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Published by
OrthodoxyToday.org,
July 28, 2005
Breaking News: Orthodox Leave NCC |
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Antiochian
Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Dearborn, Michigan. July 28, 2005.
This afternoon the General
Convention of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese of North America voted
overwhelmingly to leave the National Council of
Churches of Christ. The General Convention is
holding its annual meeting this week in
Dearborn, Michigan.
The action was not a
temporary "suspension" of membership, but a
formal withdrawal from the NCC. The clergy
unanimously approved the withdrawal, followed by
a unanimous vote of the lay delegates supporting
the move. An announcement of the final vote was
met with thunderous applause by the Convention.
Reasons given for the
withdrawal include the general liberalism of the
NCC, whose General Secretary, Bob Edgar,
withdrew his signature from a statement defining
marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Metropolitan PHILIP, head of
the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, was
reportedly outspoken in calling for the church
to withdraw from the NCC, stating that the
relationship had proven fruitless.
The National Council of the
Churches of Christ has listed on its website "36
member communions and denominations." It now has
35.
Note: An
interview about this vote and its consequences
with the Very Rev. Olof Scott, the newly-elected
chairman of the Department of Interfaith
Relationships, is scheduled to air on Ancient
Faith Radio this coming Sunday, July 31, 2005,
at 5 PM EDT.
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