Isn the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) too ethnic for American converts?
That depends on where one is. There are ROCOR parishes where one can easily feel transported back to czarist Russia, simply because they are made up mostly of Russian immigrants who are still attached to their old world language and customs, both liturgical and cultural. Other ROCOR parishes are composed mostly of American converts and the services are entirely in English. And other parishes are somewhere in-between. Apart from our commemoration of the hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, there is nothing in our services or customs to suggest Russian or Slavic customs. Our calendar does contain perhaps more Russian saints than the calendars of Greek or Syrian Orthodox Churches, but these are saints dearly cherished by us – saints such as St. Seraphim, St. Tikhon, St. John Maximovitch or St. Xenia. Of course all the major pre-schism western saints are there too: Patrick, Monica, Ambrose, Bridget, Boniface, and many more saints nourished in the same liturgical Orthodox tradit
