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The Orthodox Church in America is a fam of self-governing churches united by a common faith & worship. It faced 3 major problems during the past decade: (1) concern with liturgy & the entire structure of worship as well as the question of the vitality of its symbolism; (2) the unresolved issue of the existence of many overlapping Orthodox ecclesiastical jurisdictions; & (3) excessive fragmental nat'lism & concomitant ethnic isolation (each Orthodox Church generally serves members of its own ethnic background). Its overall tasks were gradual consolidation & fuller acclimatization to the Amer environment. While the average Orthodox Amer layman seems strongly committed to the US cultural horizon, this is not true of Orthodox clergy for whom the ethno-religious horizon prevails & preservation of traditional values is the primary concern. This is most apparent re soc consciousness. The powerful theological orientation of present-day Orthodoxy has not allowed soc concern to take root. While the ecumenical spirit has been growing, a polarization has been taking place among the staunchest conservatives. Although the essential doctrinal position of Orthodoxy has not changed, theologians of the 2 ancient Christian traditions, the Western & the Eastern, seem to have entirely diff approaches to theology. Eastern theologians are not comfortable with the Western historical approach to Christian truth. They view the main historical forms of ancient Christianity as expressions of eternal verities which are permanent & must not be essentially changed. Modified HA.

The Orthodox Church in America, a family of self-governing churches united by a common faith and worship, experienced little change in the 1960's—gradual consolidation, and fuller acclimation to the American environment being its chief tasks. Internally, the Orthodox church began to feel the need for liturgical renewal more acutely and to deal with the problem of visible disunity. Externally, while its faithful were successfully adapting to the American socioeconomic structure, its church leaders and theologians responded cautiously to the American milieu. Most Orthodox, proud of their ethnoreligious traditions and strongly oriented to ancestral lands, continued to possess a sense of uniqueness and mission in America, the land in which they, doubtlessly, feel at home. The sharpest tension with American culture was noted among church leaders and theologians, particularly on theological grounds. Although there were signs of openness, a firmly conservative theological outlook also created internal tensions as regards ecumenical relations with other churches. On the whole, however, the Orthodox church looks confidently to the future, while its lead ers and theologians explore its place and role in the New World.

Of the three major branches of Christianity, Orthodoxy is the least known and most misunderstood. The Historical Dictionary of the Orthodox Church provides students, researchers, and specialists with a desk encyclopedia of the theology and theologians, saints, sinners, places and events of the Eastern Church. Two millennia of the religion are surveyed in over five hundred concise entries, concentrating primarily on the last 150 years. Includes an overview of the early Church through the Byzantine and Russian Empires, into the present multinational Orthodox presence in the ecumenical movement. Many of the general entries cannot be found elsewhere in English, and the comprehensive compilation of biographies of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Orthodox theologians (American, Russian, Greek, and many other nationalities) is published here for the first time. Includes a detailed 4000-year chronology, illustrations, extensive bibliography, and an appendix listing the current canonical patriarchs and autocephalous churches.