The story is an all too common one. A small cadre of Orthodox in an out of the way place get a Mission going. A priest is found, and services begin, maybe once or twice a month. A measure of vitality develops, and a working priest is appointed for weekly services. But the momentum fails to build, and a plateau is reached.
Attrition begins to set in, and then the local economy hiccups.
The core of once energized and enthusiastic lay leaders become exhausted, and some fade due to despair as the years pass. The few children of the Mission are growing up and leaving. The founders hang on, hope against hope, but the howls of the cynics ring in their ears. The question of ecclesiastical euthanasia is never simple. Such was pretty much the situation at St. Mary Magdalene Mission, in Merced California, when my wife Karen and I were at seminary, struggling with whether or not to come.