We welcome all who seek the fullness of God. We are truly glad to welcome visitors to our Church. Because Orthodox Christianity is unfamiliar to most people in this area — it was new to many of us as well — we have written this to help you know what to expect when you visit.

Getting to the Church
Directions to our Church are under the tab “Driving Directions” on this website.

What You’ll Find
On Sunday morning our service is Eucharistic in nature and is called the Divine Liturgy. The beauty of Orthodox worship must be experienced to be understood. The Divine Liturgy expresses the entire Christian faith in a continuous song of praise and prayer addressed to God. It is focused on God, not on us. There is nothing just for amusement or entertainment. Since much of the service is the same every week, worshipers know it and can participate personally, either by singing along or by prayerful attention. Worshipers are surrounded by icons (images of Christ and the saints), which remind us that while on earth,
we are participating in the worship of God with all the angels and saints who are in heaven. The entire service, except for the sermon, is sung. No organ or other instruments are used. The words are all from Scripture or ancient Christian texts — no rhyming metrical hymns are used. All our services are in the English language.

Participating in the Services

· Body Worship
— Orthodox worship encompasses all of then senses. We see the images,
we hear the singing and join our voices to the choir’s, we smell the
sweet fragrance of the incense, and if Orthodox, we partake of Holy
Communion which is the Body and Blood of the Lord. You will see people
making the sign of the cross on their bodies, making bows, kissing
Icons and lighting candles. Visitors are invited to participate as much
as you wish.

· Holy Communion
is the real presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, not a sign
or a symbol. Therefore only prepared Orthodox Christians may receive
Communion since through the use of the word Communion we mean that we
are one, in belief and practice. Those not yet in full union, that is,
members of the Orthodox Church, may not receive the Sacred Mystery of
Communion. In fact, Orthodox should not receive unless they have
recently been to Confession, said the pre-communion prayers and have
eaten and drunk nothing since the night before. Orthodox who are not
known to the priest should speak to him before the service so he will
know they are communicants; just ask a member to send word to him.

The
bread and wine given at the end of Liturgy are not Communion, but are
given as a sign of fellowship, and are called antidoron. This is
frequently given to visitors as a gift out of love. The bread is
blessed and set apart before communion and should be eaten reverently.

· Standing
(and kneeling) are the Biblical postures for prayer and Orthodox
traditionally stand at Sunday services. But for most people this takes
some “getting in shape”, so feel free to sit as much as you wish. We
don’t normally kneel on Sundays, as Sunday is the Day of Resurrection
and kneeling is considered penitential; we kneel a good bit at weekday
services during the Great Fast.

· Children
— we don’t have a nursery during the services because we believe it is
appropriate and beneficial for children to be in the services as much
as possible. It may take a few visits, but young children can learn to
settle down, and it’s surprising how much even toddlers absorb. It’s no
problem if they move about quietly but please be considerate and take
them out briefly if they become very noisy.

· Visitors Welcome
— Orthodox do not talk or visit during the services, If you come in
after the service begins it may be that no one will greet you until the
service is over. After Sunday services we have Common Hour, a time of
food and drink together in the Parish Hall; you’re invited to join us
there so we can get to know each other. No one will put any pressure on
you to join the Church; many people “visit” our Church for years.

The Divine Liturgy

The
normal Sunday morning service is called the Divine Liturgy. With
sermon, it lasts about an hour and a half. A small booklet is available
in the back of the church to help you follow the service. It includes most of the
peoples sung parts that are the same for each service which is as
follows:

· Responsive prayers called litanies.
· Praise, usually Psalms 103 and 147 and the Beatitudes (St. Matthew 5: 3-12)
· Procession with the Gospel Book
· Hymns of the day, on Sundays especially of the Resurrection, and the hymn Holy God.
· Epistle and Gospel readings and sermon
· The Great Entrance, a solemn procession carrying the Gifts of bread and wine to the altar, representing the offering of our lives to God
· The Nicene Creed, the summary of the Faith
· The Eucharistic Prayer.
We “lift up our hearts” to join the angels in singing Holy, Holy, Holy
and offering thanksgiving (Eucharist) to God for all His works,
especially remembering Christ’s saving work, and asking the Holy Spirit
to transform our Gifts into Christ’s Body and Blood. It concludes with
the Lord’s Prayer.
· Communion.
Orthodox who are prepared by prayer, repentance, a recent confession
and fasting receive the Holy Gifts as a means of union with Christ. Our
children receive because God’s work in us is not limited to what we can
understand.

Vespers

The
Saturday Evening Service is called Great Vespers. It lasts about an
hour. Orthodox Christians, like the Jews before them, believe the new
day starts on the evening before. Great Vespers is a preparation for,
not a substitute for, worship at the Sunday Liturgy.

It consists
mainly of singing of Psalms, especially Psalms 104 and 141, the
“evening offering of incense, and the hymns “O Gladsome Light . . .”
and “Now dost Thou dismiss Thy servant . . .” (Luke 2:29). The service
has themes of Creation and Resurrection as the “eve” of the Day of
Resurrection, the first day of the week.

Vespers is also served
on Wednesday evenings in our parish. This follows our daily structure
of prayer which starts with Vespers. Then Compline, First Hour, Matins,
Third Hour, Sixth Hour, Divine Liturgy and Ninth hour complete the
daily cycle.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does Theotokos mean? Theotokos
(Mother of God) is a title for the Virgin Mary. Orthodox love and honor
but do not worship her because God Himself loved and honored her and
because of our union with her Son. The attention given her in the
Church also expresses our faith that Jesus Christ is truly human, born
of a woman as we are, yet remains truly God, so His human mother can be
called the Mother of God. In many hymns she is a sign of the Church as
the beloved bride of God; her exaltation as “more glorious than the
Seraphim” is a sign of the exaltation awaiting all who “hear the Word
of God and keep it” as she did.

What are Icons?
Icons are paintings of Christ and the Saints. They must be painted
according to a strict tradition because they are an important way the
Faith is handed down and taught. Icons and crosses are kissed
(”venerated”), but not worshipped, as a sign of our belief that in
Christ God took a physical body, and became part of our physical world
so we could know Him. Through the Icon the ones depicted become present
to us and we ask them to pray to God for us. This is why Icons are
called “Windows into Heaven.”

Incense, vestments, candles are
part of the imagery of heavenly worship in the Book of Revelation. In
the Liturgy we participate while still in this world in the worship of
the angels and saints in heaven. Many people buy candles and place them
in the church as an offering to the Lord, who is our Light and told us
to let our light shine.

Ancient prayers and hymns
are used rather than extemporaneous or modern ones because they contain
the accumulated insights of many centuries of Christians, and they are
packed with Biblical quotations. They are repetitious because in that
way they become rooted in our minds. They are chanted or sung rather
than spoken so we are less conscious of the personality of the
individual reader.

How Can I Join This Church?
We don’t hurry anyone to join; many people “visit” for a long time,
some for years. But after visiting a while, if you wish to be a member,
speak to the priest. Those wishing to be members are received as
catechumens (learners), and usually spend at least a year attending the
services and learning the Faith. Then if they have not already received
Christian Baptism they are Baptized, and then are Chrismated, anointed
with Chrism oil with the words “The Seal of the Gift of the Holy
Spirit,” and then they receive Holy Communion, which completes their
entry into the Church.