ΕΑΝ ΠΡΟΤΙΜΑΤΕ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ ΠΑΤΗΣΤΕ ΤΗ ΣΗΜΑΙΑ ΣΤΟ ΚΑΤΩ ΜΕΡΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΟΘΟΝΗΣ

By Nick Stamatakis

In his recent address at the Leadership 100 Conference, Archbishop Elpidophoros spoke at length – and with evident confidence – about the growth of Orthodoxy in the United States (link here). Converts are arriving in significant numbers. No one disputes this. Across jurisdictions, many—but not all—parishes are fuller, catechumen classes are longer, and families—not merely isolated individuals—are coming to the Orthodox Church seeking stability, truth, and continuity.

First of all, this growth happens away mostly from GOARCH and especially away from the Northeast, Elpidophoros’ Direct Archdiocesan District – for a reason: It’s a “scream” for traditional faith and NOT for novelty. And this very growth – away from his real ecumenist and heretic reality and practice- makes the Archbishop’s broader “vision” more urgent to examine, not less. Because the central question is no longer whether Orthodoxy is growing, but why—and whether current leadership initiatives align with the reasons people are coming.

Why Converts Are Coming—and What They Are Fleeing

The Archbishop correctly notes that converts are drawn by the power of Orthodox liturgy, by the sense that “this is the place where God dwells,” echoing the experience of the Slavic envoys in Hagia Sophia. He is also right that newcomers seek a Church that forms them, rather than one that passively affirms whatever beliefs they already hold. Families, especially, are arriving because they want a safe haven—a place where children can be grounded in faith, moral clarity, and a coherent Christian vision of the human person.

That is precisely why the proposal to acquire St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York is so deeply troubling.

St. Bartholomew’s: A Symbol of LGBTQ Inclusion That Speaks Louder Than Words

St. Bartholomew’s is not a neutral space awaiting Orthodox renewal. Under its Episcopal jurisdiction, it became nationally known for its active promotion of LGBTQ ideology, including the prominent and repeated flying of the rainbow flag—a symbol that has come to represent a “theology” fundamentally at odds with Orthodox teaching.

This history is not incidental. It is public, documented, and celebrated by that community. Even more concerning, events at St. Bartholomew’s featuring rainbow symbolism coincided with appearances by Archbishop Elpidophoros himself and occasions honoring Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (celebrated his June 11 nameday there). The message received by many faithful was unmistakable: accommodation, ambiguity, or worse.

If Orthodoxy is now attracting converts precisely because it refuses to bend to liberal and ecumenist/globalist cultural pressures, what does it say to place one of the most visible Orthodox presences in America inside a building still publicly associated with the very ideologies converts are fleeing?

Ideology vs. Catechesis: A Fatal Contradiction

The Archbishop emphasized the need for unified catechesis and trained catechists—an acknowledgment that Orthodoxy must teach consistently and clearly. Yet catechesis is not merely about structure; it is about content. The Archbishop warned that the Church must not become a refuge for ideologies. Yet symbols matter. Buildings matter. Institutional partnerships matter. Flying the rainbow flag outside a flagship Orthodox cathedral—literal or metaphorical—would communicate precisely the ideological validation he claims to reject.

Here, the contradiction sharpens.

The same institutional ecosystem surrounding this “vision” includes figures such as George Demacopoulos, a Fordham University “theologian” repeatedly linked—by serious Orthodox critics—to efforts that soften or reinterpret Orthodox teaching on sexuality in progressive terms. These initiatives are not fringe; they are connected to institutes and programs funded by GOARCH itself.

So which catechesis is envisioned?

  • One that transmits the ascetical, patristic, and moral tradition that draws converts?

  • Or one that quietly reframes Orthodoxy to coexist comfortably with liberal/progressive ideological demands?

=============

Here is what Demacopoulos and the “Fordhamites” (who are FUNDED by GOARCH!!!) plan in February:

2026 Orthodox Inclusion Weekend

LGBTQ+ Orthodox Christian Retreat

Registration is now open for our second annual “Orthodox Inclusion” community-building weekend retreat for LGBTQ+ Orthodox faithful and allies. We hope you’ll join us this February in NYC for two days of learning, prayer, and fellowship.

All panel events will be held in Bateman Hall, on the 2nd floor of Fordham University School of Law (Lincoln Center Campus).

Friday, February 20

4:30pm  Check-in
5pm       Welcome and Ice Breaker
6pm       Evening Prayers
6:30pm  Reception

Saturday, February 21

8:30am  Coffee, Pastries, and Fellowship
9am       Opening Prayer
9:15am  Session 1: What Does Tradition Say?
10:45am Coffee Break
11am       Session 2: Trans Experiences in the Church
12pm       Lunch Provided
2pm         Session 3: Sharing Our Stories
3:15pm    Coffee Break
3:30pm     Session 4: Advocacy in Action

We also invite you to join the group for liturgy on Sunday morning, followed by brunch at the Greek Kitchen.

Registration is free and open to the public. Please register in advance.

THREE years ago, Demacopoulos tried to organize an LGBTQ ministry in Greenlawn and drew the ire of the community (link here for our report). Is this how Elpidophoros plans to attract new converts? In what “reality” does he live? 

===============

Growth Requires Fidelity, Not Ecumenical Signaling

Orthodoxy is growing because it offers something rare in modern America: continuity without apology. Converts are not arriving for innovation, prestige, or elite approval. They are arriving because Orthodoxy still speaks of repentance, transformation, and obedience to Christ rather than affirmation of the self.

A “vision” that includes acquiring a church so publicly identified with moral and theological departures sends a disastrous signal to these newcomers. It suggests that Orthodoxy, too, may eventually soften, rebrand, and conform—only more slowly. If the Church truly wishes to “rise and build,” it must build on fidelity, not symbolism borrowed from a world Orthodoxy exists to heal, not imitate.

A note to the heretical Archbishop: First, make a clear public statement of repentance that you will never fly the rainbow flag again outside Saint Barts, and that you will abandon your heresies and then the faithful might reconsider the idea… Anyway, with your membership around New York dropping like a rock, why do you need a more visible Cathedral?

In any case, most reports identify the growth not as going primarily to GOARCH, but to other Orthodox Churches, particularly the Antiochian, OCA, and ROCOR.  And away from the liberal Northeast…

The Question Remains

So the question must be asked plainly:

Is this the vision of Elpidophoros? An Orthodox future marked by growth in numbers, but confusion in witness? By catechesis in theory, but contradiction in practice? By tradition proclaimed in words, yet undermined by symbols like the rainbow flag flying outside St. Bart’s?

The converts are watching. The families are watching. And they did not come to Orthodoxy for LGBTQ ministries, ideological experiments, or ecumenical ambiguity.

They came for the faith once delivered to the saints. Anything less is not vision—it is betrayal.

February 6, 2026, n.stamatakis@aol.com   www.helleniscope.com

DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.

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38 COMMENTS

  1. As a persistent critic of the Archbishop and the Fordhamite agenda, I can see acquiring St Bart’s as a “glass half full.”

    First of all, it’s a magnificent structure, architecturally speaking.

    However, that’s about all I could say. If it’s acquired, then it will need to firehoses of holy water to eradicate the demons which presently reside there. Furthermore, all LGBTQ+ paraphernalia have to be gathered up and publicly burnt in front of God and everybody.

    I’m not sure that the East Coast elite has the fire in their collective belly to do that.

    Still, I choose to remain hopeful.

    • Restructuring the GOA real estate portfolio is overdue, most structures are a mess. 8-10 East, St Basil, the GOA Cathedral and Tower. Look at the scandal and corruption around the St Nicholas Shrine. How many years before that’s in disarray and needing major repairs?

      The problem with GOA is that they lack the skills, integrity, and trust to restructure. Additionally, ELPI is the Archbishop of Greece not America. American needs are third priority. The surge of young men to Orthodoxy is not to the Greeks , it’s to the Antiochians and other various OCA. The GOA is 40-50% fewer in 2020 than in 2010. That trend continues.

      GOA and ELPI are good at grabbing headlines, but they need to be dissolved and rebuilt without Manhattan Oligarchy, silly acting Metropolitans, Vicars and Panamanian Deacons- if there is to be any real progress.

  3. Fortunately, we are not Catholics. Archbishop Elpidophoros can say what he likes. The rest of the faithful (and bishops) outside of his jurisdiction can SNIP (Smile, Nod, Ignore, Proceed). When this blows up in his face (which it will, sadly), there will be a “course correction.” HAH Bartholomew is not Pope of the East, but too many seem to view him that way (even if unintentionally). Who outside of his jurisdiction cares what he says? The only thing that matters is what actually happens. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” (“Memo or it isn’t happening,” to use office version of that maxim)

    Did the Greek Faithful listen to the Pro-Turk garbage the Patriarch of the Week (or the day, depending on who was being shaken down that month) was spewing in the 19th Century? It seems that it isn’t just liberals who have historical amnesia.

  4. Where is the outrage? Why only here? There should be thousands refusing this horror of horrors. Why the complacency? Can you not see the secular one world devil religion forming day by day. These hierarchs are evil. How can one go to church, receive Communion, and ignore this travesty, besides all the other crimes they have committed.

    • Joseph – you never cease to amaze all of us with your callousness. It was taken down only temporarily around June 11 when they planned to celebrate Bartholomew’s name day. Meanwhile, as we have seen, there are no signs of repentance or change in GOARCH’s pro-LGBTQ tendencies and policies.

      • I’ve never seen a “pride” flag on GOARCH’s website, yet Helleniscope regularly displays them.

        What homosexual policies? The GOARCH website clearly states that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

        The policy of allowing a non-Orthodox married spouse to receive communion does not apply to same-sex couples as they are not “one flesh” as married couples are, even if the state recognizes them as “married”.

        The baptism of infants under the legal guardianship of a same-sex couple does not recognize “gay marriage”, but rather it only recognizes legal guardianship.

        Fordham University is an academic institution that explores fringe academia. Even if they were influential, which they are not, they have not and cannot institute policy for GOARCH. The policies of GOARCH are decided by the Holy Synod, not Fordham.

        While the New York City Metropolitan area has the highest concentration of people with homosexual orientation, it still represents a very small minority.

        Unbridled heterosexualism remains by far a much greater social problem of casual sex, abortions, and divorce.

        • Joseph – One think is for sure you are attracting interest and support to Helleniscope with your mostly callous positions. How many times do we need to report that the Fordham Institute is being financially supported by GOARCH? They may as well fly the rainbow flag!! Money talks!

        • Recognizes “legal guardianship”? Not really…it legitimizes a cruel form of “child sacrifice” that has been perpetrated by the secular State, by “assigning guardianship” of the product of a male and a female to two male or two female “parents” who proudly live a life outside of the boundaries of the Church.

          Just like if two pagans were to show up and ask for their child to be baptized Orthodox, but remain committed to teaching the child “pagan propaganda and beliefs at home”, this situation is absoluteliy no different, and the Church should refrain from baptizing such a child, until the time when the child is an adult, and can make the sound decision to “renounce Satan, and his pomp (his foster “parents'” ideologies), etc…

          And as for non-Orthodox spouses to receive Communion…that’s the slippery slope of “Economy” for you…the modern trend of allowing the non-Orthodox to be “married in the Church” (against centuries of Tradition) has opened the doors to “new innovations”, Schism, and Heresy…

          The Church Fathers established things for a good reason…Elpidophoros (and anyone like him) does NOT have the authority to overturn Tradition like that. That is not Orthodoxy.

    • Jeseph, It’s unbelievable that you still find excuses for the presence of this flag, given the circumstances. “the rainbow flag was taken down and replaced with the flag of the Ecumenical Patriarchate at St. Bartholomew’s”

      You know should not have been there in the first place so stop finding excuses.

      “That should give us a hint.”

      What hint is that? That they are not serious about removing it and that they are committed to the pro LGBTQ propaganda? I can’t find an excuse for this, and you are clearly scrumbling to find one. What saint do you think would be ok with flying this flag on his cell? Isn’t a flag with a big cross on it or other Christian symbol, more appropriate?

      • Sandy, GOARCH does not own St. Bartholomew’s. Stop pretending otherwise.

        It is a positive thing that the “pride” flag was taken down at least temporarily for Archbishop Elpidophoros. The hint is that if GOARCH ever does acquire St. Bartholomew’s, we can rest assured there wont be a “pride” flag out front. There has never been one flying in front of GOARCH’s current headquarters either.

  6. I believe Abp. Elpidophoros is betting that converts, who once paid a price to convert, will hold their noses when the stench is noticed and not transfer to an Orthodox (!) jurisdiction. He can play converts and the corrupt against one another, buying time to develop his position as leader of North American Protestantism. This means he regards pan-heresy not as error to be avoided but as an errant mechanism to shrewdly exploit, using the simplicity and foolishness of others to his advantage. This pattern appears consistent with the EP’s global strategy. Thus Elpi will never be censured by the EP but perhaps show himself worthy of enthronement. Meanwhile, laymen are left marveling, “Why does he do this? How can this be allowed?!”

  7. Pithy posts ya’ll! God help us from the gayest Archbishop Elpi (reaping bad karma.) We just don’t know his private hell.
    GOARCH’s glorification of sexual deviancy tells us all we need to know: they disrespect holy scripture & it’s no longer a sacred house of worship but a rich clubhouse led by perverts.

  8. The early church frequently occupied and repurposed pagan temples. Hopefully, this is will happen at St Barts to the glory of God. A church once dedicated to an amoral woke agenda will become a place of Christian Orthodox worship and out reach. However, I don’t think that occupying st Barts will anyway advance Orthodoxy. This vision is motived more by pride rather than humility. The ” look how great we Greeks are” is not God’s will.

    Additionally, the lack of converts in the diocesan district is because it is far more ethnic than the other dioceses. You aren’t going to attract people to Orthodoxy using Greek. The first question asked by a visitor can’t be -what part of Greece are you from? There must be a concerted effort to focus on understanding the liturgy.

    • “A church once dedicated to an amoral woke agenda will become a place of Christian Orthodox worship and outreach”?? JK – Who is going to turn the amoral woke agenda to a Christian Orthodox worship? The same “Elpidoktonos” leader who allows generous funding to the Fordhamites? You must be kidding…

      • Most Orthodox parishes do not have woke agendas, and are not influenced by the fordamites. I would rather have St Barts under the GOA, or even some schismatic non canonical Orthodox church, than as an Episcopal church. Some times one must choose the worse of 2 evils.

      • While the Episcopalians have taken on modern ideologies in the last few decades, their St. Bartholomew’s church has been dedicated to the Holy Apostle St. Batholomew ever since it was built, I believe, in 1918.

        Perhaps the main problem for using St. Bartholomew’s as an Orthodox cathedral is the fact that it has landmark status, and that includes the church interior and organ. Landmark status can be a real headache, and it can prohibit a parish from making changes. Would an iconostasis even be allowed? As for the organ, I know Greek parishes sometimes have them, but the one at St. Bartholomew’s is among the world’s largest and finest. If the church is acquired, there probably would be some future conflict about having organ concerts there. Of course these are just legal issues, and if the Greek Archdiocese has enough sway with the city, then perhaps these can be resolved.

        • I believe that Elpidokontos would be thrilled to have a cathedral where local law prohibits compliance with Orthodox tradition. It is right in line with his messy ideas.

    • Εάν τα Ελληνικά ειναι πρόβλημα για τους νεοφώτιστους τότε να καθισουν εκεί που ειναι και να πάρουν και τους “ορθοδοξους¨ ιερείς και μη που πέραν της Αγγλικής δεν ξέρουν ούτε τι θα πει η λέξη ¨Κύριoς¨ Ολοι αυτοί που συρρεουν στην Ορθοδοξία ούτε ξερουν τι θέλουν αλλα μαλλον συμβάλουν στην αποσύνθεσή της δηλ. στην περαιτέρω προτεσταντικοποίησή της. Πρώτος όρος τα Ελληνικά. Χριστιανισμός και ιδιαίτερα Ορθοδοξία χωρίς Ελληνικά είναι βαρβαρότητα (με χριστιανικο περιτύλιγμα) Ουκ εν τω πολλώ το ευ.

  9. “Most Orthodox parishes do not have woke agendas….”

    Until those parishes gets a priest who’s been graduated from the woke ‘orthodox’ seminary in the shadow of Harvard

    • Or a fordhamite priest which is probably worse… Why is Elpi taking money from orthodox and giving it to this people instead of donating and investing in orthodox seminaries? I have heard this people speak. They read, like Barto. No inspiration. Very dull and I don’t even trust what they teach because it’s off. Some self interpretation that is not rooted in traditions or Holy Fathers at all. When I read St. Porphyrius, St. Paisios, etc I feel something. When I read those so-called experts, I feel nothing and I find them very boring and irritating.

  10. You should do some investigation about whether St Bart’s is actually interested in selling… a couple years ago they sold some air rights for something like 70 million dollars and said they were going to put 20 million toward renovations. It would be extremely embarrassing if Elpidoporos makes announcements like this if there’s no sign that the other party actually wants to sell.

  11. Btw is St Bart’s facing east? An Orthodox church MUST be facing east. Not to mention all the specifications of measurements and detail.

    “The East-West orientation can be interpreted in several ways. It symbolizes the movement of the worshipper from the darkness of sin (the West) into the Light of Truth (the East). The Sanctuary lies to the East of the nave because Christ, the Light of the World, is symbolized by the rising sun. Or, as worshippers, we look for Christ to come again from the East (cf. Isa 41, Ezek 43).” Christ will come from the east and def NOT the west!

    • Yes, St. Bartholomew’s is facing East, while most Orthodox churches in Manhattan dont face East because of the street grid.

      The St. Nicholas Shrine also faces East.

  12. I would not use the word must but rather preferable. There are many Orthodox churches that do not face east. Tle letter of the law kills but the spirit gives life says St Paul.

  13. 1. The Demetriades Pelham Esplanade fiasco showed the GOA persistently ignores the laws of economics in favor of the laws of vanity, ie they buy high, sell low. Further, nearly all Orthodox ignore hard facts for
    spurious anecdotal evidence because they ironically (ounia fatsa, ounia ratsa) lack apophatic Hellenistic critical thinking in favor of the cataphatic thinking of Rome.

    2. How do they actually plan to get the money? Chat GPT estimates the value at $250 million without the air rights If you also want the air rights, the price is one billion. The deed belongs to “The Rector, Wardens, and Members of the Vestry of St. Bartholomew’s Church in the City of New York.” Equally Byzantine Christ Church Methodist on 60 & Madison would go for $200 million. Zillow says neither is for sale. Delusions of grandeur that accompany paranoid schizophrenia can now be treated with three month injections.

    3. Episcopal chums who are conservative attend St Thomas and see St Bart as a rogue, vain, woke parish.
    I think it is a serious error to assume the majority of cradle Orthodox share conservative Republican views.
    Many effete affected refugees from the GOA cathedral attend St Barts, but more are the conservatives who fled Spyridon for the Presbyterian Redeemer

    4. A better way to adopt to trends would be to use the WTC church as a televised megachurch. Many elderly shutins used to follow the GOA Cathedral when it was televised. Many protestant parishes attended by my neighbors no longer have regular clergy, but instead view megachurches on a large screen at their churches.

    5. It is generally true that Orthodox and Episcopal churches have allowed each other to hold services in their buildings. St John the Divine in Morningside Heights has long had a Serbian chapel. cf https://anglicanhistory.org/orthodoxy/emhardt_historical1920.html Several times, when the Clergy Laity was held in Manhattan (1984, 2024), St Barts was borrowed for liturgy, closing all the nearby parishes and busing people in.

    6. Is this a sign of our patriarch’s vanity to think this church was named for him?

    7. About two decades ago St Bart got a conservative pastor from the midwest who thought he could bring in the homosexuals without endorsing them. They instead converted both is sons to homosexuality.

  14. Apropos of hoping to establish a “Greek university” in America, I’ve been thinking that this is a pipe dream and a self-defeating one at that.

    Why do I say this?

    For one thing, what does “Greek University” mean? Will the classes be in Greek?

    Second, we are experiencing the slow-motion implosion of many colleges throughout the US. Why? For many reasons, including (1) the destruction of classical education, (2) the conquest of the woke agenda (which has even penetrated into the STEM fields, (3) the eventual end of guaranteed student loans. The last item allowed universities to flout anti-trust laws and fix their prices. They did this because they were assured a government-backed loan.

    Those days are quickly coming to a close. If the Archbishop and his East Coast elites think that a fully-accredited college will be a cash cow, or attract the best and the brightest of the Greek-Americans, they are gravely mistaken. I would go so far as to say they haven’t thought this through.

    • Well stated George… There is however one more potent factor that will likely reduce universities to museums: the advent of Artificial Intelligence is bound to radically change all grades of education in the next ten years. Those who pretend they are “planning” for education have ignored it completely. If A.I. will render legal training and even most medical training unnecessary, if A.i. can now built a website in hours, you can imagine what will happen to humanities and social sciences – such as a “Greek” University… We can hope that some kind of social function will be deemed necessary at all levels of education but even that will be VERY questionable because of what you explained – the woke culture… My children – along with millions of Americans (including Candace Owens) do not plan sending their (future) kids to any school, public or private… A good private school costs tens of thousands of dollars and with that kind of money they can “invent” many other solutions for education… Which is now turning to a “glorified babysitting” or “socializing” institution…

  15. An archon tells me it’ll never happen – it’s only a dream & a
    sign should be plastered on St Bartholomew church:
    “This Building Is Condemned”. Look there’s not enough fumigation to cleanse the sexual deviant emanations out of that place.

  16. My goodness such hassles from having children…+ for what? And Why? In my philosophy:
    Just DON’T Have Kids!
    The world has deteriorated badly since our folks had kids, those noble days are over…

    Besides, look at the endless disruptions for any quest toward Theosis – the ultimate goal of Orthodoxy…
    Truth be told , once you embark on this worldly path just wave goodbye to your freedom – whether it be spiritual or as C.G. Jung called it – one’s personal “individuation”.
    In my opinion?
    The Monk Path —
    they got it right‼️🕊️♥️

    • By having kids, parents find salvation. It is very hard, harder than ever. But it was hard during the wars too, during crises like the great depression. We complain, but can it be any worse, than to live during these times and have nothing to feed the kids? But we must go on. If orthodox people stop having kids, what will become of this world, without their prayers? If orthodox women stop giving birth, we will have no more saints. The world will end when the last person that can be saved will be born. Yes, it is hard. But God helps us.

  17. Trust me:
    Not having children will forever remain the LEAST of the world’s problems…
    And yes I do believe a mother’s love for her child can bring her closer to Theosis than even some monks. St. Paisios tells of a married Orthodox man in America with children who rarely went to church; his wife deserted him + the kids; he wept forever trying to get her back but she went mad + refused… one day he got on his knees crying to Jesus for help + his room filled with endless light showering him with love. That man flew to Greece to ask the elder Paisios if what he saw was real + he confirmed it was.

    The issue is: which path aligns for you to reach that center point – if it’s being immersed in worldliness + all its disruptions? Then go for it. Everyone has their calling + most of all Destiny! And all of it is blessed.
    ♥️🕊️

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