Young Americans massively converting to Orthodoxy
Young people explain their coming to Orthodoxy as a fatigue from cultural instability and a search for clear spiritual guidelines.
The priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), Father Moses (MacPherson), notes a sharp increase in interest in Orthodoxy among young people in Texas. This is reported by BBC.
Father Moses reported that over the past year and a half, his parish has tripled in size, and in the last six months, he has prepared 75 people for Baptism. Most of the new parishioners are men aged 20 to 40. The priest stated that they explain their coming to Orthodoxy as a reaction to cultural instability and a search for clear spiritual guidelines.
It should be noted that, according to research by Pew Research, the share of men among Orthodox Christians in the USA has increased from 46% in 2007 to 64% in recent years. At the same time, only 1% of the US population identifies as Orthodox, making this growth particularly noticeable in small communities.
New parishioners are typically middle-class individuals, programmers, former military personnel, and entrepreneurs. Young people are outraged by the "cultural hostility of American society" towards traditional male roles.
According to a survey conducted by the Orthodox Church in America, among 773 new parishioners, 68% are men; 54% indicated that they came to faith after the pandemic. Among the main reasons are the search for meaning, disappointment with liberal church practices, and a desire for spiritual discipline. It should be noted that there are about 400 parishes and missions in the USA, and their number is steadily growing.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that in the USA, the number of Orthodox Christians among young Republicans has increased sharply.
