The Orthodox Church is the True Apostolic Church of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who founded His Church through His Apostles. By the grace of the Holy Spirit received at Pentecost, the Apostles established the Church throughout the ancient world. For a millennium, Orthodox Christendom was undivided, under the leadership of the Bishops of five Apostolic Patriarchates: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.

Over time, however, the Patriarchate of Rome introduced various heresies: changing the Nicene Creed, claiming supremacy of the Pope of Rome over the other Bishops, and promoting the false doctrine of purgatory. These and other innovations, unhistorical and unsupported by either Holy Scripture or Holy Tradition, resulted in the separation of Rome from the historical and true Church of Christ in 1054.

Drifting further from its origins, continuing to introduce innovations, the Western church in the 16th century was shattered into a myriad of sects by the Protestant Reformation. Also in that century, Rome introduced the Gregorian calendar, in direct contradition to the tradition of the Church, which followed the Julian calendar.

In Greece, Russia, the Balkans, the Middle East, and elsewhere, however, the True Apostolic Church of Christ continued to flourish, preserving the Faith of Christ pure and unchanged.

Tragically, the Orthodox world was rent asunder in the 1920s by the innovations of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who, without consulting the other Patriarchs and Bishops, introduced the Gregorian calendar, replacing the Julian calendar. Since that time, as one after another of the historic Patriarchates adopted the Gregorian calendar, the pan-heresy of ecumenism has spread throughout the Church, aided by the superficial unity created by the use of the Gregorian calendar.

Ecumenism – in which all churches and organizations calling themselves Christian are said to be equal, each having some "part" of the truth – has been spread by the World Council of Churches and is now following its logical course of expanding to include all non-Christian religions as well. We live in an age in which the path Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ showed us is said to be just one path to "God" among many paths (i.e., Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Native American shamanism). This inclusiveness is called syncretism. Truth has been not only divided into parts, but is now relative and adaptive. (Truth, like the Church, is indivisible and cannot exist in "parts.")

Another result of the "new" Orthodoxy is that worship services have been shortened, pews and organs have been introduced, fasting is neglected, and many of the canons of the Church, decided upon by Ecumnical Councils many centuries ago, have been abandoned – all in the name of progress, relevance to modern lifestyles, and the goal of a superficial union with other churches and organizations.

The Holy Orthodox Church in North America (HOCNA) is an Eparchial Synod of the True Orthodox Church of Greece. We follow the Julian calendar and oppose all changes and innovations which are undertaken in the name of ecumenism or modernism. We do not participate in syncretistic worship and we do not share the Holy Mysteries with other jurisdictions that do participate in syncretistic worship.

The Holy Orthodox Church in North America consists of three Metropolitan Dioceses – Boston, Toronto, and Portland and the Western United States. Metropolitan Ephraim is the ruling bishop of Boston; Metropolitan Makarios is the ruling bishop of Toronto; and Metropoltan Moses is the ruling bishop of Portland and the Western United States. Suffragan Bishop Archimandrite Sergios of Loch Lomond assists Metropolitan Moses. Suffragan Bishop Demetrius of Carlisle assists Metropolitan Ephraim.

Our faithful come from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. While English is the primary language of worship, some parishes use either Church Greek or Church Slavonic, some in combination with English.

Search our Directory to locate the HOCNA parish, mission, or monastery nearest you.