I have been to an Orthodox funeral where an Anglican priest read the Gospel. I remember thinking at the time that, as a layman, having received the grace of God in Baptism and the charisma proper to my calling in the Church through Chrismation, it would not be proper for me to do this, and wondering why somebody who confesses a different faith and remains outside the Church could be invited to do this. I understand that there was pastoral reason for his being present and in some way involved in the care of the family after death but I do not not see why he was assigned the liturgical role of an Orthodox deacon for at least part of the funeral service.
I have also, more recently, been to what was billed as an evening of performances of music, poetry and so forth, from Anglican and Orthodox traditions, only to find that joint prayers had been added to the end. Needless to say, I ended up sitting there, feeling very uncomfortable, but not joining in.
What are others' experiences of such things and what do others think of the participation of Orthodox people in this sort of thing? There is an article
here about this. What do you think?
Pax,
Cyprianus
