Orthodoxy on the Rise in the U.S.: Young People Seek Faith and Stability

In the United States, there is a noticeable rise in interest in Orthodoxy among young people. Fr. Moses (MacPherson), a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia serving in Texas, told the BBC that his parish has tripled in size over the past year and a half, and in just the last six months, he prepared 75 people for baptism.

Most of the new converts are men between the ages of 20 and 40. According to Fr. Moses, they are turning to Orthodoxy out of fatigue with cultural instability and a desire for clear spiritual direction.

According to Pew Research, the percentage of men among Orthodox Christians in the U.S. has grown from 46% in 2007 to 64% in recent years. Although only about 1% of Americans identify as Orthodox, the change is significant within small communities.

The new parishioners are typically middle-class professionals: software developers, military veterans, and entrepreneurs. They are frustrated by what they see as American society’s hostility toward traditional male roles and are seeking the stability that faith can offer amid a constantly changing world.

A survey conducted by the Orthodox Church in America among 773 new members found that 68% were men and 54% joined after the COVID-19 pandemic. Main motivations included the search for meaning, disillusionment with liberal church practices, and a desire for spiritual discipline.

There are currently around 400 Orthodox parishes and missions in the United States, and their number continues to grow steadily.

Earlier, it was reported that Fr. Heorhii Kovalenko, rector of the Open Orthodox University of Holy Sophia the Wisdom and a cleric of the OCU, criticized the interview of Vadym Novynskyi with American blogger Tucker Carlson, in which Novynskyi described persecution of the UOC. According to Kovalenko, Novynskyi’s interview is “part of a large-scale Russian propaganda campaign aimed at discrediting Ukraine in the eyes of the American religious audience.”