The Juneteenth Joke

Before I get into the weeds in this piece, I would like to begin with some words from our father among the saints, Paisios of Mount Athos, in his work, “With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man” – the first volume of his spiritual counsels.

“Some of the Orthodox who are shallow and wish to make a promotion, ‘a mission,’ they arrange conferences with the heterodox to cause a sensation, believing this way that they promote Orthodoxy… On the other hand, the heterodox come to conferences, act like teachers, take whatever good spiritual thing they find from the Orthodox, they process it, they give it their own color and mark and they present it as a prototype. And the strange contemporary world becomes touched by such strange things and is spiritually destroyed.”

St. Paisios’ admonition will serve as the basis of everything that is to follow in this article.

It is good to bring those outside of the One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church into the fold. It is good to participate in genuine dialogue with groups which seek to gain understanding and explore entering the Orthodox communion. We should obey the call “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

But, regardless of what participants of the recent Juneteenth Ecumenical Prayer Service might say, that isn’t what happened this past Friday in New York City. What happened was shortsighted and demonstrated a general lack of pastoral discernment.

Simply advertised as “Juneteenth Ecumenical Prayer Service: Healing the Wounds of Slavery,” the flyer for the event contained no mention of keynote speakers or which groups had been invited to attend. Per usual, the faithful are left to wonder what is going to take place at the event, and when the scandalizing information is released after the fact, so be it! The event has already taken place and none of it can be changed. If you ask questions or voice concerns you are told, “you weren’t there.”

So, since the event has happened and there is nothing proactive we can do to change it, let us at least give it an honest assessment.

Background Information

The prayer service was led by Fr. Samuel Davis, who has maintained that he was the only one present to wear a stole and stand before an icon of the Theotokos while praying the Akathist. While there were other Orthodox clergymen present, the only other individuals promoted in social media posts were those who belong to sects misrepresenting themselves as Orthodox. 

The most recognizable figure out of this group was Don Purdum, a cleric ordained to the American Orthodox Catholic Church (AOCC) last year who is well known for producing AI content on social media presented as Orthodox teaching. The man who ordained him is Wayne Daniels, who styles himself as “Archbishop Titus,” and who served as the keynote speaker at the Juneteenth event. Again, there was no mention of this on the promotional flyer leading up to the prayer service.

“The AOCC has entered into shared ecumenical talks with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOARCH) concerning future reception,” Fr. Samuel posted after the event. “This beautiful dialogue represents a significant step forward in expanding GOARCH's ‘missional tent’—deepening our unity, widening our community, and strengthening our witness to the world.”

Since Friday, the post has been edited, leaving out the words “concerning future reception.” The so-called Abp. Titus was also originally referred to as being of the “Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese” in the shrine’s Facebook post. Fr. Samuel stated that this was a typo that has since been corrected. 

Other figures included Fr. Arnold John Jackson and Dcn. Avon Harris of the AOCC, as well as Fr. JC Pena, who describes himself on LinkedIn as serving at All Saints Old Catholic Church – a parish of "The Old Catholic Church of North America." Jackson and Harris appear to serve regularly at the Epiphany Cathedral of the AOCC in Wyandanch, New York.

Adjacent figures who were not at the event but have offered their support for the participation of the AOCC and the stated (since retracted) possibility of being received into the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America include:

• Walter McLeod, Bishop of Veritas Church in South Carolina, which holds evangelical style-worship services complete with female ordinations and sermons from “prophets” while McLeod presides in a Greek Orthodox-style cassock and pectoral cross.
• Trevor “Elihu” Greene, who refers to himself as the “Metropolitan Archbishop of Port of Spain, Patriarch of the Caribbean West-Indies” of the United Holy Caribbean Apostolic Church.
• Stephen Victory, who refers to himself as a “Western Rite Orthodox bishop, pastor, theologian, educator, and author,” adding that he is a “former Anglican priest with extensive experience in the Western liturgical tradition.” Of course, he does not belong to any canonical Orthodox jurisdiction.

It should also be noted that several of these bishops are married.

What is the AOCC?

The American Orthodox Catholic Church traces its lineage back to the disgraced bishop Aftimios Ofiesh. The controversial successor to St. Raphael of Brooklyn was elected by the Russian Orthodox Church and gradually ventured outside the canonical boundaries of Orthodoxy. 

His most extreme act came with his marriage to Mariam Namey during his episcopacy, and with one fell swoop he severed himself from communion, publishing a tomos against the “evils of celibacy” in 1933 and eventually rejecting any canonical authority over him and his priests enjoyed by Sergius of Moscow, Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne.

As Michael Woerl writes in a 2016 piece for ROCOR Studies on the various vagante groups that trace their lineage back to Ofiesh:

“Some of the entities lionize Aftimios as the hero of ‘non-ethnic’ Orthodoxy, and ‘liberator’ from the evils of celibacy, while others seem not to know much of the history behind Aftimios, his name on their website simply ‘proving legitimacy.’ The usual scenario with many of these groups is found in alliances, consecrations, arguments, new ‘churches,’ and then the cycle reruns. A common practice with these groups is repeated consecrations as ‘Bishops,’ to claim several ‘episcopal lines,’ some claiming Orthodox, Monophysite, and Nestorian ‘lines,’ along with Episcopalian and Roman Catholic ‘lines,’ to ‘prove’ their ‘apostolic succession’ goes back all the way to all the Apostles.”

Of course, this is exactly what the AOCC states on its own website:

“The American Orthodox Catholic Church emerged within this historical landscape as a body committed to preserving Orthodox continuity, conciliar order, and sacramental life in America. Its foundation rests on the conviction that the Orthodox Church is not owned by ethnicity, nation, or political power, but belongs to Christ and is governed according to the apostolic and conciliar tradition received from the Fathers.”

This sounds good on its face. The stated commitment to the apostolic and conciliar tradition of the Fathers must have been what Ofiesh had in mind when he wrote in his last will and testament that, “No clergy of any denomination is to have anything to do with my body, no religious service or any kind of ceremony to be allowed.”

The initial AOCC project was short-lived, and no valid – or even invalid – form of apostolic succession was passed down through the decades. Interestingly, one of the bishops Ofiesh “consecrated” was Joseph Zuk, who went on to become the first bishop of what we recognize today as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A. Receiving canonical status from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the 1990s with the clergy being granted blanket acceptance despite no apostolic succession or valid ordination, the UOC-USA is a topic for another column but illustrates the flirtatious attitude of the EP with illicit schismatic groups. 

In any event, the AOCC remained dormant for 60 years. In 2006, a new group using the AOCC name was rechartered, filed, legally registered as a 501(c)(3) and transferred to “Archbishop” Paul Willingham. Since this time, the group has entered into synodal agreements with various vagante structures like the “Evangelical Catholic Church” and the “American Orthodox Church/North American Orthodox Church.”

And this sheds light on what is really happening here. Several people who raised issues with the prayer service held last week were told by Fr. Samuel that no one could look at their comments and decide to become Orthodox, while Daniels and others replied with comments to the effect of, “This is what kept us away for so many years.”

Frankly, this is gaslighting. At some point in their lives, each of these men made a conscious decision to join the AOCC instead of the canonical Orthodox Church. Whatever their reasons for doing so, it is not the fault of random Orthodox Christians who commented on Fr. Samuel’s Facebook post. What’s more, they continue to claim “apostolic succession” for themselves. What’s more, they don’t even seem to regret their decision. For instance, one person commented asking Fr. Samuel if they would be required to formally reject their old heresies before being received into the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In response to this comment, Greene (a.k.a. Patriarch Trevor) asked: “What heresy do they have to reject? Their autocephaly?” 

Why then, does a group that sees itself as perfectly legitimate and autocephalous wish to be seen with something it describes as nothing more than an ethnic club that should be left behind? Why give speeches at the St. Nicholas Shrine? Why make numerous social media posts about an ecumenical prayer service which seemingly didn't have strong attendance?

Let us turn to St. Paisios.

St. Paisios’ Warning

To save you from scrolling up, here is the quote from St. Paisios once more:

“Some of the Orthodox who are shallow and wish to make a promotion, ‘a mission,’ they arrange conferences with the heterodox to cause a sensation, believing this way that they promote Orthodoxy… On the other hand, the heterodox come to conferences, act like teachers, take whatever good spiritual thing they find from the Orthodox, they process it, they give it their own color and mark and they present it as a prototype. And the strange contemporary world becomes touched by such strange things and is spiritually destroyed.”

Referring to the website of the AOCC’s Epiphany Cathedral, here is what Daniels and his clergy have taken away from Orthodox practice and advertise to their inquirers:

“In total, an Epiphany service is roughly about 90 minutes in length. We call our worship service ‘The Divine Liturgy.’ Services begin with prayer and a call to worship. Then the Epiphany worship team will lead the church in a blend of traditional and contemporary music. The song lyrics, readings, and scriptures are projected onto the screens so you can sing and read along and/or engage in worship however you feel most comfortable. After the songs and reading portion of the service is complete, our pastor will come out to share an encouraging, challenging, and hope-filled message about Jesus. ​After the message, all baptized Christian faithful will be invited to share communion with us… Sundays at Epiphany are exciting, immersive, and liturgical. There may be some bells and amazing smells. You'll hear some great music, see candles and even some smoke (we burn incense). You'll see people in robes & people in jeans.”

I read this and find no reason to be angry. These people are misguided, in some ways are likely trying their best, and clearly have maintained some evangelical tendencies after discovering the practices of the ancient faith. There are many of us like that today in the Church! 

For Orthodox clergy to treat them as clerics of equal dignity only validates their error. We must expect better from our Orthodox clergy.

Instead, with the blessing of Abp. Elpidophoros, and under the pastoral leadership of Fr. Samuel Davis, AOCC members were given a platform and legitimized, not even in some separate space, but in the temple.

Only after the fact was a narrative crafted that they were in talks about entering the Church — a narrative that was then quietly dropped a few days later. 

This shortsighted approach lends itself to further spiritual delusion from the members of the AOCC who walked away from the St. Nicholas Shrine, not feeling as if they needed to join the True Church, but rather feeling affirmed where they are at. We are already seeing this in some of their social media posts in the days following the prayer service.

Purdum, for instance, posted about receiving a new member on Sunday and shared that his parish has two baptisms scheduled for next week. Fr. Samuel replied, “Keep going!!!” to which Purdum assured him, “We’re just getting started.” He continues to teach AI Orthodoxy on social media.

Daniels, for his part, was fully vested as AOCC bishop on Sunday, and on Friday posted a photo of himself speaking at St. Nicholas with the caption, “Some things are just ordained by God… no man can stop them! No matter how hard they try…”

Greene, who wasn’t at the event but remains a supportive voice on social media, is currently on a “patriarchal” visit to Trinidad and Tobago.

When asked in a Facebook comment about the participation of these individuals and why they were included, Fr. Samuel stated, “They are on a journey toward canonicity. You walk hand-in-hand with those who you are working with.” When asked if they will be chrismated, Fr. Samuel said, “Yes, in time. Pray for the process to go smoothly.”

I don’t think I need to flesh out how we’re putting the cart before the horse here. Has there been dialogue? Yes. Encouragement? Clearly. A real admonition to repentance and communion with the canonical Church? It doesn’t appear so.

I may just have a different idea of what it looks like to walk hand-in-hand with someone from their previous errors, but it would likely start with hanging up the episcopal vestments and being quiet in the nave during a proper Orthodox Divine Liturgy.

As St. Paisios prophetically states, they have taken advantage of this event, acted as teachers, extracted any good thing they can out of Orthodoxy, and presented it as part of their own brand. Fr. Samuel has actively encouraged them to do so.

And for Abp. Elpidophoros, the buck stops with the bishop, so to speak. The Apostolic Mission to the African Diaspora in the Americas, West Indies, and Caribbean is a noble cause and one worthy of support, but it can’t be operated like this.

A Microcosm of Ecumenism in the Modern EP/GOARCH 

A recent quote from Metr. Saba of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America is worth reflecting on here:

“When activism overwhelms the Church—that is, when pastoral activities or practical witness dominate while the spirit of prayer and repentance recedes—the balance is disturbed, and the scales tip toward resembling the fallen world. Activities then become the goal in themselves.”

I hope I am forgiven if I am incorrect, but it appears the goal of the Juneteenth prayer service was simply for it to take place and to have the heterodox clergy featured in the photo op.

This is really the purpose of all ecumenical events, it seems. Any liturgical violation is permitted, any harm to the faithful is granted, so long as there is a photo to be posted when it’s all said and done.

Pope Leo and the Ecumenical Patriarch signed some meaningless agreement at the Phanar and gave a joint blessing from the solea. Abp. Elpidophoros hosted a prayer service with the first lesbian Lutheran bishop (and many other heterodox individuals) at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. Cardinal Joseph Tobin was allowed to lead the faithful in the recitation of the Nicene Creed (sans filioque) in English.

These events happen so often that you could become numb to it, convinced they have no meaning. It’s truly unfortunate that our own clergy have forced us to believe that the way we conduct ourselves in prayer is unimportant.

But it is important, and it is meaningful. In these cases, it reveals the worldly disposition of those involved.

What I am getting at is this: I am not trying to single out the AOCC. The latest stunt in New York has become somewhat of a microcosm of a longstanding issue. 

Just because the Catholics and Coptics are “more official” and provide better optics doesn’t mean it isn’t all the same. There’s a straight line from Pope Leo to Abp. Titus, because they are both used as part of the same worldly show which demonstrates a continual lack of respect for canonical order, for the unity of the faith, and for the care of the laypeople who are dragged into these displays.

Parting Words

In another post on Facebook following the prayer service, Fr. Samuel shared the following quote from Thomas Shaw:

“If you truly understand [Fr. John] Romanides, you realize that an Orthodox Rigorist shouting canonical penalties on the internet is just as spiritually blind, unhealed, and ‘Western’ in his psychology as a secular postmodernist. Both are operating entirely out of a darkened nous driven by ego, fear, and intellectual concepts. By validating the legalists, Athos has helped turn Romanides' prophetic, liberating, and deeply clinical voice into the property of an ideological faction. They have allowed the hospital to be run by the guards instead of the doctors.”

I personally am not advocating for some kind of canonical penalty on those involved in the prayer service. I have no authority to do such a thing, and while I find the way the event was handled rather disappointing, I would never pretend to have such influence on our hierarchs. All I can attempt to do is speak the truth in love as a lifelong member of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

And yet, as Brandon Gallaher writes:

“The ecumenists are often in a very great hurry like Bulgakov with his ideas of intercommunion. They see that the world has now become wholly Western and though they wish to affirm the pre-modern Easternness of Orthodoxy, they believe that the disunion of the churches is an enduring scandal in an increasingly secularized world and so why not simply focus on a royal minimum of essentials of the Faith rather than always emphasizing that unity is based on the present full package of beliefs and practices of the Orthodox Church?”

Gallaher is a priest of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Exeter. He is by no means part of some legalist “Athonite faction.” He even served at the Council of Crete as a Theological Subject Expert in the Ecumenical Patriarchate Press Office, was part of the drafting committee of “For the Life of the World: Towards a Social Ethos of the Orthodox Church,” and was one of the primary drafters for Public Orthodoxy’s “A Declaration on the ‘Russian World’ (Russkii Mir) Teaching.”

And yet he realizes there are clear limits to ecumenical dialogue – limits which Fr. Samuel has, unfortunately, blown right past. Fr. Brandon continues:

“Orthodox anti-ecumenists keep (to use a colloquial expression) Orthodox ecumenists 'real', always reminding them that they are guardians of the deposit, those who are called to the high calling, not because of their behaviour or any self-worth, but out of free grace, to be the Church and to witness to the dynamism of salvation breaking into the world, the new creation growing in the midst of the nations. This checking of the hopes for unity by the anti-ecumenists has meant that Orthodoxy, despite itself, has preserved many pre-modern practices, liturgical and ascetic, pointing to core teachings that have not been covered up but remain vital, which other churches in their zeal for aggiornamento have lost and are now attempting to recover.”

If any member of the AOCC reads this column, it is possible they will come away offended. So, I would like to make something abundantly clear: we welcome you with open arms into the fullness of the Orthodox Faith. We, too, rejoice over a single sheep returning to the flock. We love you and wish nothing but the best for you, and because of that we have to be honest. You are Christ’s, called to be members of His Body, and that is not where you are presently. If you wish to begin this process, it will not be on your terms. It will be painful and the source of much discomfort when compared to what you’re accustomed to.

But this is the only way, and I’m sorry if any members of our Church presented it to you differently.

Aaron Hickman is the News Editor for UOJ-America and a lifelong parishioner of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. Follow him on X and watch the latest episode of the "Orthodox Dispatch" news podcast here.