Summary
Our Mission Team that was lead by The Rev. Fr. Luke Veronis was composed of seminarians and one clergyman from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and St. Vladimir’s Seminary along with another clergyman from the Serbian Archdiocese and participated in a two week mission trip to Albania. This short term mission trip was preceded by an accelerated period of preparation over the course of five days that entailed 25 hours of class time instruction where we were provided with a general overview of the concepts of Orthodox missions and evangelism, introduced to the life and teachings of His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios (Yannoulatos) of Albania, and prepared for our time in Albania by Fr. Luke himself along with Nathan Hoppe, The Rev. Fr. David Rucker from the OCMC, and His Grace Bishop Ilia (Katre) of Philomelion.
There were many tasks at hand for our “Historic Team” that arrived in Albania on the 25th of May, and departed on the 7th of June. In the spirit of His Beatitude’s teachings on what are the immediate and ultimate foundations and goals of Orthodox missiology, the experiences that we shared with one another as a team and more importantly with our Albanian brothers and sisters in Christ allowed us to set our eyes on a very important glimpse of what it means to participate in the life of Christ as it acts upon the world, breathing new life onto everything it encounters. In the process, all we could do was offer our two mites of gratitude during such a short stay.
Still, such a thing allows one to realize that we all must walk with Christ for the purpose of sharing the love and joy that we have received as having been blessed as inheritors of the Faith with the world around us. When we’re confronted with the challenge of Christ in his commandment to "Go forth and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you,” and that “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth," for the life of us we must affirm this knowing that Christ is in our midst to the end of the ages, knowing that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit in our endeavors as Christians who have been charged with spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.
Discerning an Orthodox Missiology
With the task at hand being to provide an assessment and critique as to how we perceived the resurrected life of the Church in Albania in light of the missiology of Archbishop Anastasios, I would first like to provide a very brief framework so that we can better appreciate the “presuppositions and principles” that have guided the Archbishop in the formation of his mission witness. Regardless of the fact that a comprehensive or systematic scheme of missiology has yet to be developed in the Orthodox Church as James Stamoolis points out in Eastern Orthodox Mission Theology Today, aside from being grounded in the essentials of Orthodox theology, the foundations that have been established by the Archbishop in his contributions to the understanding of missions find their grounding in the fact that they are independent of any arbitrary aims that would impede our need to respond to and join the momentum of God’s salvific and glorifying actions upon the world. This is why when we encounter Orthodox missiology as being viewed as a theologumena, that the basic tenets of missiology as they have been laid down by the Archbishop can allow us to articulate mission as a “profound inner necessity” that must take place in our lives not only for the validation of our own relationship with God and for the rest of mankind.
Herein lies the definition of mission where God’s plan for the salvation and glorification of both mankind and the world occurs “’in the Holy Spirit’ for the sanctification of all things, their recapitulation in Christ, and their access to the Father (Eph 2:18). This cooperative and mobilized effort is furthermore defined as a “universal mobilization for a catholic glorification of the universe” that is multi-dimensional with respect to the diversity of every person and nation.
The Aims of Orthodox Missiology
It could be said that the purpose of mission encompasses a united movement of aims that are both ultimate in the grand scheme of God’s plan for the glorification of the world as well as immediate for the purposes of serving as a means to that very end. The aims of mission when responded to in the proper perspective will also entail certain responses regarding the motivations and approaches that are often seen taking place in the Christian’s participation in the missionary endeavor.
Ultimate and Immediate Aims
God’s desire for the glorification of the world is a constant leitmotif in the process of our salvation history. This process that preceded the very foundations of the creation of the world and has as a goal the eschatological fulfillment in its transfiguration is the framework in which the central themes of love and glory that are key elements of Orthodox theology come into play as manifesting themselves in the world.
This is in itself what the present author views to be the foundation, momentum, and ultimate goal of the Church’s mission. This must also be distinguished as an aid to the aims of the Church’s intentions for the reason that it is our mission that must be dependant of that of God’s on account that the “Christian mission is incorporated into God’s mission,” and that ”our mission surely cannot be different from his.” The fact that we are participants in this mission is made possible by the Pentecostal reality in the life of the Church itself and in the commission of Christ to preach the gospel to all of God’s creation.
Because the mission of the Church is understood as a reality that takes shapes as a result man’s relationship with God (In this instance the Archbishop uses the term “theandric reality.” ) our mission is dependant on certain immediate principles that are both the “beginning and the preparation” for the ultimate purpose that embodies the living presence of the Holy Spirit acting upon the world. These immediate actions consist of 1.) The invitation for people to live a transfigured life in Christ by means of the proclamation of the gospel, and 2.) The establishment of a faithful community that will nurture one another and transcend its own dimensions that are in need of both transformation and healing in order to become the local manifestation of the Church.
This approach which is considered by many in Orthodox circles as an “incarnational approach” is in itself an incarnation of the “Logos of God into the language and customs of a country,” and is the most basic of concepts in the tradition of Orthodox missiology that the Archbishop identifies as being necessary for a particular group of people to find their individual identity and voice in their own worship and in joining themselves to the “common doxological hymn” in praise of God.
A praise of God that is described as a chorus that is both universal and polyphonic of course means for us that the upmost sincere love and respect must be shown towards the people for whom the gospel is proclaimed and for whom the local Church is planted. The natural consequences of this effort is that 1.) The Gospel is proclaimed in a language that the people understand along with all other important texts such as liturgical, hagiographic, and catechetical literature 2.) The people are encouraged to worship in their own language and 3.) Native-born clergy and other leaders are brought up for the purpose of the local Church becoming an autonomous extension of the Church.
Constantly expanding and evolving, this movement towards glorification as it has been described by His Beatitude can finally be understood as a part of the process for “every tongue, people, and nation” to be brought into the fullness of the Triune God, proclaiming by means of the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
The Church in Albania
In the aftermath of centuries of various forms of oppression and persecution that culminated in the devastating policies of most recent communist led government that had been in power for nearly half a century before its downfall in 1991, there is no doubting that the missiological principles of Archbishop Anastasios have thrived in Albania in what has been almost two decades in what has been referred to as an atmosphere of resurrection. As a benefactor of these principles, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania amid circumstances that have been entirely unique from any other mission field in the recent history of the Church has “pulled itself together and has risen from the ruins, making very swift progress” throughout these formative years. This in turn serves as an important reminder for those of us who for are looking to draw from the practical wisdom and experience of the Archbishops missiology in the sense that the same momentum that we see taking place in Albania comes from the very same Spirit that has given new life to the world from the time of Pentecost.
But how exactly has this reality manifested itself from the moment Christ was once again proclaimed as resurrected in Albania? While our purpose here is not to provide a detailed summary of the progress that has been made in the Church in Albania over the past nineteen years, we can still based on our observations and small experiences, begin to assess and discern as to how these principles have been immediately embodied in the life of the Church itself. In turn perhaps discerning these immediate effects will allow us to catch an even further glimpse into the underlying reality that is continually revealing itself in mission fields such as Albania and follow this momentum to the ends of the earth in our own lives?
As the providers and recipients of the various ministries in the Archdiocese, it is the individuals of the Church at all levels of involvement that best validate the principles of mission. For example, if we were to begin with an assessment of the clergy – aside from the fact that the Church has moved beyond having only twenty-two priests and not a single Albanian born bishop in 1991, to having over one hundred and forty clergy, two bishops and a metropolitan that are native to Albania, Albanian clergymen who have responded to the gospel in an evangelical atmosphere, and have risen to positions of leadership in the Church such as Bishops Andon of Kruja and Nikolla of Apolonia, and Metropolitan John of Korca certainly affirm the greatest of missiological principles.
Here we have what would be a prime example of a particular missiological aim taking a firm hold in the life of the Church. However this is not to say that the mere presence of native born clergymen automatically validates these principles. It is the example and witness that these leaders continually offer to the Church that validate the living presence of Christ in the midst of the people for whom the subsistence of God continually provides.
Subsistence if it truly is sustaining at all will a catalyzing subsistence, and while the story of the clergymen of Albania is truly valuable for the purposes of the witness to mission, I can’t help but feel in my critique that the remainder of our focus must be people who are the current and rising lay leaders of the Church. After almost two decades of retrospection, such an observation I feel is important for us to take note of in light of various attitudes within Orthodoxy that might lead to attitudes towards a laity in a mission field that might be caricatured as unsophisticated, simple minded, or overly passive – particularly in a mission environment where there is still much needed room for cultural sensitivity on our end.
Knowing that an empowered laity confirms the immediate principles of mission and that the vast majority of the people with whom we encountered and directly participated with in ministry throughout our time in Albania happened to be lay people, leaders like Garentina (Nina) Gramo who leads the efforts of the Diaconia Agapes foundation proves this very notion. This is not only due to the fact that as a non-government organization that the Diaconia Agapes (Service of Love) has a complex system for the delivery of humanitarian aid services and has the ability to reach out to the entire country of Albania, but this ministry with the exception of financial independence is a complete example of a successful transference of leadership from foreign missionaries to leaders such as Nina Gramo.
The strain of leadership that has risen from the ranks of the laity can be seen elsewhere. The ministry to the youth at the Archdiocese is perhaps the best example of this principle as having manifested itself in the localized leadership of the youth. The young people themselves have even actively taken initiatives of their own regarding their own walks of faith, for the well being of youth, and for the community at large. Such blessings are apparently the result of the example and direction of Ana Baba and others who support various aspects of the youth ministry such as her brother John, and Jani Meni.
The focus of the youth ministry in the individuals with whom we interacted with were among the most noteworthy manifested mission principles that we encountered during our time in Albania for the reason that what we have in the youth is a second generation of Albanian leadership that has been brought up and cared for by the first generation. While the powerful witness that many Orthodox Christians who had endured the severe hardships of the communist years, as well as the fragile years of the nineties often overshadow this rising generation, the fact still remains for all people that what is continually revealing itself is an empowering and perfecting presence of the Spirit. With this in mind, maybe it’s time for the stories of the rising generations of Orthodox Christians in Albania to be told?
Having spent a good amount of time with several of these people; listening to their stories in conversation and through later correspondence, I can personally attest to the fact that their walks with Christ have been no less remarkable than many of the saintly patrons of Albania themselves. Whether it’s going by one’s own self to serve the poor in a gypsy camp or whether it’s volunteering in the many summer camps throughout Albania and even Kosovo, their service to the Church at such a young age is nothing other than a direct a response to God’s love in their lives, and to their love for the world itself.
On a different note, to say that offering themselves as such examples of service for the Church is no longer taken at any risk in relation to their predecessors is simply not true. Given the religious and cultural diversity of Albania in relation to the great number of converts in the Church, we have to remember that many converts still face great domestic and social risks when they make a commitment to live their lives for Christ. Hearing this first hand is an important reminder that the principles of mission are deeply personal. There is no doubting why this is mentioned in the gospels themselves.
Despite this, the image of the resurrection trumps the image of the dead burying their own dead. In a resurrectional atmosphere it is the living who we see offering life to the dying by their own sense of mission in their presence, love, and witness so that by God’s grace the dead will no longer be left to bury their own, and that they will be raised up to Glorify God with their own unique voice. It is here where we can see the ultimate aim of mission taking place in the lives of these individuals as they take part in the chorus that continually glorifies God.
Conclusion
The doxological hymn as it is described by His beatitude is a continuous one whose end will only come at the fulfillment of time as God sees it. While the Church in Albania still has many imperfections, it is important that we see these shortcomings as temporary problems that have not yet been mended by people who have the innately profound ability to cooperate with God in their lives.
The difficulties themselves must still not be confronted passively. For example, issues such as financial autonomy may one day prove to be every bit as important as the issue of the autonomy of indigenous leadership. But, at a time when the momentum of financial subsistence is still supporting much of the infrastructure of the Church, is it really an appropriate time to encourage that the people of a developing country radically re-asses how they manage the finances of their own Church? At the same time however, maybe getting the average person more involved in the basic principles of simple stewardship for example could still be stressed during these times.
There is a multitude of potential set-backs for the Church in Albania. One might ask: How will they handle the increasing attitudes of materialism as they become a more developed country? How will they respond to the potential mass exodus once visas become more available to the people of Albania upon their acceptance into the European Union? The Church will no doubt be tested by the circumstances of time itself. This is no different than any other time period in her history. But for our purposes, casting judgment over our own brothers and sisters in Christ over situations that are merely hypothetical will only create a negative atmosphere that is detrimental to a posture that must be oriented towards the direction of constantly reaching out to the ends of the earth as a response to the Love of God and our neighbor. If we are going to be of any help to our brothers and sisters in Albania or in any place in the world for that matter, our primary focus must always be in the present moment with the people themselves. Thanks God!
Bibliography
Bria, Ion. The Liturgy After the Liturgy: Mission and Witness from an Orthodox Perspective
Geneva: WCC Publications, 1996.Lekos, Andrew. "Historic Team Arrives in Albania." http://www.ocmc.org/.
Stamoolis, James J. Eastern Orthodox Mission Theology Today
Minneapolis: Light and Life Publishing, 1986.Veronis, Luke. Go Forth: Stories of Missions and Resurrection in Albania
. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, 2009.Yannoulatos, Anastasios. "The Doxological Understanding of Life and Mission." Epopteia, 1984: 1123-1232.
---Facing the World: Orthodox Christian Essays on Global Concerns
Geneva: WCC Publications, 2004.—. "Purpose and Motive of Mission." Go Ye, 1967.
—. THE CHURCH OF ALBANIA (http://www.orthodoxalbania.org/English/Brief%20History/BH%20Book5.htm).
—. "The Global Vision of Proclaiming the Gospel." 1-7.
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