Book Review: Orthodox Christians in America: A Short History
I picked up Orthodox Christians in America: A Short History a while ago and finally got a chance to finish it off last night. This is a very quick and fast read about the history of the Orthodox Church in America (only about 100 pages of narrative text). One of the unique things about Orthodoxy in America is that it’s still very tied to the “mother churches” in other parts of the world. Often times this has meant that American churches are caught up in the ethnic affairs of their homelands, even though they are thousands of miles away. This is the story that Erickson tells.
In this book John Erickson gives a very nice summary history of where all of these ethnic churches came from, how they integrated with America (or didn’t), and who all the major players of the day were. He doesn’t pull any punches about the long struggles that the American churches have faced as they’ve grown. He details how events in other countries (especially the rise of Communist Russia) played a direct influence in the lives of American Orthodox Christians. He also talks about how the disputes between other Orthodox churches, such as between Russia and Constantinople, has directly affected the founding of groups like the OCA (Orthodox Church in America).
However, Erickson doesn’t leave us with only tales of the frustrations, but spends a good deal of time talking about the progress towards more unity and autonomy in the new century. He cites the explosive growth of churches such as the Antiochian church here in America, and it’s willingness to welcome converts, as well as the historic meeting in Pennsylvania a few years ago that helped to give some hope to American Orthodox for eventual unity. I believe that Erickson feels there is much room for hope in the future of the Orthodox church in the “new world”.
