1 /5 SJ Howerter: They build you up and then knock you down. They say your family, but youre NOT. They will go as far to tell you NOT to come back and find another church if you step on their toes in any way. Very hurtful experience for us.
We asked who their "Orthodox Metropolitan" is before our baptism to see if we would be able to receive communion at other Eastern Orthodox churches we visit. One out of State.
Turns out they are an self made "independent church" and a nonprofit.
They are doing their own thing and twist in Eastern Orthodox.
Which is fine we have no problem with that. They should have just told us the truth in the beginning and been up-front about their being an independent doing their own version of Eastern Orthodoxy.
We could have then decided if we wanted to limit our communion with only their church and stay in fellowship and invest ourselves there as it wouldnt be a valid babtism outside their own church. We were fine with that.
We instead were given a detailed and long history statement of them being connected with the Ukrainian Orthodox branch, which now we see they arent listed as a parish in the United States at all.
We were shown a lineage but now we understand that you can be made a bishop by an honorary system like they do with degrees and awards that doesnt mean the priest has had proper training or even proper education in Eastern Orthodoxy so lineage doesnt guarantee you anything.
In the same breath as they answered our question, we were told to GO to another Eastern Orthodox Church weeks before our scheduled baptism.
The choice to stay in fellowship and baptism or to leave was BOTH taken away from us.
We were uninformed then "dismissed" for asking for more information regarding their standing in mainstream Eastern Ukrainian Orthodoxy.
The very people that were our religious sponsors? We didnt even HAVE sponsors at another church, nor have we been attending services because we committed to them.
Step on their toes, and they throw you to the curb quick.
You are ex family in a split second. Cold as ice.
We had invested so much in heart and emotions plus energy and our time in driving over 30 minutes up to Covington 3 or 4 times a week for their church services plus our study in their study books just to get baptized by them and we purchased our Bibles and prayer books from them at a higher cost.
Just to be told to LEAVE and find another church for them to just cancel our baptism after they explain they are independent? when they told us they were in sister communion with a sect of Eastern Orthodox Ukrainian churches?
My husband was having heart surgery soon and was wearing a 24 hour monitor. Which they were aware of... Who does that?
They told us to go elsewhere the night before his major morning appointment to determine all his heart issues and schedule his heart surgery with his cardiologist. How cruel and unchristian is that?
I dont want to see ANYONE else invest their time, energy, and heart into these people and then be told to just GO once you ask uncomfortable questions and irritate them.
They told us that they have kicked out others in the past even had them REMOVED by the law, and we now see why there is only the leader and his wife and the elderly bishop with maybe one other person in training as a deacon attending this church.
This isnt a true Orthodox church at heart with these behaviors going on.
We werent the FIRST they have turned against, and Im sure we wont be the last people they dismissed from their home spun version of Eastern Orthodox church.
The hurtful bottom line is as three other priests from established Eastern Orthodox Churches told us
"They got all "tangled up" when you wanted sect NAMES and some verification on what they had been "telling you"
Their history shows they deal with church issues by expelling the questioning members regardless of the members personal or emotional investments.
Jesus called that being "Stiff necked" to the religious leaders.
