In a previous post called a "Crisis of Faith" I discussed how our small Greek Orthodox community in rural Maine is grappling with the issue of financing the iconography project for our newly built Church. Last Sunday, our Church was literally packed to the gills. It was the day that we voted as a community to decide whether we would risk borrowing money to help fund the effort to complete the interior of our Church with iconography. I went to Church that Sunday with a good deal of trepidation about what would happen. The issue has been controversial and even divisive. Just like any Greek Orthodox community, although our family has welcomed and taken in Orthodox Christians of every ethnicity, we are sometimes capable of rancor, stubborness and infighting that is frankly reminiscent of some of the less savory aspects of Greek history. Occasionally, some members of Greek Orthodox communities here in the United States look upon their local church as their private property, more a social center, where they can pick and choose what Orthodoxy has to offer in the manner of a buffet. Wrong. In his landmark book, "The Faith," Clark Carlton writes: "Orthodox Christianity is not a private religion. It is a life that can be lived only in Communion, for it is nothing less than an earthly participation of the communal life of the Holy Trinity. The Church is not something extra added onto our personal faith. She is the foundation of our faith, our only true spiritual home."
Controversy is no stranger to the Greek Orthodox communities throughout the world as well as in Greece. A thorough discussion of the subject will require a future post, suffice it to say that sometimes individual agendas, arrogance and politics detract from our ability to move
forward. Expecting the worst I was instead confronted with an example of Athenian participative democracy that made me proud. The Greek word for Church is "Eklisia," it means assembly. In ancient times, the Eklisia or Assembly was synonymous with democracy. It was the gathering place where citizens of the polis gathered to listen, discuss and vote. I felt like I was sitting in the Agora listening to reasoned arguments for and against the issue being debated. Parishioners of all ages rose and spoke eloquently, without interruption, without the raising of voices or making ad hominem attacks on others. When everyone had said their piece, we sat patiently waiting our turn to cast a secret ballot deciding the issue.
When it was all over the votes were counted and two thirds of our community voted to complete our Church and borrow as needed. God willing, the money continues to pour in. On the day of the vote a $25000 anonymous donation was announced. Five years ago, we went through another crisis of faith. Many hesitated when faced with the daunting task of building a new Church. Today we are worshiping in two million dollar Church with an adjoining Church Hall with a mortgage that will be paid of in another five or six years. We have accomplished so much and will continue to do so, so long as we believe in an Almighty God and in ourselves.
More importantly, we embark on the final phase of completing our spiritual home. None of us would think twice about spending and borrowing to fulfill our worldly needs. Greek immigrants have always been risk takers. Their parents and grandparents built churches wherever they settled in order to pass on the most important aspect of their Greek heritage, their Orthodox faith. They scrimped and saved their hard earned pennies during the hard times, working in the mills, restaurants, and mines to build the Churches where their children and grandchildren could have a spiritual home. Should we ask anything less of ourselves? Being an Orthodox Christian is the greatest privilege in the world but along with great privilege comes great responsibility: "for unto whom much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48). Building a Church and filling it with beautiful icons to preserve and confess our Orthodox Faith, is not enough. We are also called to live Orthodox lives. More on this later.
May our efforts be blessed.
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