Traditional Orthodox Christian Church - TOCA

WHO WE ARE -- WHAT WE BELIEVE

We have been asked to give a short history and statement of faith of our Archdiocese. The Metropolitan was consecrated in 1998 by His Eminence +Andreas of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of New Jersey (GOX) under the leadership of His Eminence +Joachim Souris, a GOX Archbishop in Athens, Greece. We have had questions as to H.E. +Joachim's standing in the Orthodox Church. For many years he was part of the Greek Orthodox Church in North America as a bishop in that group. He is part of the recently published history of the G.A., by VOITHA, a Hellenic lay organization. He was a contemporary of +Contageorge, another GOX bishop. Together they are identified as being a kind of "loyal opposition" to the new calendar movement then gathering strength among the Greeks. Neither of these bishops' apostolicity or genuineness is questioned. H.E. +Joachim Souris elevated H.E. +Andreas to the metropolitanate, and made him a member of their Holy Synod in Greece. There are those who cast aspersions on the number of groups of Old Calendarists in Greece. They feel that this negates their Orthodoxy. But somehow the papist idea of patriarchism (pseudo-universalism) has overtaken most of today's world Orthodoxy. The touchstone of Orthodoxy is now "are you in communion with any of the Patriarchal Sees?" Papism, however, also uses this for its identification: "Are you in communion with the Holy Father in Rome?" Orthodoxy is not based on Patriarchs. It is based on a common Faith Unbroken, along with the unbroken chirothesia of the Apostles.

Our Church believe all that the Orthodox Fathers teach and practiced. Our Metropolitan began in the Russian Church as a priest; he entered the Serbian Church and pastored for 5 years and received canonical release; he was accepted by the GOX Synod and after a year, consecrated to be a "missionary bishop" from the Holy Synod under H.E. +Joachim.

Note: GOX stands for "Genesios Orthodoxos Xhristionos", or Genuine Orthodox Christians.