[Episcopal News Service]
'Substance abuse is a very serious problem in Alaska,' said Bishop Nikolai in announcing a new initiative of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) to tackle the issue by training seminarians to become counsellors.
The program, launched by the Diocese of Alaska, was an example of the church reclaiming a traditional role, according to Nikolai, placing itself 'in the center of needs and social concerns.' In the coming months four counsellors, all graduates of St. Herman's Orthodox Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska, will be certified and begin to implement the program. The goal is to eventually certify all Orthodox clergy as counsellors.
The OCA is the Russian-oriented church in the US and the largest church in Alaska with about 20,000 members in 90 parishes and chapels. It has only 25 priests, however, to cover a diocese of 1.5 million square kilometres (586,000 square miles). Its history goes back to 1794 when the first Russian monks arrived in present-day Alaska, the remotest region of the Russian Empire until it was sold to the United States in 1867. More than a third of Native Alaskans are Orthodox Christians.
Alaska's state government reports more alcohol-related deaths per head than any other US state yet it has very few treatment centers. A recent study concluded that almost 10 percent of adult Alaskans were alcohol-dependent.
Nikolai stressed that 'life here is much different than in the lower 48. It's centered on a community lifestyle' and alcohol is an integral part of the social life.
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