Great is the Harvest!

“Then saith He unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He wills end forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matt. 9:37-38)

The Orthodox Church is the One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, founded by Jesus Christ. It is the Ark of Salvation, and, as St. Cyprian of Carthage states, “There is no Salvation outside the Church.” Thus, the Orthodox Church seeks to convert the descendants of her departed children. In North America, South America and Great Britain this work is carried on, though, slowly due to the lack of resources and the low spiritual climate. Yet, the opportunities for salvation are abundant if one is willing to make the sacrifice. The Autonomous Orthodox Metropolia of North and South America and the British Isles, is a True Orthodox Synod (i.e., Old Calendarist Orthodox Church), that seeks to convert as many persons to the true Orthodox Christian faith as possible.

Many Americans have Western European ancestory, meaning that they all have Orthodox ancestors, since they were all Orthodox prior to the Great Schism of the 11th century.  For the Slavic peopls they have historically been Orthodox, and for the Middle Eastern, they have also been Orthodox. At one time Northwest Africa was Orthodox. The Spanish culture that expanded into Latin America was once an Orthodox culture. Even the heretical Nestorian, Monophysites, Uniate, and World Orthodox patriarchates were at one time Orthodox in their recent or distant ancestory.

One of the means of restoring people to their God-given original birthright is by returning to the historically ancient Orthodox Western ‘rite’. This is the Liturgy, Ritual, and Divine Office as used by the Orthodox Christians of the West, around the time of the Great Schism. This in no way precludes one from using the Eastern Orthodox usage, which is the majority usage of Orthodox Christians.

In fact, many of the common uses among Western Christians of the present day hearken back to a time when the West was Orthodox Catholic.

Of course, if people wish to embrace the fullness of their Western Orthodox heritage, then it follows that today they must return to that ancient Usage which existed at the time of the Schism as so many of their forefathers followed, and they must accept the decisions of the Ecumenical Synods and those Synod and canons accepted by the Orthodox Church. To be truly Orthodox, one must also understand that this is not only a positive acceptance of the true Religion of the Apostles, and the Teaching of Jesus Christ, as those are explicated by the Holy Fathers and Saints, but, that this also involves the negative rejection of the modern heresies of ecumenism and modernism (as exemplified in the so-called ‘Orthodox’ Patriarchates, such as Moscow, Antioch, and Constantinople, and those in union with them).

We invite all of those who wish to return to that Apostolic Faith, the one established by Jesus Christ and confirmed in the heritage of so many of us in these lands, the opportunity to join us in our struggle for salvation.

We are planning a Question and Answer section to this site. If anyone has any questions about matters pertaining to Orthodoxy, anti-ecumenism, history, or the different liturgical rites and usages of the Church, or any other related question please reach out to the Diocesan offices through the contact page.