We welcome all who seek God, and we love to welcome visitors to our Church.  Since Orthodox Christianity is unfamiliar to most people in this area — it was new to many of us as well — here are a few basics:

Worship

On Sunday morning we usually have around 40 people in Church, including children.  The Divine Liturgy, which lasts about 90 minutes, expresses the entire Christian faith in a continuous song of praise and prayer to God.  Since it is focused on God, we do not seek to be amusing or entertaining.   Incense, candles, and vestments are part of the imagery of heavenly worship in the Book of Revelation.  Many people buy candles and place them in the church as an offering of light to the Lord, who told us to let our light shine.

Standard, formal prayers and hymns are used rather than extemporaneous or modern ones, because they contain the accumulated insights of many centuries of Christians.  The entire service (except for the sermon) is sung or chanted without musical instruments, so that our conversation with God will be special and not focused on an individual reader or chanter.  Because the words are from Scripture or ancient Christian texts, worshippers can learn it easily and participate, by singing along or with prayerful attention.  All our services are in English, with a few short parts done in languages of some traditional Orthodox cultures out of respect and gratitude for their preservation of the faith.

Icons

The first thing most people notice when entering an Orthodox church is the many colorful icons on the walls.  Icons are painted according to exacting tradition because they are an important way the Faith is handed down and taught.  Icons are not merely decorative art.  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.  Other human beings who unite themselves with Christ become holy and the image of God becomes visible in them, so we honor their icons as well.

In the front is an icon screen (“iconostasis”), signifying the Kingdom of God—the Kingdom to come.  The “royal,” doors in the center of the iconostasis lead to the Altar table, the Throne of God.  On the left side of these doors is an icon of the Incarnation, the first coming of Christ as a Child, born of the Virgin Mary.  On the right side is an icon of Christ as He will appear on the Last Day, in glory.  In front of the Royal Doors the faithful encounter Christ today, when they receive the Eucharist.

A Word about Communion

Only duly prepared Orthodox Christians are permitted to receive communion, the Eucharist.  For us it is a visible sign of unity—with the Church and with other Orthodox Christians.  If one does not accept all that the Church believes, teaches and worships, one is not united with the Church.  In other words, in Orthodoxy, the Eucharist is the result of unity, not the means by which unity is achieved.  At the same time, after the end of the Divine Liturgy, it is traditional to offer blessed bread as a sign of hospitality.  This bread is not the Eucharist (communion) itself, but because it is blessed, we fast before receiving it and are careful about crumbs so they aren’t trampled underfoot.