[Saduyre9de]

I love that quote. However, your Church has the both the distinct privilege and burden of the public being aware of who you are. Privilege because even the not so theologically inclined are somewhat aware of you views on communion, unity among bishops and teaching and some basic idea of your claim to be THE Church (as opposed to their general idea of the the Church is). Burden because many THINK they know what you believe and, so, many are closed to even considering you.

For us it's the opposite. We enjoy the benefit of people not knowing who we are because it's more likely they will enter with an open mind (although it could be closed really quickly once they realize that we hold a lot in common with "those Catholics") but we also suffer from being so unknown because 1) there aren't many of us (or at least who actually practice on a regular basis) and 2) most people don't even know we exist or that we are Christian. Hence, my wondering if we shouldn't considering getting the word out JUST so people know we are there and we are Christian. It's just saying, "Hey, um, we're here too. When you're looking for a Church you may just want to consider the Orthodox Church... in case you didn't know." lol

So, I think it is difficult to cmpare our burdens and advantages in this issue. Do you see where I'm coming from?

Joshua