is the blog of an Orthodox Christian and is published under the spiritual patronage of St. John of San Francisco. Topics likely to be discussed include matters relating to Orthodoxy as well as other religious confessions, politics, economics, social issues, current events or anything else which interests me. © 2006-2024
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
The American Orthodox Census
Josephus has the scoop. This represents the first attempt at a serious census of the numbers and demographics of Orthodoxy in America. Bottom line the entirety of the Orthodox faithful is a bit less than half that of the Episcopal Organization. The Greek Archdiocese is by far the largest in terms of numbers with the OCA in second, although the OCA has a significantly higher percentage of regular attendees as a percentage of their total membership. On a side note these numbers also include the non-Chalcedonian Churches and two schismatic Orthodox groups.
2% of Alaskans are Orthodox. That's what stuck with me.
ReplyDeleteAlaska is a holy place.
ReplyDeleteI lived in AK, I love AK but it is not Holy, incest and alcoholism plague the Bush, the city (Anchorage) has high crime, problems with alcoholism, prostitution, drug use amongst the youth. What I think makes AK holy is those areas lacking human population.
ReplyDeleteI think I upset someone by referring to the Antiochian Archdiocese as the nutty convert jurisdiction.
ReplyDeleteDavid, does the relationship of holiness to uninhabited natural areas stem from a belief in a naturalistic religion?
ReplyDeleteIn the Orthodox world, holiness stems from a particular kind of human habitation, the habitation of saints. The presence of sanctity is the criterion. The co-existence of sanctity with sinfulness is a common Christian theme, and the latter tends to appear rather small in stature relative to the former.
Spending time amongst the Alaskan Orthodox tends to fill one with the impression that Alaska is a very special place.