Ancient Faith
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Fr. Jon Braun on the Evangelical Orthodox Church's Journey to Orthodoxy
1:00:04
Father Jon Braun recounts his journey from a conservative Presbyterian home to the Orthodox Church. His father, a Presbyterian minister, left the denomination when the General Assembly clerk stated that belief in Christ's resurrection was optional. Braun and four other future leaders of the Evangelical Orthodox Church met in Campus Crusade for Christ leadership; the aggressive, performance-oriented parachurch mentality shaped their approach, but they left because Campus Crusade explicitly was not the church.
In Isla Vista, their single leader announced he would destroy the doctrine of the Trinity, teaching modalism; Braun and Father Richard Ballew walked out and never returned. At the UCSB library, Ballew discovered the Church Fathers; they read St. Athanasius' On the Incarnation and initially believed the Orthodox Church was dead and they must restart it.
Father Ted Wojcik, sent by Father Alexander Schmemann, walked into their St. Athanasius Academy; after lunch they knew their independent attempt was over and the real journey to canonical Orthodoxy began. Constantinople rejected them; the Greek Archbishop in America declared the Evangelical Orthodox Church did not exist while standing among 17 of its members.
Days later Patriarch Ignatius and Metropolitan Philip received them. The five EOC bishops voluntarily gave up their titles upon entering the Antiochian Archdiocese, asking only to be ordinary Antiochian clergy. About 3,000 people ultimately came into Orthodoxy through this movement.
Father Jon reflects that the most important decision they made was refusing to be special. He sees the current surge of catechumens, hundreds in some parishes, as the delayed fulfillment of his early hope that Americans would recognize Orthodoxy as a good deal; he views the present movement as God-inspired, though the need for more clergy remains a pressing challenge.
Key moments
- Father John was born into a conservative Presbyterian home; his father was a Presbyterian minister who left the denomination when the General Assembly clerk stated belief in Christ's resurrection was optional.
- All five leaders of the Evangelical Orthodox Church met in Campus Crusade for Christ leadership; the aggressive, performance-oriented parachurch mentality shaped their approach, but they left because Campus Crusade explicitly was not the church.
- In Isla Vista, their single leader announced he would destroy the doctrine of the Trinity, teaching modalism; Father John and Father Richard Ballew walked out and never returned.
- At the UCSB library, Father Richard Ballew discovered the Church Fathers; they read St. Athanasius' On the Incarnation and initially believed the Orthodox Church was dead and they must restart it.
- Father Ted Wojcik, sent by Father Alexander Schmemann, walked into their St. Athanasius Academy; after lunch they knew their independent attempt was over and the real journey to canonical Orthodoxy began.
- Constantinople rejected them; the Greek Archbishop in America declared the Evangelical Orthodox Church did not exist while standing among 17 of its members; days later Patriarch Ignatius and Metropolitan Philip received them.
- The five EOC bishops voluntarily gave up their titles upon entering the Antiochian Archdiocese, asking only to be ordinary Antiochian clergy; about 3,000 people ultimately came into Orthodoxy through this movement.
- Father John sees the current surge of catechumens, hundreds in some parishes, as the delayed fulfillment of his expectation; he hopes the movement matures and that the church can provide enough clergy to sustain it.