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This time it will be Catholic?

Bible-Belt Catholics [time.com]

So, if this article is true is the Ruthenian Rite missing out on this trend? The small churches we have in Florida are just that small and are not growing near as fast as the Latin Churches are growing. What gives?

I think that in order to be effective in these communitites sometime one must think outside of the box and go to people who we might thing that might be the least interested

Dear Ray,

I feel that the Christian atmosphere in the South, tends to permeate all denominations. I know that some in my family were quite surprised to find the Greek Orthodox there so devout. In parts of the country outside the Bible Belt, they tend to be only culturally Orthodox.

Zenovia

Absolutly! I am not sure if the college campus is one that would fit your theory.....but I recently graduated from the University of South Florida in Tampa (1.5yrs ago) and I would say that they are ripe for it! The campus (all universities) is a great place to evangelize. Honestly, there are SOOOOO many people that are searching for something "deeper" than can be found in most denominations.

The East is something that seems to attract this age demographic, be it Buddhist, Hindu or other typ religions, the East has a magnetic pull on these people. On the USF campus there were many religions represented at the "riligious row" of campus ministries (Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim....etc) but there was no real Orthodox presence. These are the ones that could really be reached!

I know that I for one would have visited the DL if there had been one....there are whole riligion (Christian, general, New Testament, Old Testament) classes that would take field trips there I am sure, not to mention the clubs!

Truly the Orthodox priest/monk would have been a welcome reprieve to the "hell and brimstone" type Christians that came to "evangelize" the campus by calling every girl with a short skirt a "whore" I wish I were joking about that, but I heard it with my own ears, it was NOT what Christ would have done.

Perhaps this would be the perfect demographic to evangelize to and grow the churches with? They will be getting married soon and having children, and what better place to raise them than in the east???

Something to think about!

In His Name,
Stephen

Christian Steve,
as someone who has spent the majority of his life in the Confederacy, let me say a hearty AMEN. you probably won't get much attention from the self satisfied self educated Yankees who frequent this forum, they are more into splitting hairs about who is Orthodox, stuff about polity, etc., but it's good to see a refreshing post that reflects my own psyche, easy as you please.
Anyways, here in the South, the foundation is evangelical Protestant. Catholics, Orthodox, and everyone else are late comers to the great majority of the Southland, thus it is a Hegelian situation of thesis (evangelical Protestantism), antithesis (Catholic, Orthodox, whatever)thus to synthesis (a new way of expressing Catholicity or Orthodoxy in the language forms of Evangelicalism).
I went to UT Chattanooga where there is a Newman Center, a tiny minority in a Protestant sea. Even Father Al used Evangelical terminology in his homilies at Mass.you just have to speak the language people speak everyday (St. Paul "all things to all people")
I am wondering if you might be exagerrating about the shirt skirted girls are whores bit. there are hyper fundies who go that route, but most fundamentalists I went to seminary with aren't like that, they just want to witness. however, there is a troupe that travels about the country and invades "secular" campuses and disses Catholics, gays, hippies, short skirts, etc.
Yeah, we need a better presence down here, and that's something we Eastern Catholics need to do GET OUT THERE AND SAVE SOME SOULS!
Much Love,
Jonn

John,

Thanks for the words of encouragement! How true is it that the Yankees among us cannot fully understand the "way of the south!" LOL, well, that may be an overstatement! :rolleyes:

You are right, most fundamentalist groups and preachers are not like this man. Most are good people that just want to "witness for the Lord."

I only wish that I were exagerating about the short skirt whore thing. Every year (around this time actually) there was the same preacher that would stop by the campus for about 2 weeks with his family in tow and have his posters and Bible in hand only to tell us all that we were going to Hell - and he knew none of us. Girls that he had never met he would accuse of being a whore (his words exactly) just for having a shorter skirt - and I have seen shorter before. Every year the Christians and non-Christians would ask him to stop accusing people that he did not know, to act more like Christ would. He would not listen. He would yeal at anyone that disagreed with his extremist views and condemn them to Hell, no matter how true of a Christian they were.

Honestly, I think that if Christ himself had come down and asked him to stop accusing people that he knew nothing of that preacher would have told our Lord that HE was going to hell for NOT condemning them! :rolleyes: After all, Christ did hang around Mary Magdalin!

Sad, but true. I honestly and saddly must say that these are not exagerations. These are the types of "Christians" that drive people away from Christ.

The campuses are waiting, hoping, praying to have a revival - they just do not know it yet!

In His Name,
Stephen

So true! But when those preachers drive people away, we in the Eastern Churches have to be waiting for them with open arms and a warm welcome.

yelling, huh? years ago at UTChattanooga, I had a Church of Christ pastor friend who talked about "the argument of the decibles". I asked him what that might have meant, he answered "the weaker the argument, the louder the voice". go figure, bro.
Much Love,
Jonn

Dear Friends,

Do any of you know of any campus ministries for Orthodox or EC's?

Paul

You know, I am happy with Blue State Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The South did many ugly things in the same of Christ (Slavery, Jim Crow laws, the KKK)and a lot of those Southern preachers think of those times as the good old days. If you listen to the Southern evangelists, there is a big dose of hate in their message. They have toned down their anti-Catholic messages but it is still deep down in their roots. There is a lot to say for the Blue State tolerant Catholic and Orthodox.

true to an extent, but not evcery one parades around here in a sheet and pillow case. what I find interesting is that many people who move down here from the East and Midwest are quite conservative, and many of the more liberal (small "l") types are native born.while it is true that the Klan and Jim Crow WERE part of the psyche of a small but vocal minority, the Blue states are not without problems with race. when I graduated from high school, I moved to New York where I have a number of relatives, and took a job in a title company. I remember seeing covenants for property owners that made the purchaser promise not to sell to any but White people. on a more personal note, I am part Native, and my Shinnecock tribe out on Long Island has been done dirty by politicos for many years. we want the Shinnecock Hills golf course back, it was stolen from us. the Shinnecock Nation lives in a less than desirable economic situation. there has been talk about casinos to do something to improve the situation. while gambling is not a good solution, Senator Schumer has done nothing but stymie efforts of the Nation to improve their lot, including getting federal recognition for the Nation, racism, I think so.when you talk about Blue states, I presume you mean Democrats. for the record, I voted for Kerry, more agianst Bush, than for Kerry. but a few years ago, we had a Native American caucus in Chattanooga, as part of a statewide caucus. during a break, I noticed a White woman there, strutting around, I kid you not. I introduced myself, and asked what was up. she was from the local Democratic party, just there at the caucus to make contacts for her party. I asked if she was of Native descent, she snootily responded that there was a family legend of such. I was shocked, and walked away, saying to myself "Now I know why the Black people can't stand them". the nerve, yeah, who would want to be descended from a dark skinned people who ran around almost naked, except for an occasional blanket saying "ugh" all day. I wanted to tell her off, and let her know that my forst White ancestors were Dutch who settled in what is now New York in 1639, long before her kind came over here. whatever, the point, racism is everywhere, as is ignorance, it's twin sibling.
Much Love,
Jonn

JP Orthodox,

As John noted there is truth in part of what you wrote. I am sure that you did not mean to, but the way that you wrote your post makes it sound like all of us down here of evangelical decent are racists. As John said, there is a small vocal minority that has acted in terrible ways, but they are just that, small (very small).

This thread started out with Ray pointing that the South's population of Catholics is growing - fast. Please do not bring in these offensive political throws. Perhaps you only meant to say a geographical boundary, then just saying "the North" would do.

Yeah, Blue State tollerant Catholic and Orthodox, how rude.

In His Name,
Stephen who is proud of his southern evangelical ancestry and NEVER wore a pillow case or sheet - even for holloween.

If only Blue States were more tolerant than Red States. I do remember reading that when the KKK was at its strongest, it was most powerful in some Northern states. Unfortunately, some of those Blue State Orthodox and Catholic parishes have been so ethnic, they were as bigoted as any parish ever was in the South. Sad to say, but human nature respects no political boundaries. Sorry, jporthodox. You cheese-eating, bomb-throwing, Volvo-driving liberals are just as wicked as we are.

now, now, my Knoxville bro. it's the American way to have a memory of convenience.oh, nothing wrong with noshing on cheese, wave a Figi's catalogue under my nose around Christmas time, and I am your slave, just the other day I sent them a hundred plus dollar check to pay for the boxes I sent to Mom and to moi.must be that German ancestry coming out. volvos? only Volvo I remember in recent times was driven by a Chattanooga native I know (such a poser).
Back to memory of convenience, the Klan was strong in Ohio, New Jersey, and Indiana ( see the book on the Klan"Hooded Americanism") in the heyday of the twenties. then there was Father Coughlin in MICHIGAN (ooops, how inconvenient) who had a radio ministry in the thirties until an embarrassed LATIN heirarchy shut him down. he would have a conuption over FDR and the Jews, and let the world know about it. We all have issues (witch hunts in New England, Trail of Tears in Tennessee, the exiling of Japanese Americans during WWll to concentration camps outside of California) let's be better Americans and learn and remember.
but Steve and Charles, you are good bros, and good to have you here.
For everyone else, let's get back to the issue at hand, Catholics (and Orthodox)in the South. both of our groups are growing in this region, and if they are here in Chattanooga, they are everywhere (we have OCA, Greeks, Copts, and who knows what all, oh, even a Russian Catholic here, me)
Much Love,
Jonn

You all do raise some excellent points, especially the point about Michigan not always having the cleanest history on these issues. As you could probably guess, I am a pretty liberal Democrat on most issues. However, I am concerned both from a religious and cultural standpoint with Catholics and Orthodox getting too close to our Protestant friends. Like it or not, Southern Culture is not just religious, it is PRotestant, through and through. I hope to be in communion with all of you one day and I think that is possible with compromise on both sides. However, Protestantism is a whole different animal and I don't see what they can add to our faiths.