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45-561: The Evangelical Orthodox Church ( EOC ), founded on January 15, 1979, is an Eastern Protestant Christian denomination established by former leaders of Campus Crusade for Christ , who, reacting against the Jesus People movement , developed their own synthesis of Evangelicalism , Eastern Orthodoxy , and Shepherding Movement principles. On January 14, 1979, the six members of the General Apostolic Council of

90-571: A Master of Divinity degree in 1965. In March 1966, the Antiochian Archdiocese, meeting in special convention, nominated Saliba to succeed the late Metropolitan Anthony (Bashir) as Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America. In July 1966, the Patriarchal Vicar for the widowed See of New York, Metropolitan Ilyas (Kurban), Archbishop of Tripoli, elevated Saliba to the dignity of archimandrite . Saliba

135-662: A circle and self-ordained each other, creating an entity called the New Covenant Apostolic Order (NCAO). Their own interpretations of Church history led to the adoption of a somewhat liturgical form of worship and induced a need for apostolic succession . In 1977 the first contact with the Eastern Orthodox Church was initiated through Orthodox seminarian Fr. John Bartke. In 1979 the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC)

180-808: A deacon under Fr. Tudor Popescu, at the Cuibul cu barză Church in Bucharest . After some time, Popescu converted to evangelicalism, due to Cornilescu's influence. Both of them began to preach salvation by personal faith in Christ. Gradually, they gained a significant following, including priests from the Romanian Orthodox Church. Soon other evangelical traits, such as singing and congregational participation, began to manifest in this group. They called into question many Orthodox practices, which they perceived to be unbiblical. Tudor Popescu has been called

225-638: A member of the Confessional Evangelical Lutheran Conference (CELC), a worldwide organization of confessional Lutheran church bodies of the same beliefs. The Assyrian Evangelical Church is a Middle Eastern Church which attained ecclesiastical independence from the Presbyterian mission in Iran , in 1870. Its membership is composed mostly of Eastern Aramaic speaking ethnic Assyrians who were originally part of

270-814: A reformation movement within the Malankara Church in South India , in the latter half of the 19th century. India was part of the British Empire at the time, while the Malankara Church is an Oriental Orthodox church, in communion with the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch . Concurrently, Anglican missionaries from England arrived in South India. They became teachers at the church's seminary and made

315-586: A reformed variant of the Liturgy of Saint James , with many parts in the local vernacular. The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church is in full communion with the Anglican Communion and maintains friendly relations with many other churches. Eastern Lutheranism refers to Lutheran churches, such as those of Ukraine and Slovenia, that use a form of the Byzantine Rite as their liturgy. It

360-649: A total of 17 parishes. Peter Gillquist said to the 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." According to the EOC's official website, as of September of 2024 it consists of five churches: three in the United States, and one each in Canada and Sweden. The EOC

405-502: Is a Christian denomination which blends Evangelical Protestantism with features of Eastern Orthodoxy . It started off in 1973 as a network of house churches established by Campus Crusade for Christ missionaries in the United States . The founders Peter E. Gillquist , Jack Sparks, Jon Braun, and J.R. Ballew wanted to restore Christianity to its primitive form based on the writings of the early Church Fathers . So they stood in

450-587: Is a Christian denomination with roots in Pentecostalism , based in Kerala , India . It exists as a part of the Gospel for Asia . In 2003, this church acquired episcopacy , by getting Indian Anglican bishops to ordain its founder K. P. Yohannan as a bishop. Henceforth this denomination adopted several elements of Eastern Christian worship and practices like the use of holy oils for anointing, while keeping

495-652: Is an Amharic and Tigrinya language term for evangelical Christians in Ethiopia and Eritrea . This movement has been influenced by the mainstream Oriental Orthodox Christianity of these countries as well as Pentecostalism . As Protestantism is relatively new in Ethiopia, most P'ent'ay are ex-Orthodox Christians. Many of these groups describe their religious practices as culturally Orthodox, but Protestant by doctrine. They boast approximately 16,500,000 members. The P'ent'ay denominations may constitute as much as 19% of

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540-839: Is in Russian). The Ukrainian Lutheran Church, formerly called the Ukrainian Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession, is a Byzantine Rite Lutheran Church based in Ukraine . The Eastern Christian denomination consists of 25 congregations within Ukraine, serving over 2,500 members and runs Saint Sophia Ukrainian Lutheran Theological Seminary in Ternopil in Western Ukraine. The ULC is

585-602: Is necessary for salvation and living in righteousness is given in the Bible. The church is engaged in active evangelism. The headquarters of this church is at Tiruvalla , a town in the state of Kerala . The Assyrian Pentecostal Church is a Pentecostal Christian denomination which originated in the 1940s among the Assyrian people of Iran and spread among ethnic Assyrians in Iraq , Turkey and Syria . They are native speakers of

630-607: Is not in communion with nor recognized by any Eastern Orthodox Church . Eastern Protestant Christianity Some Eastern Protestant Churches are in communion with similar Western Protestant churches. However, there is no universal communion between the various Eastern Protestant churches. This is due to the diverse polities, practices, liturgies, and orientations of the denominations which fall under this category, as can be seen in Western Protestantism. The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church has its origins in

675-506: Is overseen by a synod of bishops currently consisting of: Bp. Jakob Palm (Saskatoon, Canada), Bp. Thomas Andersson (Halmstad, Sweden), Bp. Mike Quigley (Brookfield, Missouri), and Bp. Joshua Beecham, presiding (Indianapolis, Indiana). Over 200 African parishes that had belonged to the EOC were released in August of 2024 on the grounds that the EOC did not have the resources to care for them properly. The official EOC website says, The EOC today

720-844: Is unique in that it is based on the Eastern Christian rite used by the Eastern Orthodox Church , while incorporating theology from the Divine Service contained in the Formula Missae , the base texts for Lutheran liturgies in the West. In the far north of the Scandinavian peninsula are the Sámi people , some of whom practice a form of Lutheranism called Apostolic Lutheranism, or Laestadianism due to

765-942: The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America . He held the position from 1966 until his death in March 2014. His tenure as an Orthodox bishop was the longest in American history. Saliba was educated at Balamand Orthodox Theological Seminary in Lebanon and at schools in Syria . He later studied in England at the Anglican Kelham Theological College and the University of London . After moving to

810-839: The Assyrian Church of the East and its offshoots, or the Syriac Orthodox Church . They, like other Assyrian Christians are sometimes targets of persecution by hostile governments and neighbors. The Armenian Evangelical Church is the product of a reform campaign from within the Armenian Apostolic Church . The reformers were influenced by the missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions , who arrived in Turkey in

855-692: The Assyrian Neo-Aramaic language, and also use it as their liturgical language . They use the Syriac Aramaic Bible. Most of the members of this denomination were originally part of the Assyrian Church of the East and its offshoots, or the Syriac Orthodox Church . The Assyrian Pentecostal Church is affiliated with the Assemblies of God Church. There have been reported instances of persecution against them as well. The Believers Eastern Church (formerly Believers Church )

900-772: The Middle East are currently organized as the Union of the Armenian Evangelical Churches in the Near East . The St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (STECI) is an Evangelical , Episcopal denomination based in Kerala , India . It derives from a schism in the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church in 1961. STECI holds that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant and infallible Word of God. Adherents believe that all that

945-624: The New Covenant Apostolic Order (NCAO)—Peter Gillquist, Jack Sparks, Jon Braun, J.R. Ballew, Gordon Walker, and Kenneth Berven—stood in a circle and self-ordained and proclaimed each other bishops. The following day they announced the formation of a new denomination—the Evangelical Orthodox Church—;consisting of congregations following the NCAO. According to NCAO leaders, the EOC

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990-879: The Orthodox Church in America (OCA). 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. EOC leaders also opened dialogue with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in 1981. In 1984 the bishops applied for the EOC's membership in the National Association of Evangelicals . Their application

1035-592: The United States he studied at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and at Wayne State University , where, in 1958, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. On 1 March 1959, Saliba was ordained to the priesthood by Metropolitan Anthony (Bashir) and assigned to the pastorate at St. George Church in Cleveland, Ohio . He undertook graduate theological studies at Saint Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York , and received

1080-502: The Antiochian Evangelical Orthodox Mission, which subsequently issued a statement to 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. On September 8, 1986,

1125-658: The Bible available in the Malayalam language. Inspired by the teachings of the missionaries and imbibing the ideas of the Protestant Reformation from them, a few priests under the leadership of Abraham Malpan initiated a reformation. Abraham Malpan also managed to get his nephew Deacon Mathew, ordained as bishop Mathews Mar Athanasius, by the Patriarch of Antioch. But many opposed the reforms. The groups for and against reforms engaged in court litigations for

1170-577: The Pietisical Union, whose members focused more directly on the Bible and organized Bible study meetings. They began to raise questions about what they saw as conflicts between biblical truths and the traditional practices of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Union also advocated Pietism , which they believed their church was devoid of. The leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church under Patriarch Matteos Chouhajian

1215-556: The Romanian Martin Luther, for his attempts to reform the Romanian Orthodox Church. Due to deviations from Eastern Orthodox doctrines , the Romanian Orthodox Church defrocked Fr. Tudor Popescu. Dumitru Cornilescu was forced to leave the country. But Popescu and his followers (originally called Tudorists), established their own Church; the Evangelical Church of Romania. The Evangelical Orthodox Church

1260-467: 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. The EOC was itself criticized by both secular and evangelical sources for the bishops’ exercise of binding authority over members. The EOC

1305-653: The church and its properties. These ended in 1889, through a verdict favoring the Patriarchal faction. Subsequently, the reformed faction became an independent church, known as the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. To date, there are 11 bishops, 1149 priests and over a million laity. While retaining many of the Syriac high church practices, the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church is Reformed in its theology and doctrines. The church employs

1350-633: The early nineteenth century, and published translated bibles for the Turkish-speaking Armenians . The reformers were led by Krikor Peshdimaljian, one of the leading intellectuals of the time. Peshdimaljian was the head of a training school for the Armenian Apostolic clergy. The school was under the auspices of the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople . Out of this school, emerged a society called

1395-420: The efforts of Lars Levi Laestadius . However, others are Orthodox in religion . Some Apostolic Lutherans consider their movement as part of an unbroken line down from the Apostles . In Russia, Laestadians of Lutheran background cooperate with the Ingrian church, but since Laestadianism is an interdenominational movement, some are Eastern Orthodox. Eastern Orthodox Laestadians are known as Ushkovayzet (article

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1440-426: The initial set of chrismations and ordinations for the EOC at St. Michael's Church in Van Nuys, California . Unable to completely reconcile Evangelicalism and Orthodoxy, many EOC members formally joined the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in 1987. Some others joined the Orthodox Church in America . The rest remained independent and continue as the Evangelical Orthodox Church. P'ent'ay

1485-418: 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—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,

1530-413: The population of Ethiopia , while being a small minority in Eritrea . Philip Saliba Metropolitan Philip (Saliba) ( Arabic : فيليب صليبا ‎ ) (born Abdullah Saliba ; 10 June 1931 Abou Mizan, Lebanon  –  19 March 2014 Fort Lauderdale, Florida ) was a Lebanese Orthodox prelate who served as Archbishop of New York, Metropolitan of All North America, and primate of

1575-403: The principle of sola scriptura . Its name was officially changed to Believers Eastern Church in 2017, so as to "better express its roots in the ancient and orthodox faith". The Evangelical Church of Romania (Romanian: Biserica Evanghelică Română) is one of Romania 's eighteen officially recognised religious denominations. The church originated between 1920 and 1924, through the work of

1620-420: 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

1665-427: The young Romanian Orthodox theologians Dumitru Cornilescu and Tudor Popescu. Deacon Cornilescu was motivated to translate the Bible into modern Romanian, by Princess Calimachi of Moldavia . While translating the Epistle to the Romans , Cornilescu became interested in the concept of personal salvation. By the time he completed the translation, he had become staunchly evangelical . Afterwards, Cornilescu served as

1710-419: Was against any reform, and excommunicated the reformists from the church. This separation led to the formation of the Armenian Evangelical Church, on July 1, 1846, at Constantinople . By 1850, the new church received the official recognition of the Ottoman government . Later, however, Armenians were forced out of Ottoman Turkey , due to the Armenian genocide . The Armenian Evangelical congregations in

1755-558: Was chosen to lead them. Twenty years after the radical nineteen-sixties, the Jesus People were losing steam and some of them had begun pursuing New Testament Christianity, forming the Evangelical Orthodox Church . After studying the ancient Church through to the time of the East-West Schism , contact was made with the Greek Archdiocese and the Orthodox Church in America . The EOC leaders, led by Fr. Peter E. Gillquist , approached Metropolitan Philip. After an extended process, Metropolitan Philip brought 17 Evangelical Orthodox Parishes into

1800-459: Was elected for the See of New York by the Holy Synod of the Antiochian Patriarchate on 5 August 1966, and on 14 August 1966 was consecrated to the episcopacy by Patriarch Theodosios VI (Abourjaily) at the Monastery of the Prophet Elias in Dhour Shouier, Lebanon. Saliba was enthroned at the Cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Brooklyn, New York , on 13 October 1966. In 1977, the two Antiochian Jurisdictions in North America merged. Metropolitan Philip

1845-428: Was launched with 2,500 members in fifty churches organized into seventeen dioceses. However, former members reported the membership as less than 1,000. 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

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1890-429: Was organized. The EOC pursued various avenues to obtain episcopacy , including a visit to the Patriarch of Constantinople , but to no avail. At last they met Patriarch Ignatius IV of Antioch , during his historic visit to Los Angeles , which proved successful. This meeting was arranged by Fr. John Bartke, who later served as the primary intermediary between the EOC and the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, and also hosted

1935-578: 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 ecclesiastical privilege . 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

1980-400: Was tabled over concerns by members of the executive committee concerning the EOC’s teachings and practices. 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 . Orthodox sources have stated that

2025-411: Was unthinkable that any Eastern Orthodox Church patriarch would agree to these terms. 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 chrismations and ordinations of the EOC at St. Michael's Church in Van Nuys, California. The group of 20 parishes became known as

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