Clergy and Sacraments
The clergy ordained by the denomination operate their ministries independently from the denomination. According a statement on the OCCA website:
"The relationship between the Church and the congregation, consisting of its priests, deacons and members, is based upon their shared beliefs. There is no legal relationship between the Church and the congregation."Thee OCCA accepts both men and women, married and unmarried, as candidates for ordination to all three orders of the apostolic ministry (deacons, presbyters, and bishops). The OCCA ordains openly lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual persons as clergy and blesses their unions as it does those of heterosexual couples. Access to the seven sacraments is offered to all individuals regardless of sex or sexual orientation. The OCCA has two monastic (religious) communities. Monasticism within the jurisdiction takes either a Western, Eastern or Oriental form just as the liturgical identity of the church as a whole represents herself.
Read more about this topic: Orthodox-Catholic Church Of America
Famous quotes containing the word clergy:
“I never saw, heard, nor read, that the clergy were beloved in any nation where Christianity was the religion of the country. Nothing can render them popular, but some degree of persecution.”
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)