Reception into the Orthodox Church: baptism/chrismation in different jurisdictions

[Joshua K.]

Hello all,
I have a question for the clergy on this board, since they would be better able to answer my question. But I specifically want an ROCOR view and as well as an OCA.

I am a catachumen in the OCA and am scheduled to be Chrismated on Pentecost. I have been doing some research on the matter of why some jurisdictions Chrismate instead of baptize heterodox converts. Obviously the OCA only Chrismates, but am I right that the ROCOR baptizes all heterodox? And how all this comes from the ecumenical movement. If I wanted to leave the OCA and be received into the Church at an ROCOR parish how does that work? Does one have to become a catachumen all over again? What and how is all this done? Thank you for any help you can give me.
Joshua K.

[Father David Moser]

Obviously the OCA only Chrismates, but am I right that the ROCOR baptizes all heterodox?

The "default" method of reception in ROCOR parishes is by baptism and chrismation. If there is some good reason to receive someone by chrismation alone or even simply by confession of faith this is permitted (with the ruling bishop's blessing).


If I wanted to leave the OCA and be received into the Church at an ROCOR parish how does that work?

You would go to the ROCOR parish, confess to the priest, receive the Holy Mysteries and pay your parish dues (its usually a good thing to provide some verification that you are Orthodox - Usually a certificate of Baptism and/or Chrismation, or perhaps a letter from the priest who received you or from the parish where you were members previously). It doesn't matter how you were received - once you are Orthodox, you are Orthodox.

Fr David Moser

[Shelley Platt]

and pay your parish dues


What, specifically, are parish dues?



a certificate of Baptism and/or Chrismation,
Fr David Moser

Does every parish issue these certificates?

[Theodora E.]

What, specifically, are parish dues?

Does every parish issue these certificates?

Parish dues - your financial contribution to the parish. Some parishes are more specific than others on how much to give.

I don't know if the parishes issue the certifications. When I was chrismated 5.5 years ago in the Antiochian Archdiocese, I was sent a certificate from the central church office. The Antiochians had no dioceses at that time, just regions.

[Ryan]

If I wanted to leave the OCA and be received into the Church at an ROCOR parish how does that work? Does one have to become a catachumen all over again? What and how is all this done? Thank you for any help you can give me.
Joshua K.

Joshua- I believe you are asking if you can switch to a ROCOR parish so that you can get baptized as well as chrismated. Whether you would have to "become a catechumen all over again" probably depends a lot on the priest you talk to- some priests might recognize your time at the OCA as a valid part of your catechism.

Perhaps you don't feel comfortable only receiving chrismation, and you feel that this might be an incomplete reception. I urge you not to feel misgivings about the OCA receiving you by chrismation. The OCA's policy of receiving heterodox by chrismation is not purely a product of ecumenism. Some might say it's an over-extension of economia, but I don't think the average ROCOR priest would refuse to recognize you as Orthodox if you were received this way. The usual explanation given is that the chrismation "completes" the heterodox baptism retroactively- it is not a recognition that the heteredox sect has valid mysteries, and I believe this reasoning has some genuine precedent in the tradition of the Church. This method of reception of converts, while perhaps not ideal in the eyes of some, is nevertheless perfectly valid.

So I would say, if you already have a good rapport with the OCA priest and the parish, don't switch for only this reason.

[D. W. Dickens]

I am a catachumen in the OCA and am scheduled to be Chrismated on Pentecost. I have been doing some research on the matter of why some jurisdictions Chrismate instead of baptize heterodox converts. Obviously the OCA only Chrismates, but am I right that the ROCOR baptizes all heterodox? And how all this comes from the ecumenical movement. If I wanted to leave the OCA and be received into the Church at an ROCOR parish how does that work? Does one have to become a catachumen all over again? What and how is all this done?

I was received into the OCA via baptism just before Christmas last year. I'm not sure how you get that they don't baptize, even the OCA website makes it clear that converts are to be baptized (the only exception I know of is for folks like my wife who were Catholic, they are only Chrismated). It's possible that bishops have made more exceptions than this, but I don't know of them personally. In fact, it was this very fact that almost made me join the GOA to avoid having to be so-called "rebaptised".

Welcome home, btw.

You might want to be careful with the "e"-word (ecumenical) it means many different things to different people. I happen to respect the view of the Orthodox world ROCOR priests I've met tend to have, but I've met some OCA priests more ... conservative(?) than them including my own spiritual father.

[Theodora E.]

The Russian Orthodox Church, from which the OCA is descended, has at times chrismated folks, even before the Revolution. So, this isn't a development from "ecumenical involvement."

Two famous examples: St. Elizabeth the New Martyr, Grand Duchess of Russia, the sister-in-law of Nicholas II. She was married to one of his uncles, and became a nun after her husband was assassinated by revolutionaries in 1905. She was martyred by being thrown down a mine shaft in a different part of Russia, just hours after the Russian Imperial family, including her sister Tsarina Alexandra, were murdered. Tsarina Alexandra was also received into the Orthodox Church via chrismation. Tsarina Alexandra and her entire family were glorified as "Passion-Bearers." Elizabeth and Alexandra were both Protestants before becoming Orthodox in the late 19th Century.

[Eric Peterson]

The question of whether to receive certain converts by baptism and chrismation or just chrismation is a difficult one with several centuries of history, dating back to the 18th century at least, with respect to Protestants and Catholics. If baptism is important to you, you can request it. Appeal to the bishop if necessary. And, if denied, and if it's still important to you, by all means get it done where you can. It's better to do it that way than to try and "correct" it later on, to have questions or concerns later. Clergy need to be sensitive to this, I think. It's not a light matter. It's not just a matter of "this is what the Church says." No, there is real difference of opinion and a lot of history here.

[Ray Dobson]

It would appear that there are some broad sweeping statements being made here. It is not correct to say that the OCA receives by chrismation and not by baptism. I was received by baptism by an OCA priest who for pastoral reasons strongly advocates reception by baptism over chrismation. As mentioned by Theodora there has been, and continues to be times in which reception by chrismation is exercised. From my understanding it would be fair to say that the “normal” way of being received into the Church is via baptism however, there are circumstance that chrismation is used by exercising economia.

[Ryan]

On the OCA website, there is a question and answer page in which is said the following (http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=121&SID=3):


Concerning Baptism: The general practice throughout the OCA parishes is that an individual baptized according to the traditional Trinitarian formula, i.e., "In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit," is not received into the Church through Baptism but, rather, through the Sacraments of Chrismation, Penance, and the Eucharist, together with a statement of faith. Individuals who have never been baptized or who have been baptized in a non-Trinitarian formula [i.e., "In the Name of Jesus Christ" or "In the Name of God the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier"] are received into the Church through Baptism and the other sacraments listed above.

The Trinitarian formula is still used by most of the mainstream Christian groups in the US as far as I know (RC's, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, etc.). My own priest asked me, before my baptism, if I had been baptized in another denomination, implying that it would be normal to chrismate me in such a case.

If Joshua can request a baptism from the OCA, that would be great- but if they insist on chrismation, that is not, in my opinion, a good reason to jump to another jurisdiction. If reception by chrismation was good enough for St. Elizabeth the New Martyr, then it's really nothing to worry about.