The Orthodox Churches in the UK

The Orthodox Churches in the UK have until recently functioned in relation to their parent churches, most having accompanied people as the immigrated to Britain.  This has meant there has been a number of Orthodox Churches in Britain, relating to Bishops overseas.

These churches are trying to bring practice into line with doctrine.  The Orthodox Church is one, yet they have parallel jurisdictions among their diaspora in the UK.  An important start is the United Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in Britain and Ireland, bringing all together, working towards being one jurisdiction, though this will take time. It will be better for the Orthodox and also better for their ecumenical relationships.

Recently, the Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies has developed an Orthodox 'Alpha' type course, The Way, launched in October 2010.  It uses the basic Alpha idea of meal, presentation, discussion.  More information can be found on their website.

THE WAY builds on the understanding of social dynamics and the importance of human relations in transmitting the faith as shown in courses such as Alpha. However, its understanding of key issues is Eastern Orthodox, its emphasis is sacramental, and it integrates teaching with worship.

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Alpha and Unity

The Methodist Recorder occasionally carries a supplement, ukfocus, from Holy Trinity Brompton, home of the Alpha Course.  Their August 2010 supplement, in the August 26 edition of the Methodist Recorder, carries the transcript of a talk given by the Vicar, Nicky Gumbel, Why does unity matter so much to Jesus?  It is based on John 17: 20-26.  The following is an extremely brief summary of his four points.

1. Unity comes from the Holy Spirit.  We're united by the fact that the Holy Spirit lives in us.
2. Unity is based on love.  "We've seen (love) between churches, with one church helping another, most particularly in the whole area of Global Alpha Training ...".  He tells the story of Training in Malaysia at the invitation of the Roman Catholic Bishop.
3. Unity should be visible.  There's nothing wrong with invisible unity but "Jesus didn't pray for 'invisible unity', he didn't pray that we might be 'almost united'."  Gumbel's examples of glimpses of visible unity are of large-scale meetings of Christians from a range of traditions.
4. Unity is linked to mission.  "Jesus prayed that we may be one 'so that the world will believe'.  And as we all know there's nothing more off-putting to the world than disunity."