I was at an ordination once where the bishop gave rather strong advice to the newly ordained deacon.
What the bishop said was that the new deacon was NOT--not then and not when he should later be ordained--to use various agendas to improve the church. And he gave examples of agendas--not the list of conservative or liberal agendas a Westerner would expect, but changes a devout Orthodox would appreciate. One was \"liturgical correctness;\" I don\'t remember the others, but they all sounded like worthy things to want.
The reason for this was not that the agendas mentioned were not, in fact, worthy. The reason is that if a priest treats a parish as so much \"clay\" for him to improve and whip into shape, there is something fundamentally wrong--this is a Western attitude and there is something implicitly disrespectful and violent.
I worship at a parish without pews except at the edges; I believe it is not only correct but spiritually better. But were I ordained and put in charge of a parish with lots of pews, it would be a mistake for me to make a clean sweep and say, \"It\'s better to stand, so I\'m removing them before the next liturgy.\"
I believe it makes sense both to say that standing is better, and to refrain from abruptly and violently \"improving\" a parish if that is not yet where they are.
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