VIDEO: Father Josiah Trenham – Biggest Challenge for Orthodoxy in America

30 thoughts on “VIDEO: Father Josiah Trenham – Biggest Challenge for Orthodoxy in America”

1. Very informative, but The Church should unite and become more understanding. Not point fingers due to being part of a different Chapter or Sect.

2. pray for harvesters, for the harvest is YUGE

3. Byzantine Catholics show the way. Go the distance – all the way back to unity in Peter.

4. Powerful!!

5. Thank you, Fr. Trenham! I am an Orthodox inquirer and this was one of the first questions I had…is there a differences between Greek, Russian, and Antiochian Orthodoxy. It was a point I was breifly confused about, and I was unsure if different texts/practices were observed by these branches. Unity within God's Holy Church is surely His intention!

6. You are exactly correct. I see much in Orthodoxy that is attractive and true and much that is missing or forgotten in the Catholic Church. But I also see a Protestant-style disunity that is holding back the Orthodox church from spreading its message and teaching its understanding of union with God. Here is where the Catholic Church hierarchy including the papacy would be useful to the Orthodox church.

7. I agree entirely. I have had this argument for over 20 years myself.

8. I pray that what Fr. Josiah says will come true. The problem is that the Greeks have turned Orthodoxy into an "ethnic religion", similar to what Judaism is for the Jews. Look around, have you ever seen a Greek Orthodox Church without a Greek flag on the iconostasis? Greeks are the most nationalistic and ethnocentric of all the Orthodox peoples, do you honestly see them dropping the word "Greek" from "Greek Orthodox Church" anytime soon? Not only in America, go look at what they did to the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. Even though the members of this church are 90% Palestinian Arabs, the Greeks took over the administration, they added the word "Greek" in front of "Orthodox Church of Jerusalem", they declared all church property in Jerusalem as "property of the Greek nation", and they made it mandatory for the Patriarchate to be an ethnic Greek by birth and citizen of Greece. This means that a Palestinian can never be the archbishop, even though the members of the church are 90% Palestinians. These kinds of racist laws have no place in Orthodoxy. The apostle Paul himself said: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus".

9. Thank you FrJosigh for calling it out. It’s time

10. Thank you Fr Josiah for calling it out. It’s time.

11. 3:48 Reminds me of the hesitation I felt when I was going to visit a Macedonian Orthodox Church. I'm not Macedonian I thought to myself. Would people there think I'm lost?

    Reminded me of the diversity center at University during undergrad. There was the Pacific Islander center, African-American center, Latin American Center, Etc…I didn't want to be part of any of those because I felt it was self segregation because those groups hardly intermingled.

    I once went into one of the center's that did not match my ethnicity to use the printer, it felt like people were looking at me as if I was lost. Never went back.

    Thank you Fr. Josiah

12. Dear father Josiah, My husband , son and I are in the early stages of converting to the Orthodox church. We would of been on this path years ago but like you mentioned, we thought we wouldn't be welcome because we are not Greek or Russian. During the Covid lockdowns, we started watching some Homilies from an Antiochian Orthodox Church near us. We finally attended in person recently and really loved it. They were so welcoming to us and many of the people we met were converts as well. We have a lot to learn but very excited that we found the Orthodox Church. God bless you. Kelly

13. This is true and refreshing. Father talks about the problems that are taboo to speak of. We need unity within the Church. There shall be no division. Yes… I was a Latin that found my home in Orthodoxy. father couldn't be more right. Amen Father. Thank you!

14. Orthodoxy just hits different.

15. I checked in the Philippines and three seperate Orthodox Churches have Parishes here:
    Russian, Antioch &
    Greek (through SE Asian Hong Kong).
    None are on Palawan Island where I am.

16. This is why I am being discouraged to join the Orthodox Church. 🙁

17. We need to pray the rosary more!
    Just type rosary on yt and you will find a lot!

    Blessings!

18. However, Father, I do not believe this is a structural inadequacy, rather it is a consequence of men who rely on their human intellect instead of the Holy Spirit. The greater our combined consecration the greater our freedom from these errors.

19. You think it’s possible for the Greek people to deny their heritage??!,?? After all, Hellenism was the vehicle, the source, that helped to spread the good news about Jesus to the world! I sense a lot of resentment about the Greeks and the “ethnic” Orthodox Churches the United States. This attitude is not very Christian. The United States, like Canada and Australia are immigrant countries. The Immigrants that built their Orthodox communities in these countries had the need to praise God in their own traditional way and
    language and also to have communion with each other and to reminisce about their former homelands.
    I sometimes attend a convert mission Orthodox Church in the Midwest and they have developed their own American country “tradition” different than my experience and I find this to be wonderful. I love the fact that these folks found Orthodoxy and have established a community of their own. I, also, love that my five 2nd generation grandkids attend the Orthodox parochial school of my home parish and they do one hour of Greek language every day! We are all lucky to live in a free country where we are free to worship as we like! So, everyone, quit bitching!🤔
    If perspective converts resent the ethnic influences of the Orthodox communities, maybe, Orthodoxy is not for them. Orthodox communities do not forcibly impose their traditions on others and others ought not try to impose their precepts on what Orthodoxy ought to be on them!

20. Its something I've been wondering about and the sole thing that seems out of place to me for the last 8 months I've been going to church and reading. My girlfriends dad is a ROCOR priest. We just moved to a new city and I suggested a Greek church, you would've thought I'd suggested a mosque by her response! I can understand preferring one type of choir over another, but the Orthodox church, is the Orthodox church. I would LOVE to see unity in the church, the Orthodox church in America, needs to be the Orthodox church of America. If the Orthodox church in America is self governing, than it must be united.

21. Thank you for your honestly. Fr. Josiah, your videos and podcast have been a blessing to me on my journey into Orthodoxy. Bless you for doing the Lord's work and doing so with courage and boldness.

22. My 2 cents in a most touchy issue. Whenever this is brought up, stone throwing seems to start, and for me, a lot of this goes back 100 years. Calendar 'adjustment'. Right now, some are fasting, some are done. It so reminds me of the Pascha dispute of Victor's time, which was finally ended by a non baptized Emperor. Maybe we should go all of the way back to then? Maybe I am heretical in some way, but I observe that very old way for myself, and don't share unless asked. It grieves me that we don't all observe The Nativity on the same day, and this is now over 100 years old. Where did this come from? What is coming from this 'jurisdiction' now with candle services with actual heretics at the Vatican?
    Yes, I am an Old Calendar person. I tolerate this division, but I see no reason, except secular partying, that promotes it. It kind of forces people to be 'in the world' in some way, IMHO. Tomorrow is the Feast of The Nativity for The Baptist — for some! But it was two weeks ago for others.
    No wonder there is division.
    Love to All!

23. For many years, I assumed that if something was "Greek Orthodox", "Russian Orthodox", etc, that it was really meant for people of that cultural background only. This year, when I've looked into Orthodox Christianity more (I'm currently without a church, and was raised in the Evangelical Free Church), I've finally learned that those labels aren't supposed to matter so much…but the different cultures is absolutely something which previously had kept me from becoming more interested in Orthodoxy, and still does make me hesitant to want to become a part of those communities.

24. Maybe God doesn’t want hateful ex Protestant “priest” like this one spewing their hate and bringing the orthodox world in contact with groups like the World Congress of Families, a designated hate group. Bringing Protestant type hate into orthodoxy maybe not God’s plan.

25. So sad and true. As a Romanian living in Romania, I wish our Patriarchy would encourage people in the USA to attend the Orthodox Church in America services, and collaborate with the OCA to find solutions for the recent immigrants who perhaps don't have very good English skills or need some help with transitioning to another type of service, or anything that they might have trouble adapting to. I'm sure they could find solutions – providing translations of liturgy, induction sessions, or whatever other help they might think of.
    We are organized by nation for various practical reasons, and for the same practical reasons it makes sense that the Orthodox Church in America should be the one to administer and serve the faith in the US. Having a division by nation in the world makes sense, having such divisions within ONE country makes zero sense.

26. I agree with nearly everything that Father teaches but I respectfully must disagree with his approach on this question. The sense that this is a horrific tragedy seems to me to be mostly a distraction born out of not fully grasping the nature of how Orthodoxy has come to the West. The interpretation that separate jurisdictions bespeaks a lack of charity doesn't follow necessarily. For better and worse Orthodoxy came here with the immigration of different ethnic groups. This put them in a damned if they do and damned if they don't scenario. If they evangelized then they would come off as foreigners who were trying to change the country they immigrated to. If they simply tended to their own spiritual and cultural needs they would be accused of insularity, as they are. There's no need for outrage or indignation. The people who came here were humans and had we been in their shoes we would have likely not done any better if not, what is more likely, done much worse.

    We won't ever have a jurisdictionally united Orthodoxy in America as long as we think of it as an objective good. We demand autonomy without the spiritual maturity to spend a long period of time at the feet of those who are handing us Orthodoxy. The Russians had a giant schism 700 years after receiving Orthodoxy from the Greeks because they wanted to be more in line with the Greek practices, while we, who are so obviously spiritually immature and haven't produced Saints the likes of those who are still being produced in the motherlands, are desperate to throw off the ones who are handing us the Faith. It feels like the prideful indignation of a rebellious teenager and it obviously won't do as a foundation for lasting unity. The only fruit I've ever seen from people that are very concerned about jurisdictional unity is fruitless indignation. Instead, we ought to be grateful for what we have since we don't deserve anything, much less Holy Orthodoxy, and gladly sit at the feet of those who are passing the torch of the Faith to us in all humility. Playing up the supposed tragedy of jurisdictional separation with indignation will only push back the time of a unity that is worthy and pleasing in the eyes of God. I say this as an American who loves our nation.

    We don't need more human efforts of reaching a self evaluated good goal that doesn't resemble how the Faith was received and maintained by Orthodox people in the past. We'll only build another tower of Babel in our minds that's instantly marked for destruction by God. We should strengthen not loosen the ties of gratitude and humility before the Mother Churches that are doing the best job at preserving the Spirit of Orthodoxy. Spiritual unity is what matters most, not juridical and bureaucratic unity. "Seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and everything else will be granted unto you." Let people do what they have it in their heart to do, and those who live for the preservation of the Faith will flock to those jurisdictions that are providing the most spiritual nourishment and fidelity to what is empirically the same Faith as that of the Holy Elders and the Fathers. Little by little we will come together this way and those who insist on individualistic pride, passionate human programs and watering down the Faith will gradually undermine themselves and fade away. Glory to God for all things.

27. THIS IS THE ORTHODOX MOMENT: All of the former Episcopalians, and other Protestant groups who have left churches that are no longer Biblical are desperate for a Biblical church. This is the time to , as the Bible says, "Ask for the ancient paths; ask where the good way is, and walk in it" . This statement alone drew me to Orthodoxy once I understood what it truly was: the 2,000 year old church of Christ, not a bunch of ethnic cults that keep to themselves!

    This is so very true; although I grew up Episcopalian, I lived in an ethnically diverse area. I had many friends who were Russian, Yugoslavian, etc. who were Orthodox. All we knew was that their cross was different, and they celebrated holidays on a different day. When I would ask my friends about this, the impression I always was given was that you had to be Russian to go to Russian Orthodox church, and the Eastern Orthodox people were also divided by nationality. My sister broke her engagement to an eastern Orthodox boy whose parents wouldn't accept her because she was not the right nationality. The thing is, upon investigation, our beliefs were really the same as the Orthodox. If we had understood that, if we had been invited to go, we probably would have converted to Orthodox 30 years ago.

    Orthodox people need to be more open, and explain that they are the original Christian church. Instead, when you approach them, the attitude is more that it is a Christian ethnic cult that only those of that nationality can ever join. This is what I was raised to believe and basically told by Orthodox friends as far back as grammar school and I am in my fifties. I wish people who no longer want to be Catholic because of all of the abuses and nonagreement with an infallible pope, could be made to understand that Orthodox faith is Christian faith..the faith in Jesus Christ, not Russian or greek faith.

28. So the Orthodox Churches are badly divided. As a Catholic I would cynically say Pope Francis will do what he can to see to it that the Catholic Church is just as divided. The video implies that this Pope's leadership should mean rich pickings for the Orthodox Church. I can understand the sentiment, but if you induce Catholics like me to abandon their belief in the sainthood of John Fisher and Thomas More, then you are merely a heresiarch. You have a higher degree from Durham University, but you appear unable to tell us if the Dryburne Martyrs were validly baptised. In County Durham you would be just an object of derision. I was baptised in Hebburn and made my First Holy Communion and was confirmed in Jarrow, which were part of County Durham at the time. When I made my First Holy Communion I was of the opinion that More and Fisher were great Christian heroes, and still hold this opinion today some sixty years later. I would encourage everybody to say John Fisher's Prayer for Holy Bishops on Ember Saturdays. We still have them in Kazakhstan.

29. I think the Antiochians and OCA are best positioned to do this, if they can get the EP to instruct its jurisdictions to follow their lead. North America needs a single autocephalous Patriarchate.

30. This message has only gained in importance over the past year. I am a convert from Roman Catholicism to Orthodoxy. I converted due to the influence of a Greek Orthodox Parish near my Church. In my parish the Pastor is not Greek, the Cantor is not Greek and most of the Parish Council and all the latest Converts are not Greek. The youth come to Church on holidays and special vacation. What is most of the time

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