestly, the OO preserved the One Faith and One Baptism with the blood of the martyrs, but it is not intended to be kept for the Egyptians or Syrians or Ethiopians or Malankara or Armenians only. It is for the whole world.
Across America, you see many Protestants that are converting to the Coptic Orthodox Church, mainly because of their very solemn and ancient, yet casual-style Liturgy. It’s very beautiful and comforting, definitely not something that can be easily explained .
Strange to see the Oriental Orthodox of all people growing in popularity. I wonder if their view of Christ’s natures will start to spread to other churches.
I disagree with that comment NO nestorianism preached at our BAPTIST church Sir. Nestorianism: Originally, Nestorianism envisaged the divine Word as having associated with itself at the Incarnation a complete, independently existing man. From the orthodox point of view, Nestorianism therefore denied the reality of the Incarnation and represented Christ as a God-inspired man rather than as God-made-man. We do not teach this if a Baptist church is teaching this then it is not Baptist , may the Father , The Son and The Holy Spirit be with You!@@VincenzoRutiglianoDiaz
Reformed theology certainly has a Nestorian problem with respect to their Calvinistic insistence on penal substitution theory, wherein either the Logos had to depart from Jesus on the cross or else the Trinity would've been divided. (On the other hand, Lutheranism might have a monophysite problem with some peculiar conclusions drawn from the communicatio idiomatum.) It goes too far to say the Evangelical aversion to Theotokos language is "Nestorian" in and of itself, but I understand why many Orthodox and Roman Catholics would raise an eyebrow.
I think that’s a good idea! The eastern Catholic churches tend to get forgotten. Whenever I see the word Catholic as a denomination, it usually has “Roman” in front of it, so I guess most people don’t know about Eastern Catholics. 🙂
These numbers are from the actual Orthodox Church bodies, so they show real adherents who are connected to the churches, not simply estimates based on people's race or place of origin.
I am a convert to Orthodox Christianity, and I have been seeing a lot of growth in Orthodox churches, just in the last 4 years. There was moderate growth before, but it really began to take off 3-4 years ago. I can imagine people leaving the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and going to another jurisdiction, like the OCA or ROCOR, but I don't think the number of Eastern Orthodox Christians is going down. I hope I'm not wrong. Anyway, the OCA church in Greenville, SC baptized more than 30 people right before Pascha (Orthodox Easter). The Greek Orthodox parish in town seems to be stable. I think they've lost a few people to other Orthodox churches, but their population is slowly growing as far as I can tell. I wouldn't be surprised if demographic changes have something to do with the changing numbers of adherents to different faiths. Since the end of Communism fewer people have moved to America from eastern Europe, and I think more people are moving to America from the Middle East. That will bring some Greek Orthodox, but also more Oriental Orthodox.
One big lesson to learn is not to modernize as that will be the start of the decline. I am a Roman Catholic but I prefer to go to the Latin Mass if time permits as it is still a mission church here meaning that their last Sunday Mass is at 9AM. There was a major reconciliation efforts between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church but it has fallen apart when Vatican II started.
Both orthodoxy and catholicism are just sisters of the same false, manmade, Godless religion of scientism. Orthodoxy, catholicism, protestantism, are all false manmade Godless cults (sisters) that all belong to the one world religion of scientism. The actual Christianity of the Bible has nothing whatsoever to do with anything called or known as the church.
A lot of the evangelical churches are superficial. People wanting to re connect with God want something more deeper and spiritual that speaks to their souls not just their senses. There is a beautiful grace in orthodoxy.
This doesnt seem to be positive news at all to me. It would seem the “growth” of these churches are due largely in part due to immigration only. I’d imagine retention rates of the OO churches are near the same levels as the EO churches. Conversion rates are even lower than the Eastern Orthodox churches because these churches are more ethnically defined than the EO churches. The same Atlantic article cited in this video proves as much when a parish claimed that only 8 out of 30 american converts in their parish were active members of the church. So one can argue that, in the long term, the OO churches are in a worse position than the EO. The EO has a stable convert population whereas the OO does not. Furthermore, depleting one population of OO in the middle east to temporarily increase the number in America isnt exactly “growth” especially when future generations have a high probability of leaving the church in one or two generations. Secularization is a threat to the church and this video does not provide any consolation for that.
I'm of Roman Catholic background. But I have been going to a Russian Orthodox for the past 2 months. It's home. Nothing in Roman Catholicism compares. Look East to the ancient way!
Catechumen in the Eastern Orthodox church in Alabama. Our small mission has quadrupled in size in the past year. Praise God his church is spreading where protestantism has fractured into primarily non denom churches.
I don’t even call them “non-denominational” anymore. I prefer to call then “neo baptist/pentecostal”, depending upon their pastor’s opinion about tongues.
These numbers don't take into consideration COVID and the large number of converts Orthodox churches have taken in since then. I hope the next survey can shed some light onto this, because the situation on the ground in many Orthodox parishes is a revitalization, not shrinkage.
These are former Protestants that were left behind by their denominations because they went woke, liberalized their theology, sold out, went into political capture, etc. Then they realize the Church is necessarily apostolic but they can't bring themselves to become Catholic because of the lingering effects of their protestantism so they take the next best thing. This has fueled _a lot_ of the "orthobro" phenomenon online.
Orthodox apologists destroy every one of your catholic champions though, so how are we the next best thing? We are correct and the Alexandria document proves it.
There aren't any Protestants born out of Eastern Orthodoxy, sadly. You might want to look up Cyril Lucaris, though. He was a Patriarch of Constantinople who wanted to reform the Orthodox Church along lines similar to Calvin. He was murdered, and his Protestant ideas were officially deemed as a misrepresentation of his theology by the Orthodox Church after his death, despite mountains of writing proving otherwise.
I'm an Atheist who likes religion, and I like this trend. There's something special about traditional services that I don't get with uninspired Jesus guitar music on a stage. Also, a lot of the mainline Protestant and even Catholic trends have become degenerate; thankfully, we can generally count on the Orthodox churches to remain steadfast in their beliefs and practices: a counterweight against the insanities of the Postmodern age.
Atheism is a religion same as all other religions. Everything known as and called the church is all 100% apostate from God and from the truth and Christianity of the Bible. Everyone in every church is in reality an atheist just like you, this is why you are not too opposed to it (the churches fake christianity). You all in reality have the very same false manmade atheist religion of scientism as your real religion. Scientism is the one world religion. It is the religion of atheists like you, as well as the real religion of everything called and known as the church. The Bibles Christianity is completely outside of everything called and known as the/a church.
As a Roman Catholic who attends both extraordinary and ordinary forms and is feeling effects of the internal rivalry that can exist between the two, I think there is a lot that the Latin Church can learn from what this video says the Oriental Church is doing. I’m happy that the Oriental Church is growing here in the US. The Eastern lung is breathing healthily.
Oriental Orthodoxy is not the Eastern lung Pope John Paul II described. They absolutely deny the Hypostatic Union which is absolutely essential to RC and EO. Their Christology is wildly different. I would argue that Oriental Orthodoxy is significantly further from Roman Catholicism than Eastern Orthodoxy is.
The script overlooked the effect of political unrest, ISIS terrorism and other terroristic organizations in Egypt between 2010 and 2020. It is a cause and effect thing on Egyptian Copts, exactly as once during the Armenian genocide. Also stressing on differences than similarities, while ignoring the fact that Coptic language is written in Greek letters and nips up Greek culture, hymns. Nice statistics however :))
Thanks from an Ethiopian Orthodox! :)
Thank you, Kidus!
I Ethiopian orthodox also!
Grew up Protestant, just went to my first Divine Liturgy today! And WOW I feel like I’ve found what I’ve been missing. Pray for me as a journey deeper into Christ!
Good for you👍
Brother leave
Eastern or Coptic?
Before you decide look into the Traditional Latin Mass. Also, the Catholic Church has 22 other rites which are all eastern. After the schism in 1054 as word traveled, not all eastern bishops thought it acceptable to be out of communion with Rome. They returned. The Catholic Church looks almost identical to the Church before the schism. God bless you on your journey
@@richardounjian9270 except for filioque, papacy, clown mass, indulgences, etc
I am a black american who grew up Protestant, but am beginning to believe that Orthodox is the true church. I knew I was missing something in the Protestant community.
What you are missing is the truth of the Bible. The manmade cult of orthodoxy has nothing to do with the Bibles Christianity. It is an antigod/antibible/antichrist abomination.
@@awatchman-um7vyAs a Catholic what are you going on about
@@קעז-מענטש ,...Catholicism and orthodoxy are sisters, and both are 100% antigod/antibible/antichrist cults. They are the false manmade religions of the accursed of God. Repent!
Too many white people. Orthodox could very well be the true church though. I don't think I'd fit in well with a bunch of Ethiopians even if I did decide that Enoch was canonical etc. Seems weird.
@@Volleyball_Chess_and_Geoguessr ,...Orthodoxy/catholicism has nothing to do with the Christianity of the Bible. They are both 100% apostate, Godless, manmade, abominations. They are the religions of the accursed of God.
Elderly Eastern European immigrants are dying and middle eastern immigrants are flocking to the U.S.. In Eastern Orthodoxy, ethnic parishes are disappearing, while English-speaking parishes are growing, mostly from American converts.
That's what I'm saying. The EO Church in America is "changing hands"-- from a mostly ethnic one to a mostly convert one.
@@letruweldonothsa2622 Is that inherently bad? Just asking out of curiosity
@@wiktorhoffmar1984it's dangerous because many converts refuse to actually convert in the heart and learn the theology so they effectively keep all of their protestant presuppositions with an Orthodox paint job over the top of it, when this happens they are like a hidden tumor in the church only to be revealed during the next apostasy.
@@wiktorhoffmar1984 It's far from bad, it's good and necessary if we want Orthodoxy to thrive in America in the future.
I think I've begun to see some pushback against this. While many Slavic and even Greek parishes have declined in membership, the Greeks atleast have created a formula that maximizes youth involvement and prioritizes teaching them the language. For this reason, I think it'll be quite a long time before the Convert parishes can grow large enough to compete with the Greek presence which will likely survive as the predominant and largest American Orthodox group for quite some time.
Im a Syrian Orthodox Christian living in India. Im so happy that our members are growing in the US. We here have a strong community all thanks to St. Thomas who established the first Christian community in the indian subcontinent.
May they grow even stronger and lead our the people into the true path. Amin✝️♥️
Orthodoxy has nothing whatsoever to do with the Christianity of the Bible. It is the false manmade religion (cult) of the accursed of God. Repent!
* Bharat 🇮🇳
Amen.
@@Pitbullsareevil6969 ,...You are all completely blind, lost, and deceived. As well as outside of the kingdom of God. Completely steeped in deception. Repent!
God bless you brother
Lately there seems to be growing online interest in orthodoxy. I pray that eastern grows over this next decade
It will. The stats for Eastern Orthodoxy don't paint the full picture. Ethnic parishes are declining, while english-speaking, "Americanized" parishes are growing rapidly. Weekly attendance at my parish has nearly doubled in 2 years. The ethnic parishes will die off, and what will be left is a growing and thriving brand of uniquely American Orthodoxy.
I blame the "1 hour of Chad Orthodox Chants to redeem your soul" video lol
@methodius--9405Same man, I just started going to this Antiochian western rite church called Saint Patrick’s Orthodox Church in Virginia. It is very nice, there is around 300 people who attend it and man, it’s just amazing. The priest said after three months of attending I can become a catechumen there :D
In the Coptic church there is a lot of immigration and many marry Americans who must be baptized first. This accounts I think for much of the growth.
Growth from evangelism that I’ve seen seems to be most in the Antiochian churches.
@rynun7620 No exaggeration my first exposure to Orthodoxy, now I'm a Catechumen 😅
I am orthodox Christian from Eritrea. I am so proud of growing Orthodox Church in America.🙏⛪️
You will not be proud on judgement day when Jesus casts you into the lake of fire. Repent!
You need some pride to keep moving forward in life, but not so much that you have a massive ego and care about nothing but yourself
sister church🥰🥰
from ET
Are you a Muslim? Wdym repent. How do you know he never has? @@awatchman-um7vy
Praise Jesus I just started attending and began Catechumens last weekend ago. ☦️
Ethiopian Orthodox here - thank you so much for this video!!! By God's Will and grace and help, we'll make sure we don't fall in the same cycle.
So curious about Ethiopian orthodoxy. I would love to read the books you guys have that we don’t. But last I checked they’re not translated yet? Is that still the case?
@@TheDeadPirateBob A lot, if not all of the books in our Bible have been translated already. The book of Enoch is a good example - it has many audiobooks on RUclips as well. I agree that we have a ton of books that are yet to be translated. I'll try to make a list of the ones that have been translated.
@@kidusadugna5425 is there an online English translation of the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible ? I would like to study the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible
Why didn't God just help the Eastern Orthodox not fall into it in the first place though?
@@TheDeadPirateBobEnoch is translated
Appalachian Orthodoxy has been a huge interest of mine lately as an Orthodox myself, I kinda hope one day Appalachian Orthodoxy represents American Orthodoxy as a whole.
What's Appalachian Orthodoxy? I live there and know of one Orthodox Church in town but have heard this term before
@@anluisa9960 it's a term I only just recently started to hear, basically it's a collective of Orthodox churches throughout the Appalachian that were once associated heavily with the Russian Orthodox Church, but for whatever reason seem to be establishing their own American traditions and values within the church. I don't think they have any major theological differences, rather I believe it's just the birth of a true American Orthodox Church that could possibly get accepted by the Bishop of Constantinople, maintaining the Orthodox way while ingraining American culture, allowing people to feel more connected.
@@anluisa9960it’s a nomenclature given to certain Antiochian parishes in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina that uses Appalachian style plainchant instead traditional Byzantine chant during services.
@@Kommunist_Kittens it doesnt matter whether the Patriarch of Constantinople accepts it, he isnt a supreme pontiff, it just has be be accepted by God and the Church as a whole, America is a difficult one, personally i assume it will have adlest 2 to 4 Orthodox Cultures, that of Alaska which is already firmly established, that of Appalachia, which is being formed and growing, then i assume the coasts will either accept the Appalachian tradition, mould their own, and if they mould their own it will either be together or separate, and God Willing the OCA will get a Patriarch
@@amygdala9857 very well said, perhaps my original comment was a bit ignorant. I do believe those on the coasts will either associate with Alaska or Appalachia Orthodoxy at some point, at least it is my hope. Better to all be united than divided further. The Appalachian culture is so beautiful and in my opinion it's beautifully fit into Orthodox tradition, I just pray it becomes an American beacon and people travel for miles upon miles to find themselves in the mountains.
I’m a Catechumen in the Greek Orthodox Church. It’s beautiful, everything about it, the church, the liturgy, the kindness of the people.
@mikebastiat The word 'cult' is highly disparaged among scholars of religion for several reasons, including its origins in debunked european racial theories, its charged and pejorative nature, and its incredibly vague and subjective definition. We as a society would do well to avoid using it.
@mikebastiatit's the true church of Christ, how can you call it a cult?
@mikebastiat i know
@mikebastiat 1 why wouldn't make him a saint? and 2 only the Russian church approves Putin's invasion of Ukraine
@mikebastiatbecause being a Calvinist (or any other Protestant denomination named after it’s founder) isn’t a (personality) cult
As a Catholic, I wish the best for my Orthodox brethren. An increase in Orthodox Christianity, while we have our disagreements, would be a net benefit for the country in terms of reclaiming a more historic and more apostolic from of Christian faith.
We should wish for them to stop being schismatics and recommune with us.
@@oliveri9407 I do. But it’s not black and white. E.g. Being an Evangelical is better than being Mormon.
@@oliveri9407you have things backwards. The RCC is not only schismatic, but also completely heretical. Come back to the true faith. ☦️
@@oliveri9407Who? The Orthodox? We are the true Church.
@@ByZHellas Which eastern “orthodox” church? They’re inter-excommunicated and ethnically divided
Here I am an ethiopian orthodox chrstian may God unite us❤
As a Catholic I hope the best for you brother.
Excellent! I’ve recently been meeting some Coptic Orthodox Christians in the DC area
They are not the same as Orthodox Christians. They have a heretical christology that makes salvation impossible
I bet the disaster of David Platt's takeover of Mclean Bible Church has boosted Orthodox Christianity around D.C. or greatly harmed protestant churches around D.C. People have heard bad things from way out of D.C. about what happened to that mega church.
When I was in middle school, our Social Studies class went on a field trip to various local places of worship. One of the churches we visited was a Greek Orthodox (I am in Knoxville TN, so... lots of churches.) It was a very curious and beautiful place. Thanks for the video sir.
EO catechumen here. I have attended liturgy at a Coptic Orthodox church. I feel that the Copts are our brothers.
Be careful with what you mean by that. We have closed communion for a reason
@@tnyw872621h8474h9 what are you trying to convey?
Oriental Orthodox Church will Succeed through the grace of God.
My parish has had a 7% increase in members every year for the past 5 years glory be to God
And if your parish had anything to do with the truth and Christianity of the Bible you would see a decrease of 100% instantly.
@@forthosewitheyestosee8183Protestants ☕️
5:30 Oh no, even the copts have fallen for the "no beautiful architecture allowed" meme!
STOP BUILDING UGLY BUILDINGS THAT COST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, I BEG OF YOU
Yea terrible. The Holy St Mary and St Pishoy Coptic Church in Los Angeles is stunning.
@@reidmartin6209 I will
Based. I pray all the best for these churches.
Very informative as are all of your videos. Thank you for all of the work you do to produce these videos
For decades, the local Greek parish was the only Orthodox community in my area. Now, we also have Serbian, Russian, Ethiopian, Eritrean, and Coptic congregations. It's a beautiful thing to see.
Actually, it is an abomination! Repent!
I´m a Greek Orthodox in South America i really love the Greek cause the bible was written in Greek and Christ is a Greek word, but all my Orthodox brothers are also part of my hearth
@@andresgalindo7682 ,...All those snared into orthodoxy are those who are outside of the kingdom of God.
@@danvinsontrailor2339 ,...Says God (the Bible). Repent, and learn what the truth, the gospel, and the Christianity of the Bible actually is.
@@danvinsontrailor2339 You do not learn Biblical truth nor the Bibles Christianity in the orthodox church, nor in any church. Everything called and known as the church is apostate from God. What the world/church knows as "the church" is not the church of Jesus. Jesus's church is a spiritual church not a physical church.
Again, everything known as the church is all made up of those who went out from the apostles who were not of the apostles.
"They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." 1 John 2:19 KJV
All the actual Christians are outside of everything known as the church. They are taught the actual truth of Gods word by the Holy Spirit, and are not deceived by the churches phony priests, pastors, preachers, teachers. If anyone has anything to do with anything known as the church, they are outside of the kingdom of God.
"But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." 1 John 2:27 KJV
Im an American convert to the Coptic Orthodox Church in Los Angeles, God bless our Church
Have you heard of Pope Kyrollos and Pope Shenouda? They are Egyptian Coptic priests. ❤
As an EO I pray that the OO & EO reunify. We agree on almost everything and historically have had very warm relations.
@eucharistangel4662you come from a background that has polluted the definition of faith. You treat faith as if it is something that is stated and sits there idly. St. Paul’s definition of faith is “faith working through love.” Indeed, St. James agreed with him and taught us that “faith without works is dead.” Faith is kinetic. In Christ’s parable of the talents, the wicked servant could’ve believed in compounding interest all day and night. It is the fact that he did NOT ACT that got him kicked out into the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth. The church fathers are in agreement that faith is not merely a text message you send a megachurch while sitting cross legged sipping on a latte.
@eucharistangel4662 you continue to bang your head against a wall and misdefine faith. Show me ANY early church father quote and I’ll show you that their definition of faith is KINETIC. Let your cherry-picking quotes commence so that we can save you from the blindness. Throw out good works to your own peril! May the intercessions of St. Paul and St. James heal you of your corruption.
@eucharistangel4662 and no one said that our works were sin cleansing. No amount of works can give us salvation. It is entirely through the grace of our Lord. BUT we still have to do our part and have a FAITH WORKING (Kinetic) through LOVE in order to be considered “good and faithful servants.” Join the demons if you merely want to call Him “Christ”
I hope so too, but we do not agree on almost everything. Denial of the Hypostatic Union is a HUGE deal and should not be taken lightly ever.
The Monophysites must renounce their heretical “saints” that were condemned at Chalcedon before anything can happen
When we lived in Oak Ridge, TN we attended the Episcopal Church there. The rector was Fr. Stephen Freeman. A couple of years after we moved to Las Vegas for my work, Fr. Freeman became an Orthodox priest and moved to St. Anne Orthodox Church that was established in Oak Ridge in 1998. I have often thought I would like to have the opportunity to attend a service at St. Anne should I ever get back to Oak Ridge.
Coming from an Episcopal background you might also look into the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter and look for a Parrish near you. The Masses of theirs that I’ve been to are extremely beautiful and valid!
I've been attending a small Antiochinan Orthodox mission for about a year and a half and I'm now a catechumen. I belive in my church with all that is in me, but I had no idea the non chalcedonian orthodox churches were growing so much. There aren't any "Oriental" Orthodox churches near me and I have fallen in love with my church, I wonder if I would have joined a Copic one instead if that was my only option.
Chalcedon is a red herring on balance I think, and I can foresee a reconciliation between the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox in our lifetimes.
Catechumen in a Greek Orthodox church here and have had the joy of attending the liturgy at the Coptic Orthodox Church near me. I have had a few people give me their weak theological arguments as to why the Copts aren't the complete Orthodox Church. Bunch of bologna to me. They are Orthodox! God willing we will reunite in our lifetime.
@@nickdavila94 the wound is 1600 years long, but not so deep. It can be done.
@@nickdavila94 I've looked into reconciliation efforts between the 2 churches and it seems like many think that the differences between the two are mostly cultural and differences in translation, however some "Eastern" Orthodox Authorities hold that the anathemas proclaimed in later ecumenical councils must be accepted by the "Oriental" Orthodox to reestablish communion. A difficult situation that I thankfully I don't have to play a role in as a catechumen.
Glory to our God in all things.
@@microcolonel At the Coptic Church I attended the priests were all hopeful. My brother was baptized in a Greek church and his priests were likewise hopeful.
It is time to make more moves toward reconciling the Eastern and Oriental churches. If it's not complete soon, it at least be should be closer sooner.
Whenever the Orientals want to give up their heretical views of Christ they are welcome to do so.
The only reconciliation of for the Orientals to repent and convert.
Eastern Orthodox is much more similar to Catholicism (with both being Chalcedonian) than to Oriental Orthodox (which is non-Chalcedonian). First the Eastern Orthodox and Catholics need to unite before even considering Orientals.
@@RunawayYe they can not unite unless ths catholics denounce their innovations and repent, the orthodox will not allow it, maybe the corrupt Bartholomew will bring his church, but then he would just be eastern catholic and would not be recognized by 80% of other orthodox .
@@RunawayYe not so; though on paper the Oriental churches are "non-Chalcedonian", both Eastern and Oriental have acknowledged officially that their differences at Chalcedon were entirely semantic, and the Orientals are not hostile to the remaining councils.
As for the Romans, though in theory the theology is reconcilable, they have decided within themselves many things that Eastern Orthodox would see as heresies. On paper going just by councils, we are much closer; but in practice the political machinations that caused the schism of 1054 have new political machinations to replace them; will Orthodox accept Pope Francis, a communist activist, as Ecumenical Patriarch? Will we change the powers of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (jurisdiction over autocephaly, for example) just in time for Rome to take its seat again?
I'm a convert from Protestantism to Eastern Orthodoxy (Greek) and I'm seeing growth in my parish. While its primarily comprised of Greeks and the Liturgy is half Greek and half English, there have been a lot of Protestants coming in. The worship, the people and community are wonderful and there's a good mix of non-Greek parishioners.
I didn't even realize that there were any ethnic Russians at my ROCOR church until like a month of attending haha
I'm happy just being a protestant, the orthodox church is fine for many people. But to close to catholicism for me.
I converted to oriental orthodox
Welcome to the bride of Christ. May our great Lord Jesus Christ bless you and confirm you in the faith.
Welcome home
why
@@one_step_sideways Cause it is the Holy Orthodox Catholic Church founded by Christ and his disciples that remained pure and didn’t fell to heresy
Mashallah
I'm currently an Orthodox Inquirer ☦️
The video touched on it a bit, but I wonder if Oriental Orthodoxy will see the kind of influx of converts that Eastern Orthodoxy has. I get the impression that Coptic and Malankara (South Indian) churches are open to using English in services, but I get the impression that Ethiopian, Eritrean and Syriac churches are not. Of the Oriental Orthodox churches, I am most familiar with the Armenian Church, and I am aware that their canons require the use of Grabar (Classical Armenian) in worship. If that were not the case, I am sure that Armenian churches would be flooded with converts, since the Armenian liturgy has similarities to both the Byzantine and traditional Roman rites, and this would be very attractive to converts seeking traditional styles of liturgy. As it stands, virtually all of the people that I know of who converted to the Armenian Church did so because they married into an Armenian family.
I'm not entirely sure, but I know that some Tewahedo churches in USA have english services for the youth (that were raised in USA)
As a convert to Coptic Orthodoxy, I have met many converts to Coptic orthodoxy both in real life, and online. I have also met many more who converted to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church aswell.
Grabar is a form of Armenian that was spoken a thousand years ago, so most Armenians who are fluent in modern Armenian dialects have trouble understanding it. I have a friend who was recently ordained a priest in the Armenian Catholic Church. He has started to deliver the mass in English once a month and says it is going well.
Thats amazing! Godbless him and his Church. Also understandable they are having trouble understanding the language, Godwilling it can be understood more properly.@@anthonystreeter7808
The Ethiopian and Eritrean churches are supposed to use the language of the people but for cultural reasons that has been very slow, recently our youth have been advocating for it and doing a lot of work in that area. The habesha people in the US and Canada have been pretty "isolationist" from what I've seen
For you EOs, here's a fun fact: You know what you (Eastern Orthodox) are called by Oriental Orthodox?
Roman Orthodox.
Cuz they were mostly ruled by Byzantine (Rome)
only certain dialects of arabic say this, not too sure abt Amharic or Tigriniya or Armenian
Thats literally what the Melkites are.
You really have done ur homework, thank you for ur video!!! Ethiopian Orthodox Here ❤❤❤
Very informative as always, I have very little knowledge of the Orthodox groups.
Imagine what this guy felt in the span of 24-48 hours so we still remember him two thousand years later. God bless.
Πιστεύω εις Μίαν, Αγίαν, Καθολικήν και Αποστολικήν Εκκλησίαν
As an EO I am delighted by this news. You may count me firmly in the camp that believes 90% of the alleged communion separating differences between the EOs and the OOs can be attributed to poor communication and prejudice.
Even if you say this, the OOs are in the wrong for denying a council with correct theology and splitting themselves off from the rest of the Church, are they not?
@@randomguy1453maybe you should ask a OO priest with open ears
@@The_Ballo perhaps I should, but in my study of history this seems to be the case rather than anything else, I may if the opportunity arises nonetheless if you would do the same for EO
@@The_Ballo maybe he could explain the Coptic icons of Jesus holding up one finger, which symbolizes their claim of one nature of Christ. the doctrine of fully human and fully Devine really isn't subject to nuance.
The Holy Spirit wouldn't allow a schism to exist for 1500 years over a simple language barrier. Some prominent copts have even denounced theosis as demonic even though it is clearly exposited by Saint Athanasius.
There's also just a lot of converts from Protestantism. My priest baptized like 2 dozen converts this year into the Coptic church. When I talk to them, they usually say that they find Protestantism to be backwards and more of political movement than a religious framework. My parish here in LA is very ethnically diverse and our liturgy is a mix of Arabic, Coptic, and English
By LA are you saying Louisiana or Los Angeles? I’m curious about how and where it has spread within the US.
HRC? I’m a convert at St Mark’s in LA.
I also live in L.A. and I have yet to meet a protestant who has converted except for those who have become tired of the leftist woke garbage of some "mainline protestant" churches. Evangelical protestantantism is growing rapidly, if you are from L.A. you should know that.
The Southern COC diocese is growing too. Me and 3 other adult concerts were baptized and chrismated in in the last few months. It's awesome.
For an English speaker is it difficult to convert and participate in the services? I am very interested in learning more...Episcopalian all my life.
I’m Catholic and while I don’t know what our numbers look like, I do read a lot online about former Protestants converting to either Catholicism or Orthodoxy when they discover the richness of the faiths. I know we have our differences, but I do have a lot of respect for the Orthodox Churches as well.
Many are converting from Catholicism as well.
and many, like me, reverting from ortho to the True Faith@@ryrocks9487
There are more protestants in the U.S
than in any other country.
And there are plenty leaving to become protestants.
Question for the Ethiopians/Eritreans!
I attend a Greek Orthodox church, but unfortunately it’s 500km from home. There is an Ethiopian Orthodox church in my hometown, and I believe in miaphysitism. Is there much difference in our worship? Where would I get the white headcloth? Is there anything I should look out for?
Just go there ask anybody you meet and they will tell you where to get the headcloth, it's called 'netela' in Amharic. It is not mandatory for men. May God bless you.
@@Biniam_Hailu ο Θεός να ευλογεί
there is big difference between us. We are different by Dogma. So, please go to ask. Ethiopia/Eritreans church.
The main difference is in the nature of Christ but you've mentioned in believing in Miaphysitisim so its ok. Other than that there's going to be a language and cultural difference. Most parishes use Ge'ez, an ancient language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church so that might be difficult to understand. But there are some Ethiopian churches that give services in english. A recent one that was planted was the SPOT Church (Saint Paul Orthodox Tewahedo Church). They give services and Liturgy in English. You can look up the Church. Another thing that you might find diffrent is that the use of instruments mentioned in the old testament like drums, harp of David, flute.. during singing hymns. (Ethiopia accepted belief in one God and become jewish and later on converted to Christianity. So you'll find some jewish customs. You can read more about this if ur interested.) And aboit the white head covering, it is worn by both men and women. The difference is that the women cover their hair with it but the men don't. U can look at some Ethiopian Liturgy Videos to see how it's worn or u can ask an Ethiopian.
The main difference is in the nature of Christ but you've mentioned in believing in Miaphysitisim so its ok. Other than that there's going to be a language and cultural difference. Most parishes use Ge'ez, an ancient language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church so that might be difficult to understand. But there are some Ethiopian churches that give services in english. A recent one that was planted was the SPOT Church (Saint Paul Orthodox Tewahedo Church). They give services and Liturgy in English. You can look up the Church. Another thing that you might find diffrent is that the use of instruments mentioned in the old testament like drums, harp of David, flute.. during singing hymns. (Ethiopia accepted belief in one God and become jewish and later on converted to Christianity. So you'll find some jewish customs. You can read more about this if ur interested.) And aboit the white head covering, it is worn by both men and women. The difference is that the women cover their hair with it but the men don't. U can look at some Ethiopian Liturgy Videos to see how it's worn or u can ask an Ethiopian.
Orthodoxy has always promoted use of the vernacular in liturgy. But, with the original parishoners not having English as their first language, it ia natural that the old languages (be it Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Coptic, Geez, etc) remained the language used. Their children grew up speaking them, and this lasted for generations.
I went to a Ukrainian Catholic church growing up, and we were among the last to have fully Ukrainian (at times, Church Slavonic) liturgies. When I started taking my daughter, it was mostly in English.
This is definitely a part of the lack of converts. One of the biggest issues for Luther and the other reformers was the exclusive use of Latin; the common people simply could not understand what was being said, and could not fully grasp what orthodox belief was.
If I remember correctly, Tikon, metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church in the early part of the 20th century (under whos authority the Antiochans, Serbians, etc fell because they had no hierarchies of their own) was pushing for a truly American Orthodox Church, to eventually be autocephalous. He was made Patriarch of Moscow, and the idea died out (not to mention a lot of outside influences from other groups).
Personally, I still favor the old traditions and language: the Slavic ways were (and are) different than thoughs of the Greeks. Or Arabs. Or Georgians. But, the vernacular is they key.
"Tikhon...was pushing for a truly American Orthodox Church, to eventually be autocephalous." But that is what the OCA is, and it has been autocephalous since I think 1970.
@@treewalker1070But the OCA is typical highly suspect and tends towards heresy.
@@MrWesford Really? Please explain.
@@MrWesfordplease explain
@@treewalker1070 not under its own patriarchate
A Coptic church took over a former Roman Catholic church near where my church is located.
Praise the Lord!
Interesting video. I was surprised though, I expected it to be on the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, which is also seeing good growth.
Reminder to all, both Ortho and others
Strength in Numbers ≠ Truth
(Lest we say Sunni Islam is true because it has more followers than the largest communion of Christians being the Roman Catholic Church)
exactly, perhaps a timely reminder to all those megachurches that apparently abound in America too
Sunni Islam isn't one united thing though
@@POTATOSOOPS if you are to use the theological schools of Sunmi Islam as a denial of their unity, then we must also consider the theological schools of Catholicism to be an example of division in that communion, and I'm certain no catholic would allow such an accusation to be considered a just one.
Sunnis consider themselves united on the key doctrine of Islam, which is to accept Muhammad as prophet and Allah as the one god, and the Shia schism over viewing the hier of Muhammad to be an additional key point in their doctrine. The reality for the situation is that Islam doesn't have as strict bounds of unity as Chrsitianity does, and so Islam is united on different a basis than us, but is united nonetheless and so fits the requirements of this argument (and if not Islam then we can also use the Arian controversy in which it is an accepted historical fact that most Christians of both laity and clergy would have affirmed the incorrect view of Christ before the Council of Nicea I in its nearly unanimous decision, save for 2 bishops, rendered its authority over both the laity and clergy, saving large swaths of Christians with an Arian Christology from their heresy.)
Trying to dunk on Catholics with Sunni Islam is a bit telling and a bit ironic considering Eastern Orthodoxy is overrun by the Islamic world.
@@Rome_77 the fact you feel the need to run over to a separate comment of mine from the other discussion wherein I demonstrated that you are not worth speaking to about such things due to your internal biases is telling of your own insecurities (as well as you throwing the accusation back at me to no success, as I am not anti-western, I am in fact a proponent of Western Rite Orthodoxy and will be visiting a WR liturgy soon, for your information) and personal fufillment needs to point the flaws of people on the internet (ironic for your pointing to my views as a solely online affair, i do in fact attend church and do all my irl requirements of my faith, and can see the reality of the Faith, whereas you have demonstrated the opposite, being a terminally online trad cath who seeks nothing more than "gotcha" moments on those who disagree with you), as I said before, have a good day, and I will apply the same position of not throwing my pearls to swine who cannot see their value.
God bless, please do not respond to any of my comments further as I will have to go through the trouble of explaining this yet again.
(And also your lack of knowledge that I was in fact a westerner proves you didn't read or comprehend at least one of my responses in our earlier discussion, wherein i used my position as a westerner to prove a point, which further shows your dishonor in engaging, or rather refusing to engage, with the points I have made)
EO ethnic legacy parishes are dying out and their youth don’t care because they were raised to be “Greek” (or other nationality) instead of Orthodox. Convert parishes are growing exponentially. I’d rather see 5 small convert parishes with 10 people each than a big 500 person cathedral with only a few yia yias left
That was the previous generation, those who were raised going to Greek school and in Greek culture tended to stay in the Church, but many of them did not like their Greek cultural education or, more to the point, they didn't like that it marked them as an outsider in American society, so they didn't force the same experience on their children. It's that generation that became thoroughly 'Americanized' and left the Church; it's not that they converted to another religion or sect, they just became irreligious like most of American society, left to the suburbs and stopped going to Church altogether. American culture has had a corrupting and corrosive effect on every people who have migrated here, it's sadly just a matter of time until their cultural identity is subsumed into the greater culture.
There was a lot of criticism about those Greeks who seemed to want to be 'Eastern Rite Anglicans' 30 years ago, those Greeks did not raise their children to be Greek or even particularly Orthodox. We're seeing the impact of that today in the once large urban parishes that were built around Greek immigrant communities. Similar effects can be observed in the Russian emigre communities that were very strong in the 20's and 30's, but have declined over the decades as their children became more and more Americanized.
The Greek parishes I've been around appear to have found a way to maximize youth involvement and teach them the language, from where I'm sitting, it'll be a very very long time before the Converts, with less money, less infrastructure, and far less population, can even compete with the Greeks.
@@the_albanian_meme6041 compete in terms of money and stuff sure. But that doesn’t really matter as much as being faithful. I’m not dogging all Greeks by any means
no need to compete. Come and join! All are welcome at the Greek Orthodox Church. I know this from personal experience.
@@amyyiannikouros8116 wherever is available and best fit for a person, whatever it takes to become who we are. I love and respect my Greek Orthodox brothers sisters fathers and mothers
Thank GOD for this good news.
Oriental orthodoxy is becoming more popular than Eastern Orthodoxy in Canada also.
Glory to Christ and his one true Holy Apostolic and Catholic Church - the Eastern Orthodox Church ☦️
@wheatandtares-xk4lp which is true and very confusing
@wheatandtares-xk4lpwhile this may be true, holding even one heresy cuts you off from the body of christ.
@wheatandtares-xk4lp it is your fault if you are shown the truth and deny it.
@wheatandtares-xk4lp Heresy, disconnects you from the church, heresy isn't just sin, heresy is heresy
@wheatandtares-xk4lp I'm not catholic, there are no venal and mortal sins, and your brand of ecumenism is the pan-heresy of the anti-christ
In addition to growth by immigration I also wonder about growth from former Protestants. I get more of a sense that Protestant churches are abandoning their roots in the historic Christian faith. Many Evangelical Protestants in the US think of Christianity as merely a set of doctrinal statements. There is little concern to be connected to Christians through the world and throughout history. I wonder if people are becoming more dissatisfied with the individualism in American Christianity and are looking for deeper connections.
Former presbyterian here, God spoke to my heart and called me home the moment I stepped into a Greek Orthodox Church in Phoenix, AZ. The beauty, the engagement of every one of the senses, and the theology embedded into every action and detail is truly the life abundant that Christ promised us.
I think you make a good point but I’ll add that in the most simplistic sense, with no offense intended, the evangelicals are filtering out more and more history and bears zero tradition, it’s been diluted down to simple feel good entertainment with no substance and certainly no sacrifice and therefore no real worship. I’m RC, not EO, and still 100% believe the the RC is more valid but the distinction for me is something like 51%-49% so it’s a net positive when people find themselves in the presence of valid Sacraments.
Count me in the arm that’s helping grow the church in America, ex-evangelical, current and future orthodox, when studying church history and the church fathers, I can’t be faithfully anything if I’m not Orthodox, it has radically changed my life
Return Home ☦️
Was baptized into the Coptic church 4 years ago. It’s difficult being an immigrant in my own country but it’s a similar reality most of my fellow congregants experience daily.
I am Armenian who was baptized in the Armenian Apostolic Church, however I tend to visit eastern orthodoxy churches because the AAC's outreach program is virtually non-existent. On top of that the services they conduct such as the liturgy is mostly in Armenian and I have hardly ever heard a service in English. They speak in a dialect of Armenian that I cannot understand and it is partly ancient. This is probably why they never get an increase in attendance and I fear that if they don't change with the times they will not be around. And I am talking about churches in SoCal with huge populations and churches everywhere.
there are plenty of coptic churches you can commune with in your region
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us.
Yes, the entire church is 100% apostate. Without Gods mercy, no one would be saved. Thankfully, God will save a few. And the few God saves have nothing to do with anything known as the church.
Christ is Risen!! ☦️🇵🇷☦️🇵🇷☦️
Would it be possible to do a video like this about the Orthodox Church in Canada?
May Eastern Orthodoxy & Oriental Orthodoxy Grow & Expand Like Wildfire All Across North America.
Hallelujah
Grew up Anglican I coverted to Oriental Orthodox
You may need to look at immigration numbers from Egypt to get a more complete picture.
And the question of those who convert in order to marry vs “study-in” conversions.
The dynamics are perhaps more complex than the limited data being used suggests.
I am an Indian and Pentecostal and happy that Orthodox Christians growing because I admire the believers for being very conservative.
Very interesting! I’m Antiochian Orthodox and I’m aware that some Copts attended my parish before they got their parish going, years ago before I began attending. My understanding is the Antiochian patriarchate is in communion with the Coptic church. I believe it’s the only Eastern Orthodox Church in communion with the Copts.
We are definitely not in communion with the Monophysites. They would not be allowed to commune with us and we would be excommunicated for communing with them.
@@MrWesfordstop with the slander.! Get to know your facts right before becoming a troll!
No Oriental Orthodox Church is in communion with any Eastern Orthodox Church. You are likely misunderstanding the Patriarchate of Alexandria as the Coptic Church. Same nation, different churches.
I don’t think I’m mistaken. In Antiochian Orthodox we have official limited intercommunion. The dire circumstances of Christians in Syria have provoked great cooperation. They really were Copts that were openly communed at my parish before they got their own parish going. Look into the Orthodox joint commission. This might not apply as much to parishes in North America, I think it depends on the Bishop, but it definitely does apply in some places.
orthodoxjointcommission.wordpress.com/2013/12/23/unity-in-antioch/
This nonsense right here is why I will forever firmly remain Catholic. The dissension right here breeds further separation and isolates rather than have one episcopally elected head helping to mend divisions. Orthodoxy has valid Sacraments and means well but is a victim of the blind leading the blind.
Guys, idk what Is happening, but I as a Lutheran am learning about orthodoxy
People probably should have just become Orthodox to get away from Catholicism, not started protestantism.
I became Orthodox after a long time away from God. I come from a Protestant so i inivted family to my baptisim and my mom was proud of me and loved the service will she convert? Probably not but she will attend liturgy with me
Praying matters more than convincing, and if you want to convert others work first on purification. You can help your brother and sister when you see clearly.
I'd like to know how they get these stats. I'm a Greek Orthodox convert in 2013. I moved last year and our parish is growing (albeit a small church)
The Archdioceses and Patriarchates collected the statistics from their congregations and gave them to the census takers.
As a Catholic, I look forward to the day where the eastern and western churches become one again. ✝️🤝☦️
μια μέρα, μια μέρα…
As soon as the west abandons their Heresy And joins the true church
You'll be waiting forever. You're waiting for the Pope to say he's not infallible?
I am Coptic Orthodox, I am a white American with no connection to the Coptic Church. Florida has a HUGE growth of Coptic Churches which is amazing to me. I always am happy to see when we have more parishes crop up!
Edit: As a convert, I want to state I have NEVER felt like an outsider. I prefer the Arabic liturgy despite not being able to speak it. I am not a fan of the Coptic American style that Abouna Messah has and a lot of people I know have an issue with him being more "protestant" but he adheres to the Coptic theology just fine, I think people are just a bit standoffish about the style he has.
Unfortunately, Coptic Orthodox are not Orthodox. You can only pick one, either you're coptic (a monophysite) or you're Orthodox. So you should learn more about Orthodoxy and the church history, and read more of the teachings of the holy fathers.
What made you want join the Coptic church?
I was raised Protestant but I’m currently not attending any church. The southern US is dominated by Baptists, Methodists, and Pentecostals and some non denominational churches. I’ve always disliked how empty and bare their churches look and feel; and their Protestant church culture is more like a social club than being about worshipping God and following the example of Christ. Just mention Matthew 25: 31-46 to a Protestant and they will immediately quote “by grace are ye saved, through faith, not of works lest any man should boast” by Paul. That’s what so many Evangelicals don’t get, Paul did say that but he didn’t mean how Protestant preach it today. Paul completely lived for Christ after his conversion traveling the world spreading the gospel and telling the churches to follow the commands of Christ.
They only preach salvation through faith but Christ himself said you have to back up your faith by following the commands of Christ or he will spew you out like lukewarm water on the day of judgement.
I’ve not joined the Catholic Church and will not join any church that calls it’s ministers and preachers by the title Father because God and Jesus said not to call any man father because God is the Father. I won’t join any church that prays to saints because Jesus taught us to pray to God directly and to pray to God in the name of Jesus and to do the work of God in Jesus’s name like laying hands on the sick and casting out unclean spirits. He told his disciples “do this in my name.”
I want to join a church but I’m not going to join a church that does anything against the direction of Jesus Christ, so I want to know your theological reason for joining the Coptic church.
@@one_step_sideways
You need to catch up with Christology.
According to *_The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica:_*
The churches that until the mid-20th century had been traditionally classified as monophysite, those of the so-called Oriental Orthodox communion, have always disputed the label, preferring the term miaphysite (from the Greek mia, “single,” and physis, “nature”) to identify their shared view that both divinity and humanity are equally present within a single nature in the person of Christ and describing their traditions as “non-Chalcedonian.” These Oriental Orthodox churches-the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Syriac Orthodox Partriachate of Antioch and All the East, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church- *_have since resolved almost all of their Christological disputes with the Roman Catholic Church, the major Protestant churches, and Eastern Orthodoxy and have been generally accepted by those traditions as essentially orthodox in their doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ._*
@@dr.banoub9233 Encyclopedia Britannica? A secular source? Opinion discarded.
@@one_step_sideways You couldn’t be more wrong the Copts are Orthodox unlike the eastern heteredox who fell to heresy at Chalcedon
May God bless the True Orthodox Churches that rejected the Chalcedeonian heresy
Amen
What? You're the same schismatics as the Roman Catholics. Just because one of the five patriarchs have separated doesn't mean that the rest of the four patriarchs are heretics. You still cannot justify nestorianism because it's inherently wrong, as it is a heresy.
How do you even know that the nestorianists are "the true orthodox churches" anyway? Because the number goes up? The fastest growing religious cult in the world is mormonism - doesn't mean that it's true.
@@one_step_sideways show me a single letter of St Cyril where he says two nature after the union or two natures in reality.
So what we're seeing is that the longer-established Orthodox churches, as their communities become more rooted in America, begin to experience the same erosion as the mainstream Protestant churches, while there are those among the Oriental Orthodox that are boosted by a still active immigrant movement -- notice the high growth of the African-based ones, mostly immigrant in the last generation, vs. the Armenian, here for a hundred years.
The Russian Orthodox churches are also there for 100 years. It's evident that it's not the same reason as with protestantism. And no, ROCOR is not exactly as widespread as it could have been, mostly because Russians didn't simply migrate to the US, they migrated everywhere outside the Russian Empire.
As an American convert to Coptic Orthodoxy, this is very encouraging to hear.
Welcome home,Brother
I am so gld to be home. Christ left the 99 and found me. Pray that rest of us here in America head God’s call to His one Holy Catholic Apostolic Orthodox Church!
I am so gld to be home. Christ left the 99 and found me. Pray that rest of us here in America head God’s call to His one Holy Catholic Apostolic Orthodox Church!
@@josephnugent3065the Lord richly bless you. I long for the day when we don’t have to be just called “Oriental” or “Coptic” but truly what is intended “Followers of Christ and Children of God.” Honestly, the OO preserved the One Faith and One Baptism with the blood of the martyrs, but it is not intended to be kept for the Egyptians or Syrians or Ethiopians or Malankara or Armenians only. It is for the whole world.
Across America, you see many Protestants that are converting to the Coptic Orthodox Church, mainly because of their very solemn and ancient, yet casual-style Liturgy. It’s very beautiful and comforting, definitely not something that can be easily explained .
Well when you have the witness of the Coptic Martyrs of Libya, what is to be expected
Some years ago I rented a motel room on two different occasions from a Coptic guy in New Jersey.
Strange to see the Oriental Orthodox of all people growing in popularity. I wonder if their view of Christ’s natures will start to spread to other churches.
Better than the nestorianism preached at evangelical and baptist circles
I disagree with that comment NO nestorianism preached at our BAPTIST church Sir. Nestorianism: Originally, Nestorianism envisaged the divine Word as having associated with itself at the Incarnation a complete, independently existing man. From the orthodox point of view, Nestorianism therefore denied the reality of the Incarnation and represented Christ as a God-inspired man rather than as God-made-man. We do not teach this if a Baptist church is teaching this then it is not Baptist , may the Father , The Son and The Holy Spirit be with You!@@VincenzoRutiglianoDiaz
These are heretical and contradictory teachings. The Eastern Orthodox Church is the true Church of Christ and is theologically perfect ❤️☦️
Reformed theology certainly has a Nestorian problem with respect to their Calvinistic insistence on penal substitution theory, wherein either the Logos had to depart from Jesus on the cross or else the Trinity would've been divided. (On the other hand, Lutheranism might have a monophysite problem with some peculiar conclusions drawn from the communicatio idiomatum.) It goes too far to say the Evangelical aversion to Theotokos language is "Nestorian" in and of itself, but I understand why many Orthodox and Roman Catholics would raise an eyebrow.
ruclips.net/p/PLGoUtdVdNentvLntk-Jbjk2FefXiOS8k3&si=6mQrAiw2oC1auuXo
I go to a greek orthodox church and we have new parishioners every week mostly college kids!
Many evangelicals are attracted to the clarity of doctrine and mysticism of worship. Roman Catholics are attracted because of the very same reasons
I am Evangelical and put off by their : lack of Christian love as they keep calling me a heretic!
NO , Thanks!
You could do a survey on Eastern Catholic Churches.
You should make a video about Eastern Catholic churches in the US
why? They are not Orthodox.
@@gregcoogan8270 I know they aren't orthodox, I want him to make a separate video about them
I think that’s a good idea! The eastern Catholic churches tend to get forgotten. Whenever I see the word Catholic as a denomination, it usually has “Roman” in front of it, so I guess most people don’t know about Eastern Catholics. 🙂
I'd like to see him do a video with Father Casey Cole @breakinginthehabit
@@johncastaldo8635 the ultimate collab
How do the Numbers presented in the study add up, in most studies total nr of Orthodox adherents in America to around 6 million
These numbers are from the actual Orthodox Church bodies, so they show real adherents who are connected to the churches, not simply estimates based on people's race or place of origin.
So far, Greek Orthodox throw the best parties! OPÁ!
I am a convert to Orthodox Christianity, and I have been seeing a lot of growth in Orthodox churches, just in the last 4 years. There was moderate growth before, but it really began to take off 3-4 years ago. I can imagine people leaving the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and going to another jurisdiction, like the OCA or ROCOR, but I don't think the number of Eastern Orthodox Christians is going down. I hope I'm not wrong. Anyway, the OCA church in Greenville, SC baptized more than 30 people right before Pascha (Orthodox Easter). The Greek Orthodox parish in town seems to be stable. I think they've lost a few people to other Orthodox churches, but their population is slowly growing as far as I can tell.
I wouldn't be surprised if demographic changes have something to do with the changing numbers of adherents to different faiths. Since the end of Communism fewer people have moved to America from eastern Europe, and I think more people are moving to America from the Middle East. That will bring some Greek Orthodox, but also more Oriental Orthodox.
One big lesson to learn is not to modernize as that will be the start of the decline. I am a Roman Catholic but I prefer to go to the Latin Mass if time permits as it is still a mission church here meaning that their last Sunday Mass is at 9AM. There was a major reconciliation efforts between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church but it has fallen apart when Vatican II started.
Both orthodoxy and catholicism are just sisters of the same false, manmade, Godless religion of scientism. Orthodoxy, catholicism, protestantism, are all false manmade Godless cults (sisters) that all belong to the one world religion of scientism.
The actual Christianity of the Bible has nothing whatsoever to do with anything called or known as the church.
A lot of the evangelical churches are superficial. People wanting to re connect with God want something more deeper and spiritual that speaks to their souls not just their senses. There is a beautiful grace in orthodoxy.
This doesnt seem to be positive news at all to me. It would seem the “growth” of these churches are due largely in part due to immigration only. I’d imagine retention rates of the OO churches are near the same levels as the EO churches. Conversion rates are even lower than the Eastern Orthodox churches because these churches are more ethnically defined than the EO churches. The same Atlantic article cited in this video proves as much when a parish claimed that only 8 out of 30 american converts in their parish were active members of the church. So one can argue that, in the long term, the OO churches are in a worse position than the EO. The EO has a stable convert population whereas the OO does not. Furthermore, depleting one population of OO in the middle east to temporarily increase the number in America isnt exactly “growth” especially when future generations have a high probability of leaving the church in one or two generations. Secularization is a threat to the church and this video does not provide any consolation for that.
I'm of Roman Catholic background. But I have been going to a Russian Orthodox for the past 2 months. It's home. Nothing in Roman Catholicism compares. Look East to the ancient way!
As a Copt, this makes me so happy!🫶
Pope Kyrollos and Pope Shenouda are Egyptian Coptic priests. ❤
Greats ❤
Catechumen in the Eastern Orthodox church in Alabama. Our small mission has quadrupled in size in the past year. Praise God his church is spreading where protestantism has fractured into primarily non denom churches.
I don’t even call them “non-denominational” anymore. I prefer to call then “neo baptist/pentecostal”, depending upon their pastor’s opinion about tongues.
I switched to the Greek Orthodox.
Orthodox churches involve much Mystery, Holy Mystery. :+ )
These numbers don't take into consideration COVID and the large number of converts Orthodox churches have taken in since then. I hope the next survey can shed some light onto this, because the situation on the ground in many Orthodox parishes is a revitalization, not shrinkage.
These are former Protestants that were left behind by their denominations because they went woke, liberalized their theology, sold out, went into political capture, etc.
Then they realize the Church is necessarily apostolic but they can't bring themselves to become Catholic because of the lingering effects of their protestantism so they take the next best thing.
This has fueled _a lot_ of the "orthobro" phenomenon online.
Orthodox apologists destroy every one of your catholic champions though, so how are we the next best thing? We are correct and the Alexandria document proves it.
@@levitatingpotato109
Were you a pentacostal before?
@@Qwerty-jy9mj no, why?
great journey
I hope Orthodoxy grows in Texas. There are no churches anywhere near me to attend
There are many Armenian and Coptic Orthodox Churches in Texas
Please search on google map coptic or Greek orthodox church on google map it will pop out
Could you do a video on Eastern Protestantism? I.e Protestant churches born out of the Eastern/Oriental orthodox tradition.
There aren't any Protestants born out of Eastern Orthodoxy, sadly. You might want to look up Cyril Lucaris, though. He was a Patriarch of Constantinople who wanted to reform the Orthodox Church along lines similar to Calvin. He was murdered, and his Protestant ideas were officially deemed as a misrepresentation of his theology by the Orthodox Church after his death, despite mountains of writing proving otherwise.
I'm an Atheist who likes religion, and I like this trend. There's something special about traditional services that I don't get with uninspired Jesus guitar music on a stage. Also, a lot of the mainline Protestant and even Catholic trends have become degenerate; thankfully, we can generally count on the Orthodox churches to remain steadfast in their beliefs and practices: a counterweight against the insanities of the Postmodern age.
Atheism is a religion same as all other religions.
Everything known as and called the church is all 100% apostate from God and from the truth and Christianity of the Bible.
Everyone in every church is in reality an atheist just like you, this is why you are not too opposed to it (the churches fake christianity).
You all in reality have the very same false manmade atheist religion of scientism as your real religion. Scientism is the one world religion. It is the religion of atheists like you, as well as the real religion of everything called and known as the church.
The Bibles Christianity is completely outside of everything called and known as the/a church.
Dear brother this isn’t an issue between Ideologies but a battle between life vs Death.
Salvation ✝️ vs Condemnation
@@HolaBruv ,....If anyone has anything to do with any church, they are an atheist and are under the condemnation of God. Do you understand this?
You LIKE religion? Can't get enough of those death threats, eh?
Lol, I don't like *those* sorts of religionists. XD
God bless the copic church the Antioch church, and every apostolic church 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Repent!
As a Roman Catholic who attends both extraordinary and ordinary forms and is feeling effects of the internal rivalry that can exist between the two, I think there is a lot that the Latin Church can learn from what this video says the Oriental Church is doing. I’m happy that the Oriental Church is growing here in the US. The Eastern lung is breathing healthily.
Why are you happy? They are schismatic?
Oriental Orthodoxy is not the Eastern lung Pope John Paul II described. They absolutely deny the Hypostatic Union which is absolutely essential to RC and EO. Their Christology is wildly different. I would argue that Oriental Orthodoxy is significantly further from Roman Catholicism than Eastern Orthodoxy is.
Very interesting..👍🏽
We need to stay strong in our faith. We need to stay in the community of our Church where we can stand and share ou love and faith to keep strong.
The script overlooked the effect of political unrest, ISIS terrorism and other terroristic organizations in Egypt between 2010 and 2020. It is a cause and effect thing on Egyptian Copts, exactly as once during the Armenian genocide. Also stressing on differences than similarities, while ignoring the fact that Coptic language is written in Greek letters and nips up Greek culture, hymns. Nice statistics however :))
When everything is new, the old shines brighter.