This has been true in my experience. The retention rate among Orthodox converts is terrible, and that’s something they’re aware of. A lot of the issue is the size of the community itself and the impact that has on families. Being Orthodox requires a level of commitment and cooperation among members that no other form of Christianity does, to my knowledge. So a lot of people - especially young people - are attracted to the very deep spirituality and rigorous practice of Orthodoxy, but because that appeals to a small subset of the population, those people tend to burnout after a few years. Going from single to married life (whether one is cradle or convert) is also a huge transition (more often than not it requires the conversion of the spouse), that often doesn’t go well. It’s a real problem.
What I think is really needed online is more solid apologetics giving people reasons to choose Anglicanism over Orthodoxy. We have amazing resources answering Roman Catholicism and evangelicalism, but almost nothing answering Orthodoxy. And that’s a huge issue imo, because Orthodoxy is extremely attractive as a liturgical church without the baggage of the pope. But so few people are talking about the theological differences between it and Anglicanism, and the good reasons for going Anglican instead of Orthodox.
Do you see many people joining Eastern Orthodox churches (EO)? It's not something I've noticed here in England. I think a lot of people here think the EO are very tied up with ethnicity. Therefore, if you're not Greek, Russian, Serbian, etc. that you wouldn't be wanted, welcome or fit in. For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not saying this is how any EO church would behave, but I think many people perceive that is what it would be like.
One friend of mine (in preists orders) ultimately went to the Greek Orthodox Church, as it aligned with his theological positions more fully, and was ordained there. He ultimately he returned to the Anglican Church as he was unabe to infuse into the culture. Another friend of mine, also a priest, has traversed from Anglican Orders, to Rome, general, and then SSPX, then Serbian Orthodox, then Russian Orthodox, and firted with the Copts in there as well, and has ultimately made a home in an extrension of the Independent Catholic Church of Brazil, where he has been ordained. They are currently using an adaptation of English Missal so in a sense has defined his own culture. If he was a North American I imagine he would be at the pointy end of ACNA. Theology is important, however so too is culture. And I mean culture in a very wide sense, and whilst we easily point to theological shifts as leading to friction and fraction, significan cultural shifts can have a similar impact. As Anglicans many of us see the propspect of the Parish Identity being swallowed up by Corporate Diocesan Branding and ultimastely the loss of connection and the sense of the sacred. This is a massive cultural shift and unsettling to many.
I wrote that a lot of people perceive Eastern Orthodox churches to be linked to a particular ethnicity. For example, in the Greek Orthodox Church many may expect the members of that Church in the UK to be expatriate Greeks and Greek-Cypriots who speak Greek. Similarly, with the Russian Orthodox Church here in the UK, many would expect it to be attended by those who are ethnically Russian and who speak Russian. They would may expect to be excluded because they do not belong to that ethnicity and may be practically excluded because they do not speak that language. It was ethnicity I was talking about rather than culture. They are, obviously, linked but they are not the same.
Yeah, I think it varies from Orthodox church to Orthodox church here in America. One I visited in South Carolina was almost all Anglo and so I didn't feel out of place or unwanted there at all. But a Russian one I visited in Oklahoma was very cold and I wasn't spoken to the entire time I was there.
Was it in Tulsa, by any chance? My son has visited there a couple of times (he was dating a RO woman for a while, but broke it off because she would not marry him unless he converted to RO).
Nah, it was right near Oklahoma City. That's sad about your son. One would hope any two "little o" orthodox Christians could marry regardless of their particular denomination.
More sad for her than for him. My son was reconciled to the situation. She was hurt and felt rejected.