Young, single men are leaving traditional churches. They found a more ‘masculine’ alternative
New parishes are planned across US to accommodate ‘tsunami’ of male worshippers who have converted since pandemic
Young, single men are flocking to the Orthodox church after discovering the “masculine” Christian religion through online influencers.
Some converts said they felt disillusioned with the “feminisation” of the Protestant church and were attracted to the “authenticity” of Orthodoxy, which they claim pushes them physically and mentally.
Priests are now planning to open new parishes to accommodate the “tsunami” of young men who have converted since the pandemic.
They say that most of the new converts found the Orthodox church by watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts....
...A 2023 survey by the Orthodox Studies Institute of Orthodox clergy in 20 parishes across 15 states found there had been a 80 per cent increase in the number of converts to the Orthodox church in 2022, compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Of these, 60 per cent were men, compared with 54 per cent in 2019.
Many of them had been drawn to the “masculine” nature of church, which puts emphasis on denial and pushing yourself physically.
Worshippers must stand for long services, which can last upwards of five hours. They must fast, too, sometimes for up to 40 days.
This, some felt, was in stark contrast to other religious denominations where they felt the church had been “feminised”....
I hadn't heard much about Orthodox churches before--I thought that it was just for Greek and other Eastern-European communities.
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06 Jan 2025, 12:44 pm
Not surprising considering how much the alt-right is driven by Russian influence.
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Young, single men are leaving traditional churches. They found a more ‘masculine’ alternative
New parishes are planned across US to accommodate ‘tsunami’ of male worshippers who have converted since pandemic
Young, single men are flocking to the Orthodox church after discovering the “masculine” Christian religion through online influencers.
Some converts said they felt disillusioned with the “feminisation” of the Protestant church and were attracted to the “authenticity” of Orthodoxy, which they claim pushes them physically and mentally.
Priests are now planning to open new parishes to accommodate the “tsunami” of young men who have converted since the pandemic.
They say that most of the new converts found the Orthodox church by watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts....
...A 2023 survey by the Orthodox Studies Institute of Orthodox clergy in 20 parishes across 15 states found there had been a 80 per cent increase in the number of converts to the Orthodox church in 2022, compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
Of these, 60 per cent were men, compared with 54 per cent in 2019.
Many of them had been drawn to the “masculine” nature of church, which puts emphasis on denial and pushing yourself physically.
Worshippers must stand for long services, which can last upwards of five hours. They must fast, too, sometimes for up to 40 days.
This, some felt, was in stark contrast to other religious denominations where they felt the church had been “feminised”....
I hadn't heard much about Orthodox churches before--I thought that it was just for Greek and other Eastern-European communities.
There was a Seinfeld episode where George converted to Orthodox Christianity, and Kramer fell in love with an Orthodox nun. The main trait about Orthodoxy covered was the amount of studying required in order to join.
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You'll see that they're talking about 124 converts in total in 2023. Of which 72 are men. The average yearly conversion rate over the last ten years is 100.
A 'tsunami'. Yeah.
The report itself also doesn't concern itself with the reasons why this slight increase has happened. The suggestion it is to do with the Orthodox church's more masculine reputation is only here in unattributed quotes. Which means no one of any account has said it, no research has been done into it and it could quite easily just be a single random tweet, or simply pulled out of the 'journalist's' bum hole.
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You'll see that they're talking about 124 converts in total in 2023. Of which 72 are men. The average yearly conversion rate over the last ten years is 100.
A 'tsunami'. Yeah.
The report itself also doesn't concern itself with the reasons why this slight increase has happened. The suggestion it is to do with the Orthodox church's more masculine reputation is only here in unattributed quotes. Which means no one of any account has said it, no research has been done into it and it could quite easily just be a single random tweet, or simply pulled out of the 'journalist's' bum hole.
...Stepping even further from the structure and doctrine of the Church is an internet influencer styling himself as “Brother” Nathanael Kapner, who purports to be an Orthodox monastic and street evangelist in the Russian tradition. Aside from being something of a local fascination in Boise, Idaho where his street ministry is based, Kapner has achieved significant clout with his short-form video content, which regularly scores over 100,000 views on Tiktok and Instagram.
Kapner has also made a splash online for being one of the most vocally antisemitic voices orbiting Orthodoxy online. Kapner’s blog, Real Jew News, claims its mission as to “warn how Jewry is destroying Christianity throughout the world.” Kapner’s website has also repeatedly promoted conspiracy theories about the veracity of the Holocaust, the 9/11 attacks, and a variety of other topics reflecting Kapner’s monomaniacal hatred of the Jewish people.
The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), which Kapner claims to be affiliated with, has harshly condemned him and his public statements. The ROCOR Synod of Bishops statement, issued in 2013, writes that “profoundly saddened by the state of his soul, we call upon Nathanael (Kapner) to refrain from posting on the Internet, to a life of repentance of peace in Christ.” Although a far more radical departure from the teaching of the Church than Heers, Kapner represents the same phenomenon of those firmly outside of the Orthodox Church claiming to speak for it and its doctrine...
Presented for your consideration (as Rod Serling used to say): an old man dressed up as an Orthodox priest-monk who is actually neither priest nor monk, performing outrageous antics both in public and online in a furious attempt to draw attention to himself. Mr. Milton Kapner calls himself Brother Nathanael, and he is a Jewish man who has attracted a large following of online listeners to his regular virulent anti-Semitic rants. Though he was once a novice in an Old Calendarist monastery in Colorado, he was kicked out of that monastery and is now not a monk at all, despite wearing monastic garb, but “a showman with a persecution complex who likes to be the center of attention”
He has a following, but I don't know if he actually stimulated anyone to join a legitimate Orthodox congregation, or if he has started a rogue Orthodox church of some sort.
06 Jan 2025, 9:47 am
