Summer is the season for church conventions that talk about hot issues.<\/p>\n\n
Last week\u2019s 47th convention of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America passed a resolution that addressed both sexuality and the Iraqi war. But this time the lofty words led to an historic change.<\/p>\n\n
The assembly voted to oppose \u201cdivisive and dangerous\u201d positions taken by \u201cleft-wing\u201d and \u201cright-wing\u201d groups. To be specific, it rejected \u201csupport for same-sex marriage, support for abortion, support for ordination of women to Holy Orders, support for the concept of war that is \u2018pre-emptive\u2019 or \u2018justifiable\u2019 and the labeling of other faiths and their leaders with hateful terminology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The archdiocese \u2014 a blend of Arab-Americans and many converts \u2014 vowed to avoid groups that \u201cpromulgate these extreme positions\u201d and renewed its commitment to seek Orthodox unity in North America.<\/p>\n\n
Then the delegates cheered as Metropolitan Philip Saliba announced his decision to withdraw from the National Council of Churches USA.<\/p>\n\n
The archdiocese joined the old Federated Council of Churches in the 1940s and had been active in the ecumenical movement ever since, said Father Olof Scott, of the church\u2019s interfaith relations office. But recent decades have been tough.<\/p>\n\n
The Orthodox believe \u201cwe\u2019re getting further and further away from the primary goal of looking to bring Christianity back into a unified fold,\u201d he told AncientFaithRadio.com. Now, the \u201cchurches of the mainline Protestant world really don\u2019t want to hear our message. It is with that frustration that we felt that we can put our efforts to better use elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The national council has not responded to the departure of one of its 36 churches, said the Rev. Leslie Thune, its spokesperson in Washington. General Secretary Bob Edgar \u2014 a former Democratic congressman \u2014 is currently out of the office, but has promised to meet with Metropolitan Philip as soon as possible to discuss his concerns.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe did not even know that this was in the works,\u201d said Thune. <\/p>\n\n
However, she noted the council\u2019s oft-repeated stance that it does not take stands on divisive doctrinal issues, since many of its member churches have clashing beliefs on such matters.<\/p>\n\n
Nevertheless, Scott said the Antiochian archdiocese quit the council, in large part, because of what he called an \u201calmost a politicized agenda\u201d under Edgar \u2014 with a strong emphasis on sexual liberation and opposition to conservative Christianity.<\/p>\n\n
A turning point came in 2000 when Edgar removed his signature from \u201cA Christian Declaration on Marriage,\u201d a statement signed by representatives of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Southern Baptist Convention and the National Association of Evangelicals. The text defined marriage as between man and a woman.<\/p>\n\n
After speaking at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Breakfast during an NCC general assembly, Edgar issued an apology and affirmed his support for same-sex unions. He told Presbyterian News Service: \u201cI support marriage, and I support more than marriage the love between two people, and I don\u2019t differentiate whether it is between a man and a woman or a woman and a woman or a man and a man or whatever. We need fidelity and care in relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
There have been many signs of tension. Two years ago, the Russian Orthodox Church cut all ties with the U.S. Episcopal Church following the consecration of the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Russian Patriarch Alexy II recently said he was worried about the leadership role that churches offering a \u201cfree interpretation\u201d of sexual morality hold in the World Council of Churches.<\/p>\n\n