Springfield, Virginia, May 4, 2026
Photo: meintripnachnewyork.com
The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America has released a statement for the 250th anniversary of the United States, declaring that “our contribution to America is not power, not politics, but the presence of the living God among His people.”
Issued on April 30, the statement expresses gratitude to God for a nation that has “afforded its people the freedom to worship, to follow the way of Jesus Christ, and to bear witness to the Gospel without fear or compulsion.” The Synod notes that while marking the US milestone, the Orthodox Church in America spans the entire continent, with dioceses in Canada and Mexico sharing in the thanksgiving.
The bishops recount the history of Orthodoxy in America and emphasize the significance of the 1970 granting of autocephaly as “an ecclesiological affirmation that this land has a Church of its own—a local Church, fully Orthodox, fully catholic, fully apostolic.”
The statement celebrates the Church’s diversity, gathering faithful from Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Eastern Europe, Greece, the Arab world, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, calling this “not an obstacle to unity but an icon of the Kingdom of God.”
The bishops invoke the Great Commission, stating that the Orthodox Church in America is “called to be the presence of Jesus Christ in American society—in its cities and its rural communities, in its universities and its prisons, in its hospitals and its institutions, among its poor and its prosperous.”
In a sobering turn, the bishops call for repentance, writing that “two hundred and fifty years is a span of time sufficient to accumulate both great achievements and grave failures.” They call for “repentance for injustices past and present; for the idols of wealth, comfort, and power that seduce every generation; for the divisions and enmities that tear at the fabric of common life.”
The Synod emphasizes they do not speak “from a posture of superiority,” acknowledging the Church’s own failures. The statement concludes by encouraging all dioceses and parishes to mark the anniversary through “special services of thanksgiving, educational programs, civic engagement, and acts of charity.”
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