The last decades of the Ottoman era in the Easter Mediterranean were marked by intensive demographic and social mobility especially in the urban centers. In an atmosphere of rapid appropriation of western cultural codes, the local elites dominating the diverse ethno-religious communities found it increasingly more difficult to channel new expectations and the resulting resentment in ways that would not jeopardize the existing order. In this respect, among the Greek-Orthodox, the role of the Church was paramount. It has been argued that the Tanzimat bureaucrats while attempting to secularize the structures of representation actually relied on the ecclesiastical hierarchy from the Patriarch of Constantinople at the top to parish priests locally to implement the values and principles of the reformed Empire. Its representatives used their enhanced status in order not only to convey to higher echelons the concerns of their congregations but also in order to disseminate ideas and practices that were not only related to faith. This resonates perfectly with was has been described as the revival of religion and morality in that era both among Muslims and non-Muslims, the state institutions non-withstanding. It can also be perceived as a response to the increasing impact of missionary activity. This paper, based on ecclesiastical publications in Istanbul and Smyrna, (more specifically Ecclesiastical Truth, the official organ of the Patriarchate and Ieros Polykarpos, the latter’s equivalent in Smyrna, as well as a series of publications by Smyrna Metropolitan Vassilios) argues that the church’s encounters with contemporary middle class values triggered new perceptions of the relation between the former and its congregation, always bearing upon issues of morality and order. It further aims to substantiate the view that the alliances that occasionally took place at a local level between ecclesiastical prelates and newly emerging lay elites inspired by middle-class perceptions of social order are not only based on expediency. The similarities in the discourses employed lead me assume that many church leaders have very consciously taken upon themselves the mission of saving their flock not only in the afterlife but also in the present one, providing the middle classes with the perfect ally in their attempt to social engineering and forging a hegemony based on a new urban morality that becomes a metaphor for a culture perception of the nation.