Orthodox Charismatics Hold Conference

Orthodox Charismatics Hold Conference

By Glenn Gilbert

(News Religion Editor)

A former Ann Arbor pastor led the fledgling charismatic movement within the Orthodox Church as it held its first national conference here and attracted almost 100 persons.

The Rev. Eusebius A. Stephanou, founder and editor of The Logos, (magazine), termed the conference “a start.”

“There is a tremendous victory in the fact that this conference took place at all,” Stephanou told a reporter. “There was much opposition primarily from the clergy, or at least a segment of it.”

Stephanou, of Fort Wayne Ind., was pastor of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 414 N. Main, in the early 1950s. He has vowed to make the charismatic conference an annual affair.

Charismatic (or Pentecostal) movements have sprung up in many denominations. Its adherents stress beliefs in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as outlined in I Corinthians 12.

These “charismatic” gifts are wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, power to work miracles and “To one man he gives the ability to speak in strange tongues, and to another he gives the ability to explain what is said” (I Corinthians 12:10 — Good News for Modern Man translation).

Stephanou says he believes the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church is taking a “wait-and-see’’ attitude toward the charismatic movement which is relatively new in the Orthodox church compared to the movement within the Roman Catholic church.

The conference was originally to be held at the St. Nicholas Church here, but the church board decided against allowing the group to use that facility, according to Stephanou.

Fr. Athenagoras Aneste, pastor of the Ann Arbor church, would not comment on the conference, which ended up being held at the downtown Ramada Inn.

The conference drew charismatic laymen in the Orthodox church from all parts of the nation, in addition to a handicapped English monk. About six Orthodox priests attended, and a couple of “classical Pentecostals,” but no representatives of any Orthodox bishops, according to Stephanou.

He also reported “a couple” of out-of-town Catholics in attendance.

Stephanou says he chose to hold the conference in Ann Arbor because it has been one of the centers of the national charismatic movement and has a strong Catholic charismatic community, the Word of God community. The Word of God hosted the conference.

Sessions were held on “The Orthodox Church and the Charismatic Renewal,” “The Holy Spirit and Orthodox Reawakening” and “Orthodoxy and the Fresh Outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”

Speakers included Fr. Gregory Rowley of Shacklesford, Va., James Cavner of the Word of God community and Demetrius Nicoloudakis of Trenton, N.J., a member of the staff of Logos.

Darryl Jones, 25, of Ft. Wayne, Ind., where he attends Indiana University and belongs to a charismatic, group told The News he had a “very favorable” reaction to the conference, even though he has been in the movement less than two months.

Paul Haita of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Phoenix, Ariz., reported Phoenix was “very strong” in the charismatic movement. He said he has been in the movement 4 1/2 years.

On the other hand, the movement is not so strong in New Jersey, according to Frank Nicoloudakis, 16, who has been in the movement 1 1/2 years. He belongs to St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Trenton, N.J.

Most of those present heard about the conference through The Logos, which Stephanou has published for the past six years. Stephanou is a once-outspoken member of the Orthodox faith, whose publication was once strongly critical of the established church but has become an instrument of the charismatic movement in the past 1 1/2 years.

The magazine is no longer critical, he said, and charismatics are not seeking to break away from the church. No plans for the future were made.

Stephanou was once suspended from the priesthood of the church for his criticisms. He has not held a pastorate for the past six years.

“I feel the movement will ultimately move ahead,” said Stephanou. “The theological suppositions and liturgical traditions of the Orthodox church are spirit-centered and facilitate a swift moving of the Holy Spirit.

“There really shouldn’t be need of a charismatic movement within the Orthodox church. . . There is lots of inertia and resistance to change.”

Stephanou explained there has been no explicit prohibition placed by Orthodox church leaders on the charismatic movement.

He says he asked for the blessings of bishops in North America prior to the conference in letters, but received no response. However, he sees the wall of opposition cracking, noting that he had an audience recently before some Orthodox priests in Boston.