Why
haven't I heard of the Orthodox Church before?
Beats
me! It's been going continuously for 2,000 years. North
America was discovered and colonized by nations that were
culturally Roman Catholic or Protestant, and Orthodoxy barely
registered on their cultural radar. John Wesley or Jonathan
Edwards probably had no idea that in their day the Aleuts,
Yup'iks, Tlingits, and other Native American people groups
were coming to Christ thanks to Orthodox missionaries.
Orthodoxy doesn't grab a lot of headlines or sound trumpets
for its social programs; instead it seeks to lead individuals
- each in his or her own circumstances - into communion with
God. That's the purpose for which the Church exists. Believe
it or not, there are over three million of us in North
America, and at least 150 million throughout the world - Some
estimates are as high as 300 million.
Christian
History magazine devoted an entire issue
to Orthodoxy recently.
