Last modified on January 1, 2026, at 21:29

Orthodox Church in America

Russian Orthodox Church.jpg

The Mission of The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) [1], the local autocephalous Orthodox Christian Church, is to be faithful in fulfilling the commandment of Christ to “Go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” The Orthodox Churches have always been pro-life and its leadership is mostly conservative. Most services are in the USA are in English. The church has 12 dioceses or archdioceses in the USA, 1 in Canada and 1 in Mexico[2]. The Orthodox Church in America uses the Gregorian calendar the standard calendar in the USA[3].

Teachings

Grace-and-salvation: There is no “required amount” of works that are necessary for salvation. What is crucial is that, if we indeed have faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Living God, Who came into the world to save sinners, that we manifest or reveal our faith in how we live and how we treat others. Read Matthew 25:31-46, in which we find the parable of the sheep and goats. In this parable, Christ reveals that which He will ask of us when He judges us, as well as that which He xpects from those who call themselves by His name. He asks if we have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, given drink to the thirsty, ministered to the sick and imprisoned—and, of utmost importance, whether we have discerned His very image in those around us, especially the “least of the brethren.” If we fail to put our faith into action through such works of mercy, our faith is purely intellectual, “lip service,” so to speak. Simply stated, if we accept Christ as the Son of the Living God and the Savior of the world, yet we fail to bring His love to others around us, then we are liars. Hence, faith without such good works is dead, and it is precisely on our willingness to put our faith into action that our eternal salvation hinges, as Christ reveals in Matthew 25[4].

The Sacraments

Worship

History

  • Orthodox bishops trace the roots back to Christ and the Apostles As part of the Eastern Orthodox churches they believe that theirs is the oldest Christian denomination in the world a title also claimed by the Roman Catholic Church, (Indian) Malankara Orthodox Church ,Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the Coptic Church
  • The Eastern Orthodox churches broke with the Roman Catholic Church following the Great Schism of 1054. Before 1054 both churches were known as the Catholic Christian Church.The Eastern Orthodox churches are self-governing but they are still united under the Patriarch of Constantinople as the first among equals as the Ecumenical Patriarch; he also heads the Greek Orthodox church. Some the churches have their own Patriarch others are Autocephalous under the leadership of a Metropolitan.
  • There are some Orthodox churches that are NOT part of the Eastern Orthodox churches examples include (Indian) Malankara Orthodox Church ,Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the Coptic Church.
  • After the Russian Communist Revolution, then Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow directed all Russian Orthodox churches outside of Russia to govern themselves autonomously. In 1924 the Autocephalous Orthodox Church in America was created under the under the leadership of Metropolitan of New York.[5]
  • In 2020, the landmark decision was made to go ahead with the relocation of the Primate and Chancery offices to the canonical territory of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC[6].

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ https://www.oca.org/
  2. ↑ https://www.oca.org/dioceses
  3. ↑ https://www.jesus-everyday.com/which-orthodox-churches-use-gregorian-calendar/
  4. ↑ https://www.oca.org/questions/teaching/grace-and-salvation
  5. ↑ https://www.oca.org/history-archives |
  6. ↑ https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/bishops/the-most-blessed-tikhon