I am pasting this from another site...just some interesting comments which anyone who has been in the GOA can relate to.
The sad fact is that Greek Orthodoxy in America has deviated severely from her path in the very few years of this Archdiocese's life. One needs only observe events at his local parish level to realize this. I point out some personal observations made at five to six parishes that I have been a part of in the last twenty plus years.
Our faithful are, for the most part, completely ignorant of their Faith, often quoting heretical ideas that they heard from others, not being able to distinguish between Orthodox and Catholic theology.
The Liturgy has been shortened to accommodate the Sunday, post-Liturgy entertainment "needs" of the faithful (NFL, NBA, soccer leagues or plain coffee hour socializing). The post-Liturgy coffee hour is almost as long as our Liturgy.
There exist churches where the parish coffee "lounge" is in the basement of the church where gossiping, dancing, eating and other questionable activities take place right under the Holy Altar.
Holy Communion has become “Sunday morning candy” for most. One observes men and women approaching to partake of His Body and Blood with gum in their mouth, hands in pockets and questionable attire. Women show up in provocative and scandalizing attire, from super mini skirts, all the way to bare back outfits and dresses held up by thin straps. Most important, priests accept it all, saying nothing (even when the faithful complain) and instead go after older Greek women who wish to wear scarves while in Church.
Fasting and confession have become too Orthodox for most. I have seen cream cheese and bagels offered during Lent (at the coffee social) and I hear priests tell the faithful that they should only come to confession only if something they have done is bad and really bothers them. My priest friends even tell me how, quite often they are scandalized by their fellow clergymen who do not keep the Wednesday/Friday fast (or even the fasts of Great Lent or Advent) and make them feel guilty or “weird” if they do!
Our priests come out of the seminaries full of the modern psychology theories, with fully protestant views, taught very little about the Church Fathers and fully unprepared to lead flocks. Their sermons are full of antitheses and heretical ideas. I have heard one repeatedly eulogize mother Teresa (as if we run short of Orthodox saints). Another prominent graduate calls the symbol of Byzantium “burnt chicken” and he tells us that this title was common among his colleagues. Another one informs his flock that Christ was not really perfect until after He died on the Cross. Finally, one brought a Catholic Bishop during Liturgy and placed him on the Orthodox Bishop's throne.
Oh, and then we have the organ accompanied choirs, or as I call them “group of want-to-be opera singers”. They make a mockery of Byzantine chanting. I will never forget the case of a (musically gifted) priest who took it upon himself to write his own Doxology...
The majority of parishes are fostering an anti-Hellenic spirit which is rapidly removing anything Greek from within the parish. Naturally, for three days of the year, they all become excellent Greeks during the annual Greek Festival when budget dictates they undertake a pretentious role and praise their heritage. On Monday it is all cleaned up, the Greek paper flags are in the trash and we are back to criticizing anything Hellenic.
Priesthood has become just another profession, and a well paying one at that. Priests make close to $100,000 (before any “gifts”), offer a limited (usually two) liturgies per week and are mostly pre-occupied with the wants and needs of the community’s self-declared (wealthy and loud) leaders. These are usually a few wealthy parishioners who equate their worldly success with the right to throw their weight around in all facets of the church’s business, including liturgical aspects! They are commonly described as the "I paid for the church building so do what I say", good ole boys...
The attire of most priests outside of the Church is very un-Orthodox. One can count in two hands the number of priests that wear their rassa off Church premises. There exist Orthodox jurisdictions where the rassa-wearing priests are threatened with suspension if they refuse to conform.
The concept of Christian Love is prevalent within the sermons of most priests without a clear understanding of the spiritual values of either Christ’s Love or all other theological aspects of the miracle we call Orthodoxy.
This made for very sad reading.