Eastern Orthodox Rebel Against Liberal Church Council
Mark Tooley

The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is not exactly known for cutting a high profile in American religion.

But the 400,000 member communion is quite spunky. Last month the church voted unanimously to leave the reflexively left-wing National Council of Churches (NCC). It is the first religious body to quit the NCC in years, and one of the few ever to do more than just talk about it.

According to one church spokesman, one reason fueling the departure was a recent NCC fundraising letter, asking supporters to fight “right-wing attacks” against the controversial church agency. Specifically, the letter named President Bush, Rush Limbaugh, James Dobson and the Heritage Foundation as insidious forces that must be opposed.

“It got to be too much,” Antiochian spokesman Rev. Thomas Zain told Ecumenical News Service. “It’s lost its goal of Christian unity on a doctrinal basis. The goal seems to be including everybody and [promoting] niceties.”

Homosexuality, increasingly the bellwether issue that divides religious traditionalists from liberals, was also a big factor for the Antiochians. The Episcopal Church and United Church of Christ, both NCC pillars, have largely accepted same-sex unions and openly gay clergy.

the rest at IRD