Orthodox and Protestants in Dialogue
Here in America we as Orthodox are certainly in the minority. According to a 2020 census membership in the Eastern Orthodox churches in America was estimated at 675,765. When compared to Catholic and Protestant churches, Orthodoxy represents far less than 1% of the total Christian community in America.
Being such a small minority among Christians in America, makes it vitally important that we are prepared to properly engage and dare I say even “evangelize” to other Christian expressions. While most conservative Orthodox reject any form of evangelism with Protestants or Catholics we as Orthodox must acknowledge that Protestantism represents over 90% of Christianity here in America. It is thus important that we engage our Christian brothers and share with them the fullness of our Orthodox faith. Before we can begin engaging Protestants in dialogue a good starting point is to know the historical relationship between the Orthodox and Protestant Church.