Metropolitan Jonah, leader of the Orthodox Church in America, visits local parish

October 2, 12:02 PMNorth Fork Community ExaminerLisa DeLuca

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Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America. Photo: E. Peter Drakoulias

“[Living a life] in synergy with the will of God, in communion with God… is something that I believe the world is desperately seeking but doesn’t even know it exists,” the Orthodox Church in America’s Archbishop of Washington  Metropolitan of All America and Canada told parishioners of St. John the Theologian Orthodox Church in Shirley during a visit to that parish last weekend, September 25 and 26th. Metropolitan Jonah visited the Shirley parish in honor its 25th anniversary.

Though many people think Orthodox Christianity is practiced only by Greeks and Russians, the first American converts to the Orthodox faith were in Alaska over two hundred years ago. Since that time, Metropolitan Jonah said the Orthodox Church in America “…Has become a truly indigenous church. We’re a church of people who have been born in this country in this culture, coming from a multitude of different ethnic and linguistic and national backgrounds, but we’re an authentically American church.” He described the cultural diversity in the church as “Beautiful.”

Metropolitan Jonah stated that the task of the Orthodox Church in America is to reach out to “All the generations of people that are alive today, who are hurt, who’ve been betrayed [by their churches], who’ve been abandoned, who are losing faith in Christianity, who are losing faith in Christ…and bring them that word of integrity of the gospel that has been given to us from the apostles and that we incarnate in the life of our church.”

He said that other churches have tried, unsuccessfully, to bring the hope of Jesus to people by “Changing the doctrine…even so far as to say that Jesus isn’t the son of God.” Metropolitan Jonah talked about the fact that while the cultural traditions in the Orthodox Church in America are still evolving and changing, the message of the church has not and will not change. He said the message is one of healing, repentance, forgiveness, transformation of life, authentic spirituality and, “the integrity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Because of its unchanging doctrine, he described the Orthodox Church as, “The most stable of all Christian churches.”

 Metropolitan Jonah told the Shirley parish that, “What our life together is about, is to do exactly what it says in the liturgy, ‘To commit ourselves and each other and all of our life to Christ our God.’ If we can do that, relying totally on the will of God… there is no change that might happen that we cannot bear.” He said that hope in Jesus Christ is the only way to a life of joy and fulfillment.

Nearly a dozen priests from other Orthodox Christian Churches on Long Island co-celebrated vespers services on Friday evening and Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning at the church, along with the Metropolitan and Father Jonathan Ivanoff, the Shirley parish’s priest. Ivanoff was elevated to the office of “Archpriest” during the service on Saturday, a title reserved for priests who serve well for longer than fifteen years. The Metropolitan gave his address at a luncheon, celebrated later in the day Saturday, in Port Jefferson.

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