Autonomous churches exist in Finland, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, and at Mt. Sinai. Patriarchs are equal and autonomous but in communion with one another. In the United States the bishops of the Churches that directly relate to the ecumenical patriarch work together as the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas. Most Orthodox Christians in America are members of these Churches. In the East married priests may be ordained.
Monks are celibate, and bishops come from that group.
The Eastern churches recognize only the seven ecumenical councils held between 325 A.D. and 787 A.D. because no further councils occurred at which the bishops of Rome and the Eastern patriarchs worked together. The Greek Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is used throughout the Eastern Church but translated into the different national languages. In America English is being increasingly used. The structure of American Orthodoxy was dramatically changed in 1970 with the creation of the Orthodox Church in America by the merger of several of the Russian churches. Russian Orthodoxy, by reason of its early arrival date, has always had a preeminence in America.