There seems now to be more than anecdotal evidence that Orthodox Christianity is growing rapidly in the U.S. I don’t recall whether the evidence is more than anecdotal that it’s growing especially fast in the southern states, but that certainly is a widely shared impression, and forms the basis of this video, which looks at two parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) in South Carolina.
Both parishes have a number of converts along with “cradle Orthodox.” The second is led by a Charleston-born, back-slapping, charismatic Greek restauranteur/Priest. Yup, a southern-fried Greek is Priest in a Russian Orthodox parish!
I don’t know for certain why Orthodoxy is especially appealing to Southerners, or why, again anecdotally, it holds special appeal for men – being one of few Christian traditions in which men appear to gain interest before women and to be quite faithful in attendance.
I suspect, along with others who have suggested it first, that it’s because Orthodoxy is demanding (whence the appeal to men) and congenial to people who have rejected consumerism to a greater extent than most Americans (concentrated in the south) and who have concomitantly tired of the marketing gimmicks of megachurches and their wannabe imitators. In Orthodoxy is found sobriety and orientation toward God, not to what research says are this year’s trending “felt needs.”
But just as Jonathan Haidt has found that political orientation is largely instinctive, with narrative explanations and arguments following and not always being very accurate, so my hunches may be tainted, as may even the bona fide explanations of male and southern Orthodox converts.
Apologies to Fr. Joseph Huneycutt for borrowing his podcast name for this blog entry, but it fit entirely too well to resist. And a H/T to the evocatively named, considering the topic of this particular entry, “Byzantine Texas” blog.
Tipsy Teetotaler ن 
I enjoyed watching this and hope it gets wide circulation. That said, I have doubts about the whole Southern-Orthodoxy-as-Next-Big-Thing. Speaking from personal experience as a Southern (check) Orthodox (check) convert (check), I just don’t see it taking off. For one thing, it is so much newer here than in other parts of the country, save for some coastal cities that attracted Greek immigrants. When you are starting from zero, any growth appears impressive. Yes, our Orthodox churches are attracting both evangelical and high-church refugees, but it is nothing more than a dribble. Southern churches, and culture, are going the way of the country as a whole, maybe just a few years behind. Our much-vaunted Southern religiosity can be a double-edged sword as well. I was reading an obituary in the paper this week, in which the decedent’s daughter recounted her mother’s Christian walk. Apparently, she never left a cafe without asking the waitress about her “personal relationship with the Lord,” and where she went to church on Sunday mornings. And it seems she spent early Sundays on the phone, waking folks up and making sure they would be in church later on. I am making no judgments here, but just noting that Southern religion is often awfully broad, but not very deep, and to some, it just seems like busybodyiness and noseyness. Yes, Southerners value tradition, or at least they think they do, even though we have often valued the wrong ones, it seems. But I do see why this might attract some. But Southerners are fiercely individualistic as well, and so Orthodoxy would hold no water for many who want to make it up as they go, to suite their own style. Finally, the makers of this film need to watch out a little–when Southerners talk about the South it usually devolves into a goo of honey-talk, and there is some of that here. Never believe your own PR, I say. Finally, I hope I am proved wrong, and that Orthodox missions blanket the South. That is the prayer of this old cynic. Best, John.