Orthodoxy & evangelicals – what’s the appeal?

The news that a church affiliated to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC) has become Orthodox (see this en article) will have come as a shock to many.

An evangelical Anglican congregation defecting? Possibly we could understand that, since it would be used to formal liturgy and bishops etc; but an FIEC church...!

However, for those with some knowledge of developments in the USA the news that Hope Church in Halifax is now St. Hilda’s Orthodox Church and part of the Antiochian Orthodox Church is not all that surprising. In the past few years there are reports of increasing numbers of people in the USA and especially young men becoming Orthodox. I know of a number of people in this country from evangelical churches as well as from unbelief who have become Orthodox.