Eastern Rite Baptists -- in the Republic of Georgia?

[MariaRegina]

Yes, it is true.


This is in the Republic of Georgia -- not the state of Georgia in the USA

http://www.ebcgeorgia.org/Neue_Dateien/start.html

Did they leave the Orthodox Church?

Are they Baptists pretending to be Orthodox?

They dress like Orthodox and pray like the Orthodox, so why aren't they Orthodox?

:cry:

Notice how the artwork in the Icons has no faces -- distorted modern art.


Here is a recent announcement from their website:

http://www.ebcgeorgia.org/Neue_Dateien/start.html

Shocking News from Georgia
People and British guests were shocked to hear an announcement made by Archbishop Malkhaz at the Peace Cathedral on 21 October. Reportedly the Archbishop, who had been a celibate clergyman for 45 years, declared that he has decided to get married. The name of the bride was not revealed at the Cathedral.
“I am certainly surprised that the word can travel around the globe so quickly”, says the Archbishop, “When I made the announcement in the Church there was incredible uproar in the congregation. People could not believe I was serious about it. ‘You are joking!’, ‘that can't be true!’ ‘You are playing yet another trick with us!’... was the reaction of the people. I had to convince them that I was dead serious about it. There was clapping, cheering, tears...Immediately after I left the church and switched a mobile telephone I received a call from Denmark asking whether the news was true. I asked how they had learned about it. ‘We just received a call from South Korea’ was their answer.”
The Archbishop’s wedding is going to take place sometime next year. In the meantime he will introduce the bride to the church.

And the goal is ecumenical -- they have contacts with the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Anglicans, and Rome.

[kamikat]

It looks to me that they have scrubbed off the faces of old icons, not painted new ones without faces. This is a travesty.

[MariaRegina]

Here is the same Evangelical Baptist church, but it is Romanian.

http://aurelmateescu.wordpress.com/2007/05/15/un-altfel-de-baptisti-evanghelici/

And they have churches in South Korea and elsewhere.



And what is spooky, there are more churches that claim Orthodox and Catholic Apostolic succession:


Such as:
His Eminence Metropolitan/Archbishop Dr. Chief

Alexander Swift Eagle Justice

D.D., Ph.D., Juris Doctor-Theologian, Academician

http://www.education-1.net/justicelines.htm




and this group who prays with Catholic and Orthodox apparently:

Rabbi Richard Gamboa, Chief Rabbi of Bnei Tzion:Catholics of Hebrew Tradition

http://aronbengilad.blogspot.com/

[Lukaris]

They have the World Council of Churches on their links; the WCC is now hijacking the Greek word oikoumene for the website designation. There is also a picture of a young adult being baptised; is this a subtle rejection of infant baptism? Time to get out the Typikas and read works like The Arena by St Ignatius Brianchaninov. Lord have mercy.

[fuerein]

That is just wierd. A blending of Baptist and Orthodox theology? That is about enough to make my head hurt. :)

[Akathist]

Defacing icons (no pun intended is outrageous)

My first though reading this is how many people who grew up Orthodox but are not really fully knowledgeable about theology and history are going to be fooled into joining the false church.

It looks just plain frudulent to me. A way to capture Orthodox people and pull them from our Church.

[SpyridonOCA]

Protestant Evangelicals are proud to convert the Orthodox:
http://www.ccci.org/ministries/jesus-film/bulgaria-easter-outreach.aspx

[Macarius]

Protestant Evangelicals are proud to convert the Orthodox:
http://www.ccci.org/ministries/jesus-film/bulgaria-easter-outreach.aspx
And vice versa

[buzuxi02]

They are heretics, plain and simple.