Crossroads Podcast: The New York Times Offers A Mixed Bag On Orthodox Converts
In 2014, Matthew Heimbach became a convert at All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana. As more information emerged about his white nationalist beliefs, they were rejected by both his priest and bishop.
Father Peter Jon Gillquist wrote a letter that said, in part:
“Orthodoxy rejects the teaching that churches or countries should be divided along racial lines. For, ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3:28). …
Matthew must cease and desist all activities, both online, in print, and in person, promoting racist and separationist ideologies, effective immediately. He must formally reject violence, hate speech, and the heresy of Phyletism.
In 2014, Matthew Heimbach became a convert at All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana. As more information emerged about his white nationalist beliefs, they were rejected by both his priest and bishop.
Father Peter Jon Gillquist wrote a letter that said, in part:
“Orthodoxy rejects the teaching that churches or countries should be divided along racial lines. For, ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3:28). …
Matthew must cease and desist all activities, both online, in print, and in person, promoting racist and separationist ideologies, effective immediately. He must formally reject violence, hate speech, and the heresy of Phyletism.
Heimbach was told to repent and enter a period of formal penance. That never happened and he was excommunicated. The story becomes more complicated at that point, but one thing was clear — Heimbach was cut off from canonical Orthodoxy. This leads me to a key section of the New York Times news feature — “Orthodox Church Pews Are Overflowing With Converts” — that served as the hook for this week’s “Crossroads” podcast.
Why is Heimbach relevant to this viral news report, which focuses on part — repeat, on part — of a major story in the complex world of Eastern Orthodox Christianity? Here is a much-discussed paragraph in that Times report:
Certain corners of the Orthodox internet are not just conservative or traditionalist, but openly racist and antisemitic, with several far-right figures converting in recent years. In the South, there is a strain of neoconfederate Orthodoxy that marries white supremacy and Orthodox practice. Matthew Heimbach, who organized the notorious Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, had been excommunicated from the Antiochian Orthodox church but joined another branch.
Heimbach is, for some reason, the only example needed. That’s strange if this trend is widespread in online websites and plays an important role in fueling the latest wave of converts into the ancient churches of the East. The Times story could, actually “should,” have included additional names and even quoted some of the teachings of these dangerous online influencers if there are flocks of them.
Where to begin? First, I should stress that I am a convert to Antiochian Orthodoxy, entering the church in the 1990s — when the convert-friendly era of Orthodoxy began. Readers seeking more information on that can see this 2022 GetReligion.org post examining a National Public Radio report that I called a “hit piece.” The recent New York Times story, on the other hand, is well worth reading and contains solid reporting on many parts of this trend.
Here is another personal tie I should mention: When we converted, my family’s spiritual father was the late Father Gordon Walker of Franklin, Tenn., a close friend and colleague of the best known leader of that original wave of converts — the late Father Peter Gillquist. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Father Peter Gillquist was the father of the priest in Indiana who excommunicated Heimbach, as in Father Peter Jon Gillquist. That is, to say the least, a symbolic fact.
Want another “small world” fact? When the aforementioned Heimbach was excommunicated from the Antiochian Archdiocese, he tried to find another canonical Orthodox body that would accept him. He ended up coming to East Tennessee and tried to join a parish about 20 minutes from where I was living at the time (I knew some people there). It was a very conservative church, but the priest stuck to the repentance standards articulated in Indiana. Heimbach left.
Where is he now? The Times article, of course, said “that he had been excommunicated from the Antiochian Orthodox church but joined another branch.”
That makes it sound like he joined another mainstream Orthodox jurisdiction. I have dug into that and all of the evidence is that he joined a sect that has been cut off from canonical Orthodoxy for decades. He remains out of communion with the canonical church, but insists that his beliefs have been misrepresented. Maybe the Times needed to add a few more words to that “other branch” statement of fact.
In my opinion, some of the research for the Times piece is a bit out of date. By coincidence, that major story was printed the day I wrote the first of two national “On Religion” columns about the convert era in Orthodoxy. I had no idea that the Times was working on that report.
In 2014, Matthew Heimbach became a convert at All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church in Bloomington, Indiana. As more information emerged about his white nationalist beliefs, they were rejected by both his priest and bishop.
Father Peter Jon Gillquist wrote a letter that said, in part:
“Orthodoxy rejects the teaching that churches or countries should be divided along racial lines. For, ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Gal. 3:28). …
Matthew must cease and desist all activities, both online, in print, and in person, promoting racist and separationist ideologies, effective immediately. He must formally reject violence, hate speech, and the heresy of Phyletism.
Heimbach was told to repent and enter a period of formal penance. That never happened and he was excommunicated. The story becomes more complicated at that point, but one thing was clear — Heimbach was cut off from canonical Orthodoxy. This leads me to a key section of the New York Times news feature — “Orthodox Church Pews Are Overflowing With Converts” — that served as the hook for this week’s “Crossroads” podcast.
Why is Heimbach relevant to this viral news report, which focuses on part — repeat, on part — of a major story in the complex world of Eastern Orthodox Christianity? Here is a much-discussed paragraph in that Times report:
Certain corners of the Orthodox internet are not just conservative or traditionalist, but openly racist and antisemitic, with several far-right figures converting in recent years. In the South, there is a strain of neoconfederate Orthodoxy that marries white supremacy and Orthodox practice. Matthew Heimbach, who organized the notorious Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, had been excommunicated from the Antiochian Orthodox church but joined another branch.
Heimbach is, for some reason, the only example needed. That’s strange if this trend is widespread in online websites and plays an important role in fueling the latest wave of converts into the ancient churches of the East. The Times story could, actually “should,” have included additional names and even quoted some of the teachings of these dangerous online influencers if there are flocks of them.
Where to begin? First, I should stress that I am a convert to Antiochian Orthodoxy, entering the church in the 1990s — when the convert-friendly era of Orthodoxy began. Readers seeking more information on that can see this 2022 GetReligion.org post examining a National Public Radio report that I called a “hit piece.” The recent New York Times story, on the other hand, is well worth reading and contains solid reporting on many parts of this trend.
Here is another personal tie I should mention: When we converted, my family’s spiritual father was the late Father Gordon Walker of Franklin, Tenn., a close friend and colleague of the best known leader of that original wave of converts — the late Father Peter Gillquist. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because Father Peter Gillquist was the father of the priest in Indiana who excommunicated Heimbach, as in Father Peter Jon Gillquist. That is, to say the least, a symbolic fact.
Want another “small world” fact? When the aforementioned Heimbach was excommunicated from the Antiochian Archdiocese, he tried to find another canonical Orthodox body that would accept him. He ended up coming to East Tennessee and tried to join a parish about 20 minutes from where I was living at the time (I knew some people there). It was a very conservative church, but the priest stuck to the repentance standards articulated in Indiana. Heimbach left.
Where is he now? The Times article, of course, said “that he had been excommunicated from the Antiochian Orthodox church but joined another branch.”
That makes it sound like he joined another mainstream Orthodox jurisdiction. I have dug into that and all of the evidence is that he joined a sect that has been cut off from canonical Orthodoxy for decades. He remains out of communion with the canonical church, but insists that his beliefs have been misrepresented. Maybe the Times needed to add a few more words to that “other branch” statement of fact.
In my opinion, some of the research for the Times piece is a bit out of date. By coincidence, that major story was printed the day I wrote the first of two national “On Religion” columns about the convert era in Orthodoxy. I had no idea that the Times was working on that report.
The big idea in the Times piece — along with other recent news reports on this topic — is that Orthodoxy is booming because of an rising tide of conservative men being attracted by right-wing Orthodox “influencers.” This passage is typical:
… [A] homegrown Orthodox Christianity is strikingly emergent. Many of the young Americans new to the pews have been introduced to Orthodoxy by hard-edge influencers on YouTube and other social media platforms. Critics call the enthusiastic young converts “Orthobros.”
One night this summer, the young adults of All Saints Orthodox Church in Raleigh, N.C., gathered at a bookshop and bar on the city’s north side. At the event’s peak, there were a mere handful of women present, and more than 40 men. The men noticed, and believed they knew why.
Note the emphasis on a gathering of “young adults.” It is certainly true that, right after the COVID pandemic, lots of young, single men streamed into Orthodox parishes. That was the trend at that time. However, in the past few years a much larger wave of converts arrived — young couples and young families. That’s true in Raleigh and in plenty of other places.
By the way, what did All Saints Orthodox Church in Raleigh think of the Times piece? See this response from an Orthodox leader in the parish, via a Facebook post that offers lots of commentary on the good and the bad in that Gray Lady feature.
Meanwhile, in the first of my two columns, I wrote this summary:
… The catechumenate class numbers are staggering. While some Orthodox parishes are shrinking, or have hit plateaus, many clergy are struggling to handle congregations that have doubled or tripled in size during the post-pandemic years. Parishes that rarely had catechumens now have 10 or more. Convert-friendly congregations that once had a dozen newcomers now have 50-150.
Thus, many parishes — especially Sunbelt parishes — have catechumenate classes larger than average mainline Protestant congregations. For example, a 2022 Episcopal Church report said 85% of its parishes averaged attendance figures under 100. The median figure was 37.
While the first post-pandemic wave of converts included a high percentage of single men, an even larger second wave has been led by young, growing families, often with multiple children, said Father Andrew Stephen Damick of the Antiochian archdiocese. He is part of Ancient Faith Ministries, a hub for streamed music, podcasts, weblogs, forums and more.
Yes, Father Damick was interviewed for the Times piece, which is totally appropriate because of (a) his role in working with converts and (b) the fact that he serves as the Antiochian church leader in efforts to wrestle with the good and the bad in online Orthodoxy. He has seen, and heard, it all.
This leads us to another much-debated paragraph in the Times piece:
The online influencers that many young men credit with introducing them to Orthodoxy speak directly about politics and culture in a way that parish priests more often avoid. They tend to share an unbending social conservatism, with a particular interest in the “traditional family” and what they describe as the threats of feminism, homosexuality and transgender identities. They are also generally opposed to the state of Israel.
Frankly, I have no idea where the “opposed to the state of Israel” reference came from and, yes, that was stated as fact with zero attribution. I have never heard discussions of that subject in discussions among converts. If that claim is accurate, it needed to be backed with on-the-record quotes, including examples from the Internet.
Another personal note: I have talked with, I would estimate, a 100+ young men headed into Orthodoxy in the past decade or so. It is true that most are strong supporters of this ancient faith’s teachings on marriage, family, sexuality and gender. Many of these single men are highly motivated to get married and start families. Yes, they are worried about trends in American life and many mainline pews.
In a way, they are part of a larger news trend in American life — with poll after poll showing that SINGLE men are more conservative than many (not all) single women. See this summary of those numbers by the polling maven Ryan Burge, who is a progressive Baptist.
There is no question that many, many young women are converting to Orthodoxy — but they are married and many have children. Reporters need to take a closer look at the faces in catechumenate classes from recent years.
What did the Times piece get right? There is lots accurate material from solid, named sources — from liberal as well as traditional points of view. Readers who are interested can look at these sources and do homework on their links to these trends. It is also important that the Times piece noted:
At All Saints, many young converts said they had become less invested in online Orthodoxy the more they attended actual church. Austin Nolan, an accounting student, said his priest at his previous parish in Asheville, N.C., had warned him, “Don’t be an Orthobro.”
To back up that point, the Times really needed to quote an important recent Denver address by Metropolitan Saba, leader of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The topic: How the convert era is helping, but also challenging, life in Orthodox parishes.
The address was delivered weeks before the Times piece ran. Here is a bit of that from my first column:
“Some observers liken this influx to a flood, and the comparison is accurate. I do not visit a parish without meeting catechumens there. In some parishes, they number more than 100,” said [Saba].
“While many long-standing believers see in the converts a source of renewal and vitality — and a spur to discover their own Orthodoxy personally and deeply, not merely as a social religious tradition — many also feel somewhat threatened by the cultural changes occurring in their parish.”
Where does this story go now? Before the Times piece broke, Damick and two other articulate Orthodox insiders (see “American Orthodoxy in 2040”) looked at statistics from the past few years and tried to predict the future. The results were stunning and the news was good, of course, but also — as Metropolitan Saba articulated in his address — extremely sobering.
In the second of my two columns, I noted, quoting Seraphim Rohlin, a data scientist in Dallas who is also a deacon in the Orthodox Church in America:
Working with the Orthodox Studies Institute at Saint Constantine College in Houston (where I am a senior fellow), Rohlin offered two projections of what American Orthodoxy could look like in 2040.
In a “conservative” model, the current surge “levels off,” resulting in 69% more members, which could lead to 1,385 new parishes, he said. In his second projection, current growth rates continue, producing a 115% membership increase, requiring the funding and construction of 2,305 new churches — double the number of Orthodox parishes today.
That’s good news. The bad news is that America’s three major Orthodox seminaries — located in the Northeast, far from the “hot spots” of growth — will need to provide 138% more seminarians to meet current needs in Orthodox America. If current growth rates continue, Orthodoxy will need 586% more seminarians to replace priests set to retire and those needed for new missions and parishes.
Remember this fact that I stressed earlier: Many Orthodox parishes are growing. Many Orthodox parishes are declining. There is good news and bad news. There are tensions, as well as celebrations. For starters, where will local leaders find the funds to build all those new churches and build new seminaries — schools closer to the “hot spots” of growth — to train the legions of clergy needed at Orthodox altars?
Stay tuned. This is a complex story and, whenever you read about these trends in Orthodoxy and other Christian flocks, look for material from solid, on-the-record sources. Don’t settle for magisterial paraphrased quotes. Look for the voices speaking on both sides of these debates.
Enjoy the podcast and, please, pass it along to others.