Editing Evangelical Orthodox Church (section)

==History==

=== Foundation ===
On January 14, 1979, the six members of the General Apostolic Council of the [[New Covenant Apostolic Order]] (NCAO)[[Peter Gillquist|&mdash;Peter Gillquist]], Jack Sparks, [[Jon Braun]], J. R. Ballew, Gordon Walker, and Kenneth Berven&mdash;stood in a circle and self-ordained and proclaimed each other bishops.<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Walker | first=Gordon | title=Odyssey to Orthodoxy | magazine=Again | volume=6 | number=3 | date=September 1983 | page=10}}</ref> The following day they announced the formation of a new denomination—the Evangelical Orthodox Church&mdash;consisting of congregations following the NCAO.<ref>{{cite thesis | last=Stiling | first=Ruth L. | title=An Examination of the Evangelical Orthodox Church | type=MA | location=Dallas, TX | publisher=Dallas Theological Seminary | date=1980 | page=25}}</ref> According to NCAO leaders, the EOC was launched with 2,500 members in fifty churches organized into seventeen dioceses.<ref>{{cite magazine | last=Hitt | first=Russell T. | title=Go East, Young Men | magazine=Eternity | volume=31 | number=3 | date=March 1980 | page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Vecsey | first=George | title=New Group Combines Evangelism and Orthodoxy | magazine=The New York Times | date=March 11, 1979 | page=25}}</ref> However, former members reported the membership as less than 1,000.<ref>{{cite report | last=Counts | first=Bill | title=The Evangelical Orthodox Church and the New Covenant Apostolic Order | location=Berkeley, CA | publisher=Spiritual Counterfeits Project | date=November 2, 1979 | page=1}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Dart |first=John |date=November 15, 1986 |title=The Evangelical Orthodox Church, a tiny denomination... |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-11-15-me-3728-story.html |access-date=February 20, 2024 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Controversies ===
The EOC generated controversy throughout its short history, mostly regarding its view of [[apostolic succession]] and of apostolic authority. In mainstream Eastern Orthodoxy, the hierarchy of authority is based on belief in an unbroken line of apostolic succession, from which the appointment of bishops proceeds. Jack Sparks argued that any attempt to trace such a succession inevitably included false apostles and bad men. In place of the Eastern Orthodox tradition of apostolic succession, Sparks argued for "charismatic" succession.<ref>{{cite book | last=Herbel | first=D. Oliver  | title=Turning to Tradition: Converts and the Making of the American Orthodox Church | location=New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=2014 | isbn=9780199324958 | oclc=869486494 | pages=108–110}}</ref>

The EOC was itself criticized by both secular and evangelical sources for the bishops' exercise of binding authority over members.<ref>Counts, "The Evangelical Orthodox Church..."</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Wollenburg | first=Bruce | title=The Evangelical Orthodox Church: A Preliminary Appraisal | magazine=The Christian Century | volume=97 | number=23 | date=July 2, 1980 | page=700}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | last=Barth | first=Steve | title=Local Church a 'Potentially Dangerous Situation': Sources Say EOC has Total Authority Over Members | magazine=Daily Nexus | volume=60 | number=44 | date=November 12, 1979 | page=1 | url=https://www.alexandria.ucsb.edu/downloads/00000114j}}</ref> The EOC was plagued with internal problems, one notable case involving disclosure of confidential communications from a penitent in [[confession]] which was taken to civil court. In that case, the [[California Courts of Appeal]] denied the EOC leaders' legal claim to [[Priest–penitent privilege|ecclesiastical privilege]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Hayden | first=Paul T. | title=Religiously Motivated 'Outrageous' Conduct: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress as a Weapon Against 'Other People's Faiths' | journal=William and Mary Law Review | volume= 34 | number=3 | date=1993 | pages=659–661 | url=http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol34/iss3/4/}}</ref>

=== Dialogues ===
In 1977, the first contact with the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] was initiated through Orthodox seminarian and former Berkeley [[Christian World Liberation Front]] member Karl "John Bartke", who introduced them to Fr. [[Alexander Schmemann]], Dean of [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary]] of the [[Orthodox Church in America]] (OCA).<ref>{{cite book | last=Liacopulos | first=George P. | title=Lights of the Modern World: Orthodox Christian Mission and Evangelism in the United States | location=Minneapolis, MN | publisher=Light & Life Publishing | isbn=1880971577 | date=2000 | page=125}}</ref> EOC leaders invited seminary faculty to instruct them in Orthodoxy and pursued dialogues with the OCA from 1978 to 1983, but talks broke down because of the EOC's divergent conception of church government.<ref>{{cite thesis | last=Fester | first=Joseph H. | title=The Evangelical Orthodox Church and Its Dialogue with the Orthodox Church in America | type=M.Div. | location=Crestwood, NY | publisher=St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary | date=1982 | oclc=926121110 | page=46}}</ref> EOC leaders also opened dialogue with the [[Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]] in 1981.<ref>{{cite book | last=Gillquist | first=Peter | title=Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith | edition=rev. | location=Ben Lomond, CA | publisher=Conciliar Press | date=1992 | isbn=9780962271335 | oclc=27034433 | pages=125–128}}</ref>

In 1984 the bishops applied for the EOC's membership in the [[National Association of Evangelicals]]. Their application was tabled over concerns by members of the executive committee concerning the EOC's teachings and practices.<ref>Herbel, ''Turning'', pp. 120-122.</ref><ref>National Association of Evangelicals Papers (SC-113), Wheaton College Special Collections.</ref> Growing impatient with the lack of progress in dialogues with the OCA and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, the EOC bishops travelled to [[Istanbul]] where they were turned away and not given an audience with the [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople]].<ref>Herbel, ''Turning'', pp. 122-123.</ref><ref>Gillquist, ''Becoming'', pp. 135-143.</ref><ref name=":0" /> Orthodox sources have stated that the two primary reasons why the collective [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] was hesitant to embrace the EOC were the continued influence of Shepherding movement teachings regarding hierarchical authority and the EOC bishops' desire to remain as bishops, which was unacceptable as Eastern Orthodox bishops must be celibate and appointed by the appropriate authorities through standard procedure based on apostolic succession. It was unthinkable that any Eastern Orthodox Church patriarch would agree to these terms.<ref>{{cite web |author1-link=Jason Zengerle | last=Zengerle | first=Jason | title=Evangelicals Turn Toward … the Orthodox Church – Orthodox Christian Resource Center | date= April 25, 2010 | access-date=March 3, 2011 | url=http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/ocrc/2010/04/evangelicals-turn-toward-the-orthodox-church/}}</ref><ref>Fester, "The Evangelical Orthodox Church", p. 49, citing Alexander Schmemann, "Report on Participating in the Session of the Council of Bishops of the Evangelical Orthodox Church—Santa Barbara, Ca., June 7–9, 1981", a report submitted to the Metropolitan Council of the Orthodox Church in America.</ref>

=== Disposition of parishes ===
Fr. John Bartke, who had been a member of the Christian World Liberation Front with Jack Sparks and had acted as the primary intermediary with the AOCANA, served as host for the initial set of [[Chrismation|chrismations]] and [[Ordination of women in Christianity|ordinations]] of the EOC at St. Michael's Church in Van Nuys, California.<ref>Herbel, ''Turning'', p. 123.</ref><ref>Gillquist, ''Becoming Orthodox'', p. 141.</ref> The group of 20 parishes became known as the Antiochian Evangelical Orthodox Mission, which subsequently issued a statement to [[Philip Saliba|Metropolitan Philip]] of the [[Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America]] stating that they knew what Orthodoxy was. The Antiochian Evangelical Orthodox Mission lasted until 1995 when it was disbanded and the parishes put under the standard diocesan framework of the archdiocese.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | title=Evangelical Orthodox Join Antiochian Jurisdiction | magazine=Theosis | volume=9 | number=9 | date=September 1986 | page=8}}</ref>

=== Conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy ===
On September 8, 1986, the majority of the EOC became part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America under Metropolitan Philip Saliba. The bishops of the EOC who joined were demoted to the rank of priests{{Emdash}}a requirement by the Antiochian Archdiocese which caused some EOC bishops to refrain from joining. According to Peter Gillquist, about three-fourths of the bishops accepted Metropolitan Philips' terms and joined, a total of 17 parishes.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Life of Metropolitan Philip {{!}} Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese |url=http://ww1.antiochian.org/Metropolitan_Philip_Biography |access-date=February 20, 2024 |website=ww1.antiochian.org}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Peter Gillquist said to the [[Los Angeles Times|''Los Angeles Times'']], "We will not be a 'church within a church.' Metropolitan Philip wants us to maintain our evangelical identity and to concentrate on [[evangelism]] and building mission churches."<ref name=":0" />