SCOBA Bishops 1994 

This month marks the tenth anniversary of the historic meeting of Orthodox hierarchs in Ligonier, PA. During this meeting, the members of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in America changed the course of history for Orthodoxy in America by articulating their commitment to cooperation, mission and an acceptable canonical structure. This meeting produced papers and statements that are certainly worthy of our attention and review today. In this issue of The WORD, we present the original documents, as well as some brief reflections from our Church leaders ten years after the meeting. . . .

Statements from bishops on Diaspora

I think of Ligonier as a moment in the history of Orthodoxy in North America when a love for the missionary mandate of the Gospel transcended ethnic and cultural barriers and concerns. Ligonier provided a venue where Orthodox bishops offered words and visions of ecclesial unity. Ten years ago, the prophetic spirit of Ligonier stood opposed to jurisdictional pluralism even when other hierarchs, here and abroad, sought to justify the  uncanonical  status quo. Ten years ago, the bishops of Ligonier expressed a oneness of mind which exposed the false- hood that jurisdictional pluralism does not impede Eucharistic unity when, in fact, the presence of two or more bishops in one city undermines the very reality of ecclesial and, therefore, Eucharistic unity.

Over the last ten years, the national and international stages have drastically changed. People across North America and the world are divided by religion, race, politics and economics. A divided world needs the unifying voice of Christ. But the voice of Christ, if it is to properly convey its healing power, demands the unity of His Church here and across the globe. The work begun ten years ago must continue and be brought to fruition. As long as there are those who hear and do the word of the Lord in North America, the message of Ligonier will not be silenced.

Metropolitan Herman
Primate, Orthodox Church in America

November 30 to December 2, 1994 was the brightest   moment   in   the   history   of Orthodoxy in North America. For the first time, twenty-nine Orthodox bishops from the United States and Canada gathered at the Antiochian Village to pray together, discuss Orthodox problems together and formulate a common vision for the future. This brotherly and well-meaning meeting caused an unexpected earthquake in some of the ancient  Orthodox  Patriarchates.  Let  us hope that the spirit of Ligonier will be born again and our dream for a united Orthodoxy in America will never fade away.

Metropolitan Philip, Primate
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

America needs Orthodoxy, without Orthodoxy becoming Americanized. Orthodoxy must continue to develop in spirituality and maturity, growing gradually and appropriately toward a developed polity. I am  concerned  that  aggressive  attempts toward  premature  separation  from  the mother churches of the old lands will result in  disarray  and  schism.  Instead,  we  are called by the Lord to continue in humble growth and obedience to our organic link with the Patriarchates. We hope and pray for the direction of the Holy Spirit in the future life of our church.

Metropolitan Nicholas of Amissos, Ruling Hierarch of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople

What we — the canonical Orthodox bishops — had done 10 years ago was good. But there are no results so far. It is only a good desire. That means — such is God’s will. Without Him we can do nothing.

Therefore, I beseeched the Lord to teach me His statutes. After my prayer as usual I opened my Bible with closed eyes and put my finger on the right place. For the first time I opened Revelation 1:3 — “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” I asked the Lord: “O Lord! What about until then?” And again I opened the Bible, that time on 1 Timothy 1:15 — “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” And for the third time I tempted the Lord, saying: “O Lord! I am not an Abraham nor a Jew, I’m a sinner, but involve me to understand Your Will.” And then I opened the Book of Sirah — Joshua — 24:29-30, where I read in the new American Translation: “Said to myself, I will water my plants, my flower bed I will drench; and suddenly this rivulet of mine became a river, then this stream of mine, a sea. Thus do I send my teaching forth shining like a dawn, to become known afar off. Thus do I pour out instruction like prophecy and bestow it on generations to come.”

And now it is clear for me, that this prophecy should be fulfilled, but not during my life. I think that all of us, Orthodox bishops, who were born and came to America from the old countries, like me, and now control the jurisdictional eparchies, must die. The Holy Orthodox Church needs new generations of Americans to come after us, who shall fulfill the Lord’s instructions  and  prophecy.  Because  now,  as  Fr.  Vladimir  Berzonsky writes: “Spiritually we are still drinking mother’s milk, not yet ready for loftier and deeper experiences of the life reaching out to us from Christ and present through the Holy Spirit within our hearts.”

Metropolitan Joseph
Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada and Australia

Statements from the bishops

The meeting in Ligonier of Orthodox hierarchs in North America in November, 1994 was extremely encouraging and positive in its decision-making. It concluded that there was need for canonical unity in America among the Orthodox jurisdictions. The gathering offered great hope for the unity of Orthodoxy in America. My vision for the future remains the same  — One United Canonical Church in the Americas.

Archbishop Kyrill of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania, Orthodox Church in America

Congratulations on the November, 2004 The WORD issue, commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Ligonier meeting of our Orthodox North American Bishops. Unfortunately, things have not drastically changed since that time. We still hope and pray for complete and visible unity in the Orthodox Diaspora of North America. Let us hope that, as promised to us in Washington, D.C.,  fourteen  years  ago,  the  ranking Orthodox  jurisdiction,  the  Ecumenical Patriarchate, will assume a leadership role in order for this to happen, hopefully during our lifetime.

Metropolitan Maximos
Metropolis of Pittsburgh
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

The   Ligonier   meeting   of   the Orthodox  bishops  in  North  America was  a  milestone  in  the  history  of Orthodoxy in America. The vision of Orthodoxy that was seen at that meeting is still relevant today, but has yet to be  realized.  Orthodox  jurisdictional unity in North America must be our continued vision; any deviation from this is a contradiction to the order and canons of the Orthodox Church. Let us fervently pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us in making this vision a reality.

Archbishop Peter, Archbishop of New York and New Jersey
Orthodox Church in America

The Conference at Ligonier was an exciting moment for many of us who were priests serving the faithful at that time. All who read of the meeting and of its call to unity were inspired with high hopes.

Ten  years  later,  we  still  note  that there is no place in Holy Orthodoxy for the present case of multi-jurisdictional- ism in North America and across the globe,   as   this   only   impedes   the Church’s evangelizing efforts. This was reflected in the Mission and Evangelism Statement   issued at Ligonier:  “We  commit  ourselves  to avoiding the creation of parallel and competitive  Orthodox  parishes,  missions, and mission programs … and to move forward towards a concerted, formal, and united  mission  program in order to make a real impact on North America through Orthodox mission and evangelism.”

Our prayer and efforts should be for one  Holy  Orthodox  Church  in  North America, a goal that can only be accomplished in the spirit of cooperation and not division.

Bishop Nikolai Bishop of Sitka, Anchorage and Alaska
Orthodox Church in America

Orthodox  Christians  working  out their  salvation  in  Canada  and  the United States of America must separately be united into two local Autocephalous Churches, each pastored by hierarchs synergetically working in two unique Holy Synods, each one headed by its own Patriarch. The long-term goal of one hierarch shepherding one metropolis will, in time, manifest itself through the will of the Holy Spirit inspiring the entire Church. Inasmuch as each “jurisdiction” serves both an ethnic and indigenous flock, it should continue its ministry uninterrupted. Present imperfect “Eucharistic unity”  will  be  perfected  because  of administrative unity.  Temporarily, administrative unity means each jurisdiction will keep its own administrative structures which, nonetheless, are brought into a national unity through representation by each hierarch in his national, Canadian or American, Holy Synod.  Each  Autocephalous Church must create a single Constitution and By-laws/Statutes to best serve the needs of the native-born and the immigrant. The unity of the hierarchs, in Synodia, would manifest itself in unity of purpose of internal and external evangelization as outlined ten years ago in the two documents born of the Ligonier meeting. This to be achieved through  the  movement of the Holy Spirit empowering these Orthodox Christians through fasting, prayer and almsgiving to act creatively.

Nathaniel, Archbishop of Detroit, Orthodox Church in America
Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America

The time has come for Orthodoxy in America to move beyond simple affirmation of historical, canonical order. It is time to encourage and develop cooperation among churches, which will prove to be a genuine blueprint for greater unity on all fronts. Specific principles need to be articulated and accepted by all jurisdictions in a common commitment  to  work  in  consort.  Programs  of  pan-Orthodox endeavor, at the grass roots, should be initiated and supported so that the faithful experience a oneness in purpose and action. Everything is achievable through mutual respect and sensitivity flowing from faith and love in Christ.

Bishop Ilia of Philomelion
Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America

I honestly thought after Ligonier that we were beginning a new era of cooperation and Orthodox unity on this continent. For the first time since the early years of our presence in the Americas, it seemed there was a common vision, or at least a common goal of working together, not just for the sake of working together, but toward a canonically proper end of a unified Church. For me, the chance to sit down with brother bishops, many of whom I had never met, was a great and awesome experience. What made this experience great and awesome, besides just getting  together,  was  that  there  was  a  purpose. Oftentimes we had gotten together in the past, but just for social purposes or anniversaries, celebrations, etc. This  time  it  was  for  the  good  of  the  Church. Unfortunately,  what  happened  in  the  aftermath  of Ligonier left us further apart and more disunited that we were in the years that led up to that historic gathering.

Bishop Antoun
Bishop of Miami and the Southeast
 Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

In 1994 I was a relatively new and young bishop when the now famous Conference of Bishops was convened at the Antiochian Village, and so together with another young bishop, His Grace Seraphim of Ottawa and Canada, I was appointed to the Conference’s secretariat. Ligonier

’94 was without doubt one of the brightest moments — if not THE brightest moment  — in the history of Holy Orthodoxy in the New World. Dozens of bishops met and prayed and deliberated on that Pennsylvania mountain-top, while hundreds of thousands of our young people across the continent prayed and fasted that we might accomplish a good for Holy Orthodoxy. And, by God’s grace, a great good was indeed accomplished! The common hope and vision expressed by my brother bishops during those several days and reflected in the two historic documents produced by the Conference caused a refreshing and invigorating breeze to blow across this continent, opening the doors of our Orthodox congregations with hope and joyful anticipation. But sadly and all too quickly, dark storm clouds blew in from the East, causing those doors to be slammed shut once more. Some of those doors were and remained locked to this very day, while others stand ajar, awaiting another refreshing and invigorating breeze to open them once again. May that breeze come quickly!

Bishop Basil
Bishop of Wichita and Mid-America
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America