The Orthodox Churches all share in common the Greek-Byzantine tradition of doctrine, liturgy, order, and spirituality.
The ancient Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Patriarchate of Georgia, the newer Patriarchates of Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia, the Greek Orthodox Churches of Cyprus and Greece, and other autocephalous or autonomous Orthodox Churches such as those of Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Sinai, Finland, and Japan belong to this communion. They are in full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and with each other, but with no other church.
Many Orthodox Churches have jurisdictions in North America, but a few are independent or under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The members of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas are: Albanian Orthodox Diocese, American-Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, Orthodox Church in America, Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese, Serbian Orthodox Church, and Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Byelorussian Orthodox Administration and the Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in USA are not members of the Standing Conference but are in communion with the member churches (see Episcopal Church Annual for list of bishops).
The history of contacts, cooperation, and dialogue between Anglicans and Orthodox is vast and well documented (see Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, V.T. Istavridis, 1966). Beginning with the Russo-Greek Committee of 1862, the Episcopal Church has had a keen interest in the Orthodox. With the establishment of an Episcopal Church presence in California, clergy and laity discovered the Russian Orthodox had arrived via Alaska with a bishop. This led to questions about the Orthodox in General Convention, and thus began the longest-standing Anglican dialogue with any other church. After various conversations, the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized in 1922 that Anglican orders “possessed the same validity as those of the Roman, Old Catholic, and Armenian Churches, inasmuch as all the essentials are found in them which are held indispensable from the Orthodox point of view for the recognition of the Charisma of the priesthood derived from Apostolic Succession.” Similar recognition was given by the Church of Cypress (1923) and by the Patriarchates of Jerusalem (1923), Alexandria (1930), and Romania (1936). Such recognitions have no practical effect until all Orthodox Churches act and until all recognize that the Anglican Communion is orthodox in faith.
Joint doctrinal discussions began between the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Church as a whole in 1931. An Anglo-Romanian Theological Conference was held in 1935 and an Anglo-Russian Theological Conference in 1956. At the third Pan-Orthodox Conference in 1964, preparing for a future Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church, it was unanimously decided to resume joint doctrinal discussions with both the Anglican and the Old Catholic Churches. The Archbishop of Canterbury, after consulting with other Anglican primates, announced unanimous Anglican consent to the resumption of the discussions. Separate preparatory meetings preceded the convening in 1973 of the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission. It produced The Moscow Agreed Statement (1976), containing statements on questions of authority and the Eucharist and the recommendation that the filioque be omitted from the Nicene Creed, together with a history of relationships from 1920 to 1976. When the 1976 General Convention restored the filioque to the Nicene Creed in the new Book of Common Prayer and permitted the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate, a controversy arose which led to a meeting of the Commission in 1978 and the Athens Report on these issues.
Strenuous Anglican efforts resulted in resumption of the dialogue and a new statement of purpose: "the ultimate aim remains the unity of the Churches". But "the method may need to change in order to emphasize the pastoral and practical dimensions of the subjects of our theological discussions. Our conversations are concerned with the search for a unity in faith. They are not negotiations for immediate full communion. When this is understood, the discovery of differences on various matters, though distressing, will be seen as a necessary step on the long road toward that unity which God wills for his Church."
The dialogue resumed in 1980 and in 1984 produced agreed statements on the Mystery of the Church; Faith in the Trinity; Prayer and Holiness; and Worship and Tradition. These were published with the Moscow Statement and Athens Report in The Dublin Agreed Statement (1984), available from Forward Movement Publications. The 1985 General Convention commended the Dublin statement to the dioceses and seminaries for study and response. The Standing Commission reported to the 1991 General Convention, which transmitted its report to the ACC as the official ECUSA response to the Dublin Statement (Blue Book, 1991, p. 70).
In an action of major significance, the 1985 General Convention resolved "that in recognition of the Lambeth 1978 call for Churches of the Anglican Communion to consider removing the filioque ("and [from] the Son") from the Nicene Creed, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church expresses its intention to restore in liturgical usage the original form of the Nicene Creed as promulgated by the Council of Chalcedon (i.e. without the filioque), provided that such restoration is endorsed and commended by the Anglican Consultative Council and the Lambeth Conference." It should be noted that the General Convention was asked to decide only on the historical - canonical question concerning the filioque, not on the doctrinal question, which is to be discussed further in the dialogue (Blue Book, 1985, p. 28). On this same understanding the 1988 Lambeth Conference voted to recommend "to the Provinces of the Anglican Communion that in future liturgical revisions the Nicene-Constantinople Creed be printed without the filioque clause" and the ACC endorsed this in 1991. The 1994 General Convention further resolved to reaffirm its intention to remove the words "and of the Son" from the third paragraph of the Nicene Creed at the next revision of the Book of Common Prayer.
The Episcopal Church continues to be represented on the Anglican Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission, which resumed work in 1989 with a study of ecclesiology. In 1998 this Commission produced its first joint statements since the Dublin Agreed Statement of 1984 and continued to meet regularly. It issued Episcope, Episcopos, and the Church in 2001; Christ, the Priesthood and the Church in 2002), and in 2003, at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, the Commission began its current round of study on the subject of the ministries of women and men in the Church, of questions of Heresy and Schism, and of Reception. In 2005 the Commission completed the work on these Agreed Statements and in 2006 finalized the text of the complete cycle of Statements from 1989 in preparation for publication. In January of 2007 The Church of the Triune God: The Cyprus Agreed Statement was presented by the Commission to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Ecumenical Patriarch in a ceremony in England. This important document summarizes the work of this round of dialogue. Another round of dialogue began in 2009 as the International Dialogue entered its next phase, focusing on questions of human anthropology and ethics.
In the United States, the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Consultation met regularly from 1962 to 1991, discussing a wide variety of theological and pastoral topics. The Consultation produced "Guidelines on Anglican-Orthodox Relations" (Journal of General Convention, 1967, p. 936). It issued a "Statement on the Ordination of Women" in 1976, an "Agreed Statement on Christian Initiation" in 1986, and an "Agreed Statement on the Eucharist" in 1990. Work on ecclesiology was planned when the dialogue was suspended by the Orthodox over issues of human sexuality in the Episcopal Church. In 2000 both the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops (SCOBA) and the Episcopal Church decided to renew these discussions. A steering committee consisting of ecumenical officers from the Orthodox Churches and The Episcopal Church met in 2001, but the formal dialogue was not resumed due to continued differences in ecclesiology, ministry, and human sexuality.
Changes in the former Soviet Union have opened the way for increased relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning, who visited the Moscow Patriarchate in 1989 (following the practice of predecessors John Hines and John M. Allin) proposed that the periodic high-level exchange of delegations of recent years be replaced by a small Episcopal - Russian Orthodox Coordinating Committee to arrange theological dialogues and cooperative projects. In 1992 the first dialogue on "Episcopal Ministry in the Church" led to publication of On Being a Bishop, J. Robert Wright, Editor, by the Church Hymnal Corporation. In 1995 a second dialogue occurred on "Evangelism and Formation". Projects have been in such areas as seminary exchanges, alcoholism, military chaplaincy, communications, parish and diocesan exchanges, medicines, publications, etc. In 1999 the Presiding Bishop visited the Moscow Patriarchate, and a delegation from the Episcopal Church, including Deputy for Ecumenical Relations Bishop Christopher Epting, visited in 2002. In November of 2003 the Moscow Patriarchate suspended all ecumenical contacts with The Episcopal Church as a result of the approval and consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson.
The ancient Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, the Patriarchate of Moscow, the Patriarchate of Georgia, the newer Patriarchates of Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia, the Greek Orthodox Churches of Cyprus and Greece, and other autocephalous or autonomous Orthodox Churches such as those of Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Sinai, Finland, and Japan belong to this communion. They are in full communion with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and with each other, but with no other church.
Many Orthodox Churches have jurisdictions in North America, but a few are independent or under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The members of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas are: Albanian Orthodox Diocese, American-Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, Orthodox Church in America, Romanian Orthodox Archdiocese, Serbian Orthodox Church, and Ukrainian Orthodox Church. The Byelorussian Orthodox Administration and the Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in USA are not members of the Standing Conference but are in communion with the member churches (see Episcopal Church Annual for list of bishops).
The history of contacts, cooperation, and dialogue between Anglicans and Orthodox is vast and well documented (see Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, V.T. Istavridis, 1966). Beginning with the Russo-Greek Committee of 1862, the Episcopal Church has had a keen interest in the Orthodox. With the establishment of an Episcopal Church presence in California, clergy and laity discovered the Russian Orthodox had arrived via Alaska with a bishop. This led to questions about the Orthodox in General Convention, and thus began the longest-standing Anglican dialogue with any other church. After various conversations, the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized in 1922 that Anglican orders “possessed the same validity as those of the Roman, Old Catholic, and Armenian Churches, inasmuch as all the essentials are found in them which are held indispensable from the Orthodox point of view for the recognition of the Charisma of the priesthood derived from Apostolic Succession.” Similar recognition was given by the Church of Cypress (1923) and by the Patriarchates of Jerusalem (1923), Alexandria (1930), and Romania (1936). Such recognitions have no practical effect until all Orthodox Churches act and until all recognize that the Anglican Communion is orthodox in faith.
Joint doctrinal discussions began between the Anglican Communion and the Orthodox Church as a whole in 1931. An Anglo-Romanian Theological Conference was held in 1935 and an Anglo-Russian Theological Conference in 1956. At the third Pan-Orthodox Conference in 1964, preparing for a future Great and Holy Council of the Orthodox Church, it was unanimously decided to resume joint doctrinal discussions with both the Anglican and the Old Catholic Churches. The Archbishop of Canterbury, after consulting with other Anglican primates, announced unanimous Anglican consent to the resumption of the discussions. Separate preparatory meetings preceded the convening in 1973 of the Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission. It produced The Moscow Agreed Statement (1976), containing statements on questions of authority and the Eucharist and the recommendation that the filioque be omitted from the Nicene Creed, together with a history of relationships from 1920 to 1976. When the 1976 General Convention restored the filioque to the Nicene Creed in the new Book of Common Prayer and permitted the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate, a controversy arose which led to a meeting of the Commission in 1978 and the Athens Report on these issues.
Strenuous Anglican efforts resulted in resumption of the dialogue and a new statement of purpose: "the ultimate aim remains the unity of the Churches". But "the method may need to change in order to emphasize the pastoral and practical dimensions of the subjects of our theological discussions. Our conversations are concerned with the search for a unity in faith. They are not negotiations for immediate full communion. When this is understood, the discovery of differences on various matters, though distressing, will be seen as a necessary step on the long road toward that unity which God wills for his Church."
The dialogue resumed in 1980 and in 1984 produced agreed statements on the Mystery of the Church; Faith in the Trinity; Prayer and Holiness; and Worship and Tradition. These were published with the Moscow Statement and Athens Report in The Dublin Agreed Statement (1984), available from Forward Movement Publications. The 1985 General Convention commended the Dublin statement to the dioceses and seminaries for study and response. The Standing Commission reported to the 1991 General Convention, which transmitted its report to the ACC as the official ECUSA response to the Dublin Statement (Blue Book, 1991, p. 70).
In an action of major significance, the 1985 General Convention resolved "that in recognition of the Lambeth 1978 call for Churches of the Anglican Communion to consider removing the filioque ("and [from] the Son") from the Nicene Creed, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church expresses its intention to restore in liturgical usage the original form of the Nicene Creed as promulgated by the Council of Chalcedon (i.e. without the filioque), provided that such restoration is endorsed and commended by the Anglican Consultative Council and the Lambeth Conference." It should be noted that the General Convention was asked to decide only on the historical - canonical question concerning the filioque, not on the doctrinal question, which is to be discussed further in the dialogue (Blue Book, 1985, p. 28). On this same understanding the 1988 Lambeth Conference voted to recommend "to the Provinces of the Anglican Communion that in future liturgical revisions the Nicene-Constantinople Creed be printed without the filioque clause" and the ACC endorsed this in 1991. The 1994 General Convention further resolved to reaffirm its intention to remove the words "and of the Son" from the third paragraph of the Nicene Creed at the next revision of the Book of Common Prayer.
The Episcopal Church continues to be represented on the Anglican Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission, which resumed work in 1989 with a study of ecclesiology. In 1998 this Commission produced its first joint statements since the Dublin Agreed Statement of 1984 and continued to meet regularly. It issued Episcope, Episcopos, and the Church in 2001; Christ, the Priesthood and the Church in 2002), and in 2003, at Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, the Commission began its current round of study on the subject of the ministries of women and men in the Church, of questions of Heresy and Schism, and of Reception. In 2005 the Commission completed the work on these Agreed Statements and in 2006 finalized the text of the complete cycle of Statements from 1989 in preparation for publication. In January of 2007 The Church of the Triune God: The Cyprus Agreed Statement was presented by the Commission to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Ecumenical Patriarch in a ceremony in England. This important document summarizes the work of this round of dialogue. Another round of dialogue began in 2009 as the International Dialogue entered its next phase, focusing on questions of human anthropology and ethics.
In the United States, the Anglican-Orthodox Theological Consultation met regularly from 1962 to 1991, discussing a wide variety of theological and pastoral topics. The Consultation produced "Guidelines on Anglican-Orthodox Relations" (Journal of General Convention, 1967, p. 936). It issued a "Statement on the Ordination of Women" in 1976, an "Agreed Statement on Christian Initiation" in 1986, and an "Agreed Statement on the Eucharist" in 1990. Work on ecclesiology was planned when the dialogue was suspended by the Orthodox over issues of human sexuality in the Episcopal Church. In 2000 both the Standing Conference of Orthodox Bishops (SCOBA) and the Episcopal Church decided to renew these discussions. A steering committee consisting of ecumenical officers from the Orthodox Churches and The Episcopal Church met in 2001, but the formal dialogue was not resumed due to continued differences in ecclesiology, ministry, and human sexuality.
Changes in the former Soviet Union have opened the way for increased relations with the Russian Orthodox Church. Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning, who visited the Moscow Patriarchate in 1989 (following the practice of predecessors John Hines and John M. Allin) proposed that the periodic high-level exchange of delegations of recent years be replaced by a small Episcopal - Russian Orthodox Coordinating Committee to arrange theological dialogues and cooperative projects. In 1992 the first dialogue on "Episcopal Ministry in the Church" led to publication of On Being a Bishop, J. Robert Wright, Editor, by the Church Hymnal Corporation. In 1995 a second dialogue occurred on "Evangelism and Formation". Projects have been in such areas as seminary exchanges, alcoholism, military chaplaincy, communications, parish and diocesan exchanges, medicines, publications, etc. In 1999 the Presiding Bishop visited the Moscow Patriarchate, and a delegation from the Episcopal Church, including Deputy for Ecumenical Relations Bishop Christopher Epting, visited in 2002. In November of 2003 the Moscow Patriarchate suspended all ecumenical contacts with The Episcopal Church as a result of the approval and consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson.