The Mission of the Church in the Contemporary World in Light of the Decisions of the Holy and Great Council

This article discusses the place of mission in the Orthodox Church. The document “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World,” which was approved by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church held in Crete in 2016, is still in the process of reception, as are the other documents, but it constitutes, without doubt, a new era in Orthodox missiology – as indeed the Great and Holy Council in Crete represents a new era in Orthodoxy. The interrelatedness of unity and mission is not a question of methodology or strategy. It is an ontological one: it is related to the very essence of koinonia as fellowship in the triune God, and to the specific aspect of κοινονια as participation in God's economy in and for the world. Mission is commitment to the work of the triune God incarnated in Jesus Christ. Both are God’s gift and command. It is only in unity with the Holy Trinity that the church is able to fulfil its vocation.     

The Preparation and Organization of the Holy and Great Council

This paper, given at the 8th International Conference of Orthodox Theology, held in Thessaloniki, 21–25 May 2018, on the theme “The Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church: Orthodox Theology in the 21st Century,” reviews the preparation, organization, and convocation of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in 2016 and makes suggestions for the next pan-Orthodox synodal expression of the church.     

The Orthodox Diaspora

This paper discusses the decisions of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in June 2016 that offered the Orthodox diaspora throughout the world the opportunity on many levels to act and develop activities to promote Orthodox witness, faith, and life. The issue of diaspora is very important for the church on account of the dynamic presence of the Orthodox faith and witness within large heterodox, non-Christian, and diversified multicultural populations. The diaspora, after the Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church, has in front of it an open door that no one can shut. Hence the diaspora is always in a movement of outreach for the sowing of the seed of truth to those who are far away and to those who are near: always with the mighty assistance of the merciful and philanthropic God.     

The Documents of the Council of Crete

This document is the translation of a report given on 29 November 2017 by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk to the Bishops’ Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. It presents the results of the study by the Synodal Biblical-Theological Commission of the Russian Orthodox Church of the documents adopted by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church at its meeting in Crete from 19 to 26 June 2016. This report is followed by the decisions of the Bishops’ Council concerning the Council of Crete.     

Orthodoxy in Unity and in Conciliarity

This article considers how the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church faced challenges such as how the gospel relates to a pluralistic society; the Christian message in a society marked by religious pluralism, ethnic diversity, and cultural relativism; whether Christians encountering today's pluralist society should concentrate on evangelism or on dialogue; and on how conciliarity relates to the unity of the church. The article examines how the council attempted to respond to, or at least reflect on, these challenges in relation to the theological dialogue of the Orthodox Church with the other Christian churches and confessions. The bilateral theological dialogues have also increasingly led to bearing Christian witness, and an atmosphere of mutual appreciation, friendship, and fellowship has already become at least a reality. But has this development also led to a deeper mutual theological understanding? Have the profound differences between the Orthodox churches and the other churches in bilateral dialogues been clarified theologically?     

Ecclesiastical nationalism and primacy in world Orthodoxy: the case of the Serbian Church at the pan-Orthodox Council in Crete

ABSTRACT

The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church (2016) was supposed to be, above all, a demonstration of Orthodox unity. However, four autocephalous Orthodox churches were absent and others were split internally over their stances towards the Council. Ethnophyletism (ecclesiastical nationalism) and disagreements between the Orthodox churches over universal primacy have often been emphasised as the factors which eventually prevented the display of full pan-Orthodox conciliarity. By analysing official documents of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) and the statements of Serbian hierarchs, I assess the role of ethnophyletism and primacy in the SOC’s positioning regarding the Council. I conclude that ethnophyletism and a lack of consensus over primacy were overshadowed by the cleavage between progressive and conservative tendencies within the SOC as well as beyond autocephalous frontiers. The study may thus contribute to a better understanding of the current challenges to pan-Orthodox conciliarity in general.     

Pondering “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World”: A Protestant Missiological Reflection

The article explores “The Mission of the Orthodox Church in Today's World” (MOCT), one of the six official documents issued by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church that took place on the island of Crete in 2016. It is the first official Orthodox statement on mission ever published. The aim of the present article is to offer a reflection of MOCT from a Protestant missiological perspective. The article argues that MOCT interprets mission as the service of the church to the world, motivated by love. It goes on to discuss six major thematic areas of the statement, namely, the dignity of the human person; freedom and responsibility; peace and justice; peace and the aversion of war; the attitude of the church toward discrimination; and the mission of the Orthodox Church as a witness of love through service. The article seeks to provide a constructive critique of MOCT, assessing both its weaknesses and its assets. It concludes by saying that despite certain theological question marks, the new Orthodox mission document represents an invaluable contribution to the ecumenical discussion on mission and evangelism.     

The Revival of Orthodox Mission in New Borders and the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

One of the critical issues emphasized at the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in 2016 was that of the witness of Orthodoxy in the modern world, as expressed in the Message and Encyclical of the council, and in the council document on the Mission of the Orthodox Church. This paper traces the revival of foreign mission and witness within the Orthodox Church since the late 1950s and how it came to fruition at the council in Crete.     

The Council of Crete

This article offers a critical assessment of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church that took place in Crete in 2016. It argues that the situation facing the Orthodox churches after the Council of Crete is far more important than everything that directly preceded it, and that the Orthodox are only at the beginning as far as the important questions and challenges of the world today are concerned.     

The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church and Interreligious Dialogue

This article examines how, through a pan-Orthodox synodical decision, the Orthodox Church has for the first time officially asserted its obligation to enter into dialogue with people of other cultures and religious beliefs and emphasized the value of serious and clear interreligious dialogue to promote mutual trust, peace, and reconciliation. The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church of Crete clarified that interreligious dialogue excludes both syncretism and proselytism, and that interreligious dialogue needs to be accompanied by the condemnation of fundamentalism, nationalism, and the religious justification of violence. Finally, this article makes reference to the basic principles of the Orthodox tradition regarding the promotion of interreligious dialogue and emphasizes that dialogue entails respect for other religions but also discernment.     

The Ecumenical Significance of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church

From 20 to 26 June 2016, following a century of preparatory work, the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church met on the island of Crete. Among the various documents agreed by the council, the most controversial before, during, and after the council was the one on “The Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World.” This article sets out the importance of this statement, and considers and responds to the various criticisms of it that have emerged among certain Orthodox groups and individuals. The article concludes that despite such objections, the statement has a crucial ecumenical significance, and that, for the first time in its history, the Orthodox Church has taken a conciliar decision with regard to participation in the ecumenical movement and engagement in theological dialogue with other Christian churches and confessions.     

“Who Can Proclaim the Mighty Acts of the Lord?”

The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church that met in Crete in 2016 reaffirmed that mission and evangelism is a duty for Orthodox faithful, especially in Europe, which is often seen as a terrain for evangelization by movements coming from the global South. This requires caution, planning, accountability, and especially deep faith, against the background of complacency observed among members of the Orthodox Church that creates a noticeable missionary vacuum. The article underlines the necessity to begin with honest self-criticism by pastors and teachers, clergy and laypeople and to follow this with serious pastoral planning in relation to the modern social and cultural environment and the needs of the people.     

Orthodoxy and Science

The Orthodox Church is uneasy about contemporary science. What causes its uneasiness is not exclusively its slow reception of modern culture. An important cause is the fact that contemporary research sidelines ethical and spiritual criteria. The practical application of scientific discoveries in the area of biotechnologies provides abundant evidence for this. That said, progress is being made in regard to the Orthodox appraisal of modern culture and contemporary science and toward self-assessment against current cultural trends. This progress cannot make an impact, however, without an authenticating framework. Fortunately, three documents of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church provide an implicit framework for addressing matters such as the Orthodox attitude toward science, especially biology and its related branches, in light of theological anthropology and traditional ethical and spiritual criteria. A shared particularity of these documents is that they consider modern culture and scientific research in a missional perspective.     

The Documents of the Holy and Great Council on Marriage and Fasting

This article offers a critical response to the documents on marriage and on fasting of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, which took place in Crete in 2016. It suggests greater attention be given to the concept of oikonomia in contemporary Orthodoxy, both in the context of the issues raised in these two documents and with respect to other contentious issues. In contemporary Orthodoxy, the exercise of oikonomia is understood in different ways. One approach is the legalistic understanding of the term that is employed in the council documents; the second and more traditional approach is to understand oikonomia as discernment of what is true and authentic, even outside the canonical limits of Orthodoxy. The article asks whether such a perspective could characterize the church’s approach to other complex pastoral issues, such as those related to marriage and fasting.     

Mission and Reconciliation in the Orthodox Church

This article examines the Orthodox view on reconciliation as reflected in the famous patriarchal and synodical encyclicals early in the last century and in more recent official documents: the Messages of the Primates of the Orthodox Churches, the approved documents of the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church, and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s official statements. These are looked at in reference to (i) the mission statement of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, Together towards Life, and (ii) the papal encyclicals Unitatis redintegratio and Ut unum sint. The article further examines the need for a common Christian witness and the reactions within the Orthodox world from a tiny but vocal anti-ecumenical minority. It underlines the importance of a Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities along with the existing Universal Declaration of Human Rights to address the ecological problem and inequities of the current world economic system, based on the interrelatedness of economy and ecology and the consolidation of the interfaith dialogue for a wider reconciliation. The article also underlines the highest priority of the theological dialogues at all levels and by all bodies of the Orthodox ecclesial reality as a necessary step to promote reconciliation. Finally, the article assesses (i) the dialogue aiming to achieve the visible unity of the church; (ii) dialogues generally focusing on Christian unity, or even unity with other faithful; (iii) dialogues aiming as much as possible at common Christian witness; and (iv) dialogues focusing on the church’s responsibility toward society and the integrity of creation.     

Reading the Document on Mission of the Holy and Great Council from a Missiological Point of View

Promulgation of the document on mission by the Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church in Crete in June 2016 ensures an enduring place for mission in the future shape of Orthodoxy. After discussion of the methodological limitations of the document, this article explores the process by which it was prepared, the range of reactions to it, some problems of language, and changes in the final, approved version, offering some assessments of its meaning and import.     

Growth in Criticism?

Reports of global ecumenical conversations are regularly published by the World Council of Churches in a collection of volumes titled Growth in Agreement. The assumption is that the dialogues are not just repeating the same arguments they made half a century ago, but that relations between member churches have grown qualitatively as a result of this process. This paper asks whether Orthodox critique of Roman Catholic ecclesiology reflects signs of growth or continues “traditional” stereotypical thinking about other churches and religions. The paper first examines Orthodox reactions to Lumen Gentium during and immediately after the Second Vatican Council, then compares them with Orthodox reactions to the council’s 50th anniversary. The paper concludes by asking whether Pope Francis’ endeavour to reform the Catholic Church in the direction of greater synodality is partly the result of the expectations of our sister churches’ representatives over the past 50 years.     

Does the Long‐Contested Question of Orthodox Ecumenism Remain Open after Crete?

The article explores whether the Orthodox Council of Crete (2016) resolved longstanding tensions within Orthodoxy over ecumenism. The article first attempts to pinpoint the substance of the disagreement. The anti‐ecumenist position, the article claims, rests on a dogmatic belief that a communion formally separated from the Orthodox Church can only continue to lose grace and the ecclesial gifts of the Spirit, while ecumenists hold that another communion might recover or increase in such gifts even prior to formal reunification with Orthodoxy. The article then explores the much‐disputed use of the word ‘church’ for other Christian communions in the document ‘Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World’. If it is true, as many on both sides of the controversy have suggested, that the Council formally affirmed the pro‐ecumenist position, does this make anti‐ecumenism a no longer viable Orthodox stance? This depends on the Council’s status, a further contested matter on which the article concludes with some tentative reflections.     

The Moscow Council of 1917–1918

Following a period of decline beginning in the early eighteenth century, the Orthodox Church in Russia held a general council in Moscow from August 1917 to September 1918. More than 500 clergy and laity met, prayed and discussed numerous issues relating to the church’s life and witness. The Moscow Council was prompted by various trends of renewal which were growing ever stronger among the clergy and laity. Political circumstances at the time also made the Council possible: a preparatory preconciliar process was initiated in 1905, in parallel with the first revolution against Emperor Nicholas II, and the Council itself was convened in 1917, in parallel with the establishment of a Provisional Government. However, it was precisely such political events which led to the premature interruption of the Council. The main items on the Council’s agenda were linked to the reformation of church structures and the implementation of conciliar provisions at every level of church life: parish, deanery, diocese and autocephalous church. Special attention was given to the renewal of the pastoral ministries of priests and bishops, and to that of committed laity. In a way, the Moscow Council was a kind of ‘first encounter’ of Orthodoxy with contemporary societies, secularised or on the road to secularisation. Its legacy is therefore of great interest to all Christianity today. This article aims to analyse the Council and the main decisions made, in the light of ecclesiology, and to provide a primary bibliography at the end of the text.     

The Orthodox Church in the Contemporary Ecumenical Dialogue

Since its beginnings, the ecumenical movement has been influenced by the Orthodox Church, as seen, for example, in the 1920 Encyclical of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Two convictions have underpinned the ecumenical commitment of the Orthodox Church: the need for better mutual understanding between churches and the desire of the Orthodox Church to witness to the truth in its ecumenical relations. There have been instances where the Orthodox Church has not been able to assert its views, and indeed its dialogue partners have come to decisions contrary to the principles of the Orthodox Church. However, this article will focus on the extent to which the Orthodox Church has been able to present its message and effectively influence developments, something that can be observed mainly in two areas: (i) the early church creedal tradition, specifically the Nicene Creed, and (ii) the liturgical heritage, particularly the relationship between baptism and chrismation.