Research on Orthodox Religious Groups in the United States
Evolving Visions of the Orthodox Priesthood in America
A new study completed by the Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute
*These reports are available in .pdf format:
More research on the realities of life of American Eastern Orthodox Churches can be found on the Orthodox Institute's web site including:
The Orthodox Church Today: A National Study of Parishioners and the Realities of Orthodox Parish Life in the US (2008)
The Orthodox Church Today is a national study of the laity in the two largest Orthodox Churches in the United States, The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) and the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). Nearly 1,000 parishioners from 103 GOA and OCA parishes situated in various parts of the US completed our questionnaires.
The Orthodox Church Today: A National Study of Parishioners and the Realitites of Orthodox Parish Life in the US - summary brochure
Evolving Visions of the Priesthood in America (2006)
This first-ever national study of American Orthodox clergy in the Greek Orhtodox Metropolises of Chicago and San Francisco and the Orthodox Church in America Dioceses of the Midwest and West. The study focused on sources of satisfaction and challenges for priests in the ministry today.
Evolving Visions of the Orthodox Priesthood in America - Highlights of the Study
Full Questionnaire and Distribution of Clergy Responses
Evolving Visions of the Orthodox Priesthood in America - Executive Summary
Evolving Visions of the Orthodox Priesthood in America - Full Study
New Publications:
The Power of Micro Theology
Satisfaction and Morale Among Parish Clergy: What American Catholic and Orthodox Priests Can Learn From Each Other
Parish Needs Survey (Summer 2005)
The Parish Needs Survey studied the Greek Orthodox, Antiochian Orthodox,Orthodox Church in America and Serbian parishes in the western United States and focused on the most urgent ministry issues facing parishes today.
Other research:
Research Project Overview (2000)
Methodology of the study
Tables summarizing the Findings:
*These tables appear in .pdf format:
The Realities of Orthodox Parish Life in the Western United States: Ten "Simple" Answers to Ten "Not Too Easy" Questions 
Note: New research for The Parish Life Project can be found on the Orthodox Institute web site.
The Orthodox (Eastern Christian) Churches in the USA at The Beginning of a New Millennium
What Makes the Orthodox Churches Strangers to American Mainstream Christianity
“American Orthodoxy” or “Orthodoxy in America”? Profiling the Next Generation of Eastern Christian Clergy in the USA
Eastern Christianity in North American Religious Landscape: Ethnic Traditionalism Versus Civic Involvement and Social Transformations*
Contact information of the Researcher Orthodox Church Links
Methodology of the study: This research was sponsored by "Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies" as a part of the nationwide "Religious Congregations Membership Study: 2000." The data were obtained directly from the headquarters (diocesan offices) of Orthodox Churches in North America by personal visits there and by interviewing of the church's leaders – the bishops or the chancellors. The major goal of author’s empirical study was creation of a database on all major Orthodox jurisdictions that allow for analysis and comparison of different Orthodox Churches in five major areas:
- Membership: membership "claimed" by Churches versus real number of their adherents, proportions between various demographic sources of their current growth, etc. See the basic results in Table 1a and Table 1b
- Church as religious institution: territorial diocesan organization, institutional composition (parishes, monasteries, and educational institutions), church-based broad religious infrastructure (Sunday- and all-day schools, periodicals). See the basic results in Table 2
- Degree of Church’ integration with wider American society: proportion between English and traditional liturgical languages of the Mother Church, proportion of the mixed "Orthodox – Not Orthodox" marriages, policies towards Anglo-American converts. See the basic results in Table 3
- Ecumenical openness and involvement: membership in interfaith organizations, participation in inter-religious activities. See the basic results in Table 4
- Nonreligious social functions: social institutions affiliated with and administrated by Orthodox Churches, programs of assistance for newly arriving immigrants. See the basic results in Table 5
Contact Information:
Alexei (Alexey) D. Krindatch (Krindach), has the position of "Director of Campus Ministry and Membership Growth" at Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA.
Email:
akrindatch@aol.com
Phone:
773-551 7226 (for USA)
7095-433 7603 (for Russia)
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