[jeaccatty]

This is exactly the Orthodox position. Saints are not declared such from those at the top of the Church - sainthood is something which grows upwards from the people until the Church responds accordingly.

I wouldn't quite say it this way. Sainthood doesn't really "grow upwards from the people" but rather is something revealed to the Church by the Holy Spirit through miracles and answered prayer. The popular veneration grows and at some point the hierarchy approve the general veneration of the saint who is then included in the menaion and a service in his or her honor is composed. The "glorification" of the saint is simply the transition from singing the last memorial service (pannykhida) to the singing of first molieben (supplicatory prayer service) and the first celebration of the newly composed service to the new saint and the uncovering of relics and the new icon and their veneration.

Fr David Moser