OCAnews.org shuts down!

While this won't mean a whole lot to my non-Orthodox readers and followers, I still must write about it. The website Orthodox Christians for Accountability (OCAnews.org) as of November 9, 2011 has shut down. Why is this a big deal you ask? Well, because was one of the very few Orthodox websites that did exactly what it set out to do -- be a catalyst for change within the Eastern Orthodox Church.

For those unfamiliar, if you think the Roman Catholic Church is slow to change, wait until you become familiar with Orthodoxy. Practically nothing has changed in over 1000 years. It's adherence to tradition is in many ways good, but in other ways quite bad. The Church's structure is top down and the average pew potato has very little power to invoke change or to call the Church to accountability when and if it needs it.  OCAnews.org quite successfully did just that. Not just once, but on numerous occasions. It was a bastion of dialogue, debate, as well the one place where Orthodox Christians  could consistently get their news from. News that ranged from financial scandals involving Church leaders of the OCA (Orthodox Church in America) (http://www.ocanews.org/chronology.html) to sexual misconduct allegations which lead to the dismissal of still other Church leaders, as well as still other scandals involving the Antiochian Archdiocese of America (http://www.orthodoxattorneys.org/resources.html) not to mention all of the "small" scandals and controversies involving power plays, politics, and Bishops jockeying to be the next "top man."

CNN and Fox News never picked up any of these stories which surely would have taken up weeks of prime time television had they taken place in the Roman Catholic or Southern Baptists Church. There are blessings to being a small religious minority in this country, and there are also curses. The curse is that no matter how corrupt any particular Church member or leader becomes, there is little we can do because we're not "big enough" to garner a slot on Anderson Cooper or the CBS Evening News. In other words, no one cares because we're irrelevant to society, which should say a lot about the state of our Church.

The founder of OCAnews.org Mark Stokoe was a tireless worker and for 6 years he dedicated himself and a huge part of his life to devoted service to his Church, his faith, and his belief that accountability is not something we should just hope for in the next life, but something which is our duty to struggle and fight for in this life!

Thanks you Mark! I hope others will take up the mantle which you started and continue to call the Church to accountability and honesty.

The final news posting can be found here.