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Question 470

Many of us who grew up outside of Greece or Cyprus went to Christian schools which were not orthodox. I'm sure some of our children still attend such schools. In these schools we sang and prayed with people who were not orthodox. What does the church teach regarding children going to and praying in Christian schools which are not orthodox? It would be disrespectful on the other hand for children not to pray or sing hymns in such schools. Some priests are very strict about orthodox attending non orthodox churches but does that apply to schools?     

 

Answer to Question 470

The Church doesn’t have an answer to all questions and I don’t think she has questioned the issue of Orthodox children attending Catholic or Anglican schools. My own thoughts on the subject is that it is better to have some Christian education than none at all. When I went to school in England we had morning assemble and there we had Anglican prayers and hymns. It didn’t make me Anglican and I still remember the hymns we sang and occasionally they come to mind. If you read the hymns you will see that there is nothing hereditary in the words, but they lack the theology of the Orthodox hymns. 

 

Religions Education (only Christian) was still considered an important part of the curriculum, but if you were of another religion you could be exempt from lessons with a note from your parents. The level of Christian Education was just basic and did not cover theological discussions on a higher level that would differentiate between Catholic, Anglican or Orthodox. It was surely better than the religious education children receive nowadays which is almost non existent. 

 

In the case of the UK, what could the Orthodox Church do? They didn’t have an alternative to offer parents so Catholic or Anglican was the second best thing. Today I believe that the Orthodox Church has established an Orthodox school in London but I have no idea how available it is to everyone. Is it free or do you pay a large fee? What if you cannot afford to send your children there and how near is it to the Orthodox community? These questions might be answered by priests in this group who serve in London and who I’m sure will know more than me.