The paper proposes an ethnographic-theological approach to Orthodox ecclesiology, grounded in the Greek-speaking Orthodox presence in Belgium as a focused diaspora case study. Rather than treating ecclesiology solely as doctrinal articulation, it examines how ecclesial identity is embodied, negotiated, and interpreted within migratory, multilingual, and digitally mediated parish contexts.
Drawing on qualitative observation and “thick description” of liturgical practice, catechesis, parish leadership, and communal interaction, the study explores how migration reshapes perceptions of authority, how intergenerational dynamics affect the reception of tradition, and how digital mediation reconfigures participation and belonging.
Engaging debates in ethnographic theology, the paper argues that empirical attentiveness does not replace normative ecclesiology but complicates abstract accounts of it. By holding together descriptive inquiry and theological claims about communion, the study highlights both the generative potential and epistemological risks of the ethnographic turn in contemporary Orthodox ecclesiology.