:It says in the Akathist that St. Herman envisioned ''"an Episcopal throne in this land." (Ikos 11)'' It doesn't say anything about multiple thrones, but one—an autocephalous Church in this land—one that came to be in 1970 [i.e., the [[OCA]]]. I look back on those seminary years and years later when there was much hope for a united church in America. There were pan-Orthodox celebrations; Sunday of Orthodoxy gatherings were major events and the spirit of the faithful and clergy was elevated in this gathering of the Church. Now we look back just ten years later and find the gathering of bishops at Ligonier is hailed as the greatest event of American Orthodoxy! I wonder how the canonization of America's first saint is relegated to some lesser place in the life of Orthodoxy in America. Even Ligonier was hopeful to those of us who were serving the churches in multiple jurisdictions. Soon we were disappointed when hierarchs removed their names from the documents that were prepared; one on evangelism and the other on administrative unity.

A [http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles5/EardwineUnity.shtml reply to his letter] was published in February 2005 on the [http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/ Orthodoxy Today] website.