Orthodixie

Due to my weird and hectic schedule, I’ve missed a couple phone calls from a local newspaper reporter doing a story about Orthodoxy for this Saturday’s paper.

Rumour has it that he’s visited this Blog, so I’m going to use the medium to conduct an interview with myself in hopes that, when he next visits, he’ll lift any quotes and info necessary for his story. (God knows our little mission appreciates the publicity!)

Q: First off, why are you celebrating Easter on a different date than everyone else?

A: Because candy’s cheaper that way.

Q: But aren’t the lilies are more expensive?

A: You’re right! HERE’s a better explanation. Fr John Whiteford also offers an excellent answer.

Q: How old is your church?

A: As for the ORTHODOX CHURCH, here’s a snarky reply. As for our Mission parish of St Raphael, we are just about one year old. We are named for a “modern day” saint, Raphael Hawaweeny of Brooklyn.

Q: Tell me about your congregation.

A: Compared to your average Baptist church, we’re small — about 20-25 souls in attendance on Sundays. However, we’re a faithful group. We have about the same number for Wednesday & Saturday evenings as well! Most of our members are American Converts to Holy Orthodoxy. Our services are 100% in English. About half of our community is kids.

I’ve worked with convert missions for over 12 years now. It takes time, perseverance, and many sacrifices to make it work. All we’re called to do is be faithful. And that’s exactly what we’re doing right now as we plant this new Antiochian Orthodox Mission in Western North Carolina.

Q: Tell me about your reasons for converting to Orthodox Christianity.

A: Here’s the answer; and a few other bits of personal info.

Q: What are some of the struggles you’ve encountered with Orthodoxy in the South?

A: Some of the problems are within Orthodoxy itself. That being said, most people in North Carolina have never even heard of Orthodox Christianity. The question that is inevitably asked is,”So how is Orthodoxy different than, say, the Baptist church?” In reality, given the confines and brevity of normal conversation, there’s just no way to do justice to a question like that! From the outside we may look like exotic [Roman] Catholics. But starting with another Communion is not the way to properly answer the question. Come and see! That’s the best answer.

Q: How do you hope to draw people into the Church?

A: The Holy Spirit does a pretty good job of that. Over the past several hundred years the Orthodox have not been known for their great campaigns of evangelism. And, in our zeal for the Kingdom, we often make mistakes. Currently, the Orthodox Church is benefiting by all the changes taking place in mainstream Christian groups — like the Episcopalians, Methodists, Charismatics, etc. But converting to Orthodoxy solely because others are sliding toward heresy is not the most God-pleasing and long-lasting solution. It takes about two years AFTER being Orthodox for a person to really begin to struggle well within the Ancient Faith. Pastors often refer to this as the “Two Year Itch”. If the Convert can get past that, they’re probably home for good.

Q: Back to Pascha (Easter), tell me about the service.

A: We begin at 11:30pm on Saturday evening, having had a whole slate of Holy Week services. By the time we get to the Pascha service, Orthodox Christians have fasted from meat, dairy, wine, and oil for the past 50 days. Practically speaking, just knowing that the Fast is only a few hours from being broken is pretty exciting! 🙂

Anyway, the service begins in total darkness. Eventually a single candle emerges from the altar, held by the priest, and the faithful come forward to light their own candles. [This passing of the fire is symbolic of the miracle of the Holy Fire which occurs every Great & Holy Saturday at the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.] After the candles are lighted, we process outside (weather permitting) and around the building three times singing the hymn:

Thy Resurrection O Christ, our Saviour
The Angels in Heaven sing
Enable us on Earth
To Glorify Thee in purity of heart.

Three circuits being completed, the first Gospel of the Resurrection and the initial singing of the Paschal Troparion is done outside:

Christ is Risen from the dead
Trampling down Death by Death
And upon those in the tombs
Bestowing Life!

This hymn will be repeated many times during the service once back inside the building.

Before reentry, the Priest knocks on the door with a Cross, saying:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall enter in.

A voice from inside, representing the devil, asks:

Who is this King of glory?

The priest answers:

The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

The priest the knocks again saying:

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall enter in.

And again the voice asks:

Who is this King of Glory?

The priest then replies:

The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.

After this dialogue has been repeated the third time, the doors are swung open and the priest reenters followed by the congregation.

The faithful reenter the building — which is now brightly lighted. The atmosphere is one of great joy — not just because the Fast is ended, but the glorious light of the Resurrection enlivens the Christian heart like no other. It is truly a blessed event!

Following the Communion service, the priest gives out red eggs to the faithful, Pascha baskets are blessed, and we proceed to break the Fast by enjoying all of the previously forbidden foods: Lamb, Ham, Cheese, Mayonnaise, Wine, etc. This party lasts until about 4 or 5 am. For our community, after a bit of rest, we shall resume the celebration with Agape Vespers, Sunday at Noon — followed by yet another feasting meal. (Larger parishes may have daily Paschal services all week long.)

The Orthodox service of the Resurrection — PASCHA — is a wonderful time for folks to visit an Orthodox church.

Come & See!

Ancient faith gains believers from decidedly more modern churches

April 22, 2005 – ROBIN GALIANO RUSSELL / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
The Eastern Orthodox Church, as far removed from a nondenominational or evangelical congregation as you can get, is nevertheless attracting a growing number of converts who are drawn by the tug of an ancient faith.

Converts are trading in their PowerPoint sermons and praise bands for the ancient rhythms of a liturgy that hasn’t changed in thousands of years – a pendulum swing from the casual, seeker-friendly services that have dominated contemporary evangelicalism.

Their numbers are still small compared to megachurch growth patterns, with 1.2 million Eastern Orthodox Christians in America and an estimated 10,000 in the Dallas area. But adherents say there’s been a surge in people drawn to the faith.

The Antiochian Orthodox Church, the most evangelistic of the American Orthodox churches, has tracked conversions for several decades. The number of its churches in the U.S. has doubled in 20 years to more than 250 parishes and missions. About 80 percent of its converts come from evangelical and charismatic backgrounds, 20 percent from mainline denominations.

Many go on to become Orthodox priests. About 78 percent of clergy in the Antiochian Church are converts, up from 10 to 15 percent 25 years ago. Nearly half of the students in America’s two largest Orthodox seminaries are converts.

Those who convert say they are drawn to an aesthetic beauty and spiritual mystery in Orthodox worship that are often lacking in their own Protestant services. It’s like entering a time machine that allows congregants to worship as the early Christians did.

Not that it doesn’t take some getting used to.

Orthodox services are based on the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which can last two hours or more. Congregants stand much of the time, while priests in vestments offer incense and chant the Psalms.

‘Startlingly different’

Frederica Mathewes-Green, a former Episcopalian and author of Facing East: A Pilgrim’s Journey into the Mysteries of Orthodoxy, said the experience of Orthodoxy was “startlingly different” from anything she’d known in Western churches. But it clicked when she saw it was directed toward God rather than her own emotional needs.

“It called us to fall on our faces before God in worship and to be filled with awe at his glory. I could never go back. I now find Western worship tedious and sentimental. To me, the contrast is jolting.”

Ms. Mathewes-Green also prefers the Orthodox view of the Christian life as a healing process and a journey, rather than a one-time “sinner’s prayer.” She and her husband converted from a liberal Episcopal Church in 1993 and helped found an Orthodox church made up mostly of American converts.

“It’s not about getting the sin-debt paid, the ticket punched and now you wait around to die and go to heaven. Orthodoxy is a transforming journey where every day the Christian is being enabled to bear more of God’s light. That’s exciting,” she said.

Stan Shinn of Wylie, who was raised in the Assemblies of God denomination and attended Oral Roberts University, recalls feeling nearly overwhelmed when he stepped inside Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in North Dallas for the first time.

What looked good on paper – definitive answers to his search for early Christian worship and doctrine – had taken him to a “very bizarre and strange” church with icon-filled walls, heavy incense and Byzantine chanting.

“I felt like there was a gauntlet thrown down in front of me,” he said.

He and his wife, Janine, and their three children converted in 2002 from their nondenominational church to the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Like the Shinns, those who convert are joining 350 million Orthodox Christians around the world.

First-century church

“Orthodox” means “right belief.” The Orthodox Church traces its origins back to Jesus’ apostles and first-century practice. The Roman Catholic Church makes that same claim, but the two branches of ancient Christianity differ in ecclesiastical hierarchy and a few doctrinal points.

Roman Catholics believe the pope has ultimate authority, while Orthodox Christians say their council of bishops is more in line with Scripture and church tradition. (The early church had five centers of Christianity – in Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Rome and Constantinople, which is now Istanbul.)

Orthodox Christians also disagree with the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, which states that Jesus’ mother was born without sin herself.

The two branches of ancient Christianity split in 1054.

Today, the Orthodox community is led by patriarchs and a hierarchy of bishops who must be celibate. Unlike Catholic clergy, Orthodox priests can marry before ordination.

Archbishop Dmitri, 81, leads the Archdiocese of Dallas and the South for the Orthodox Church in America. He grew up as Robert Royster in a Southern Baptist family in Teague, Texas, but converted to Orthodoxy as a teen because he wanted more out of faith.

“Everything was true, but it was not complete. It wasn’t that I needed to repudiate it. I just went on to find the rest of it,” he said.

The Orthodox consider themselves to have a bond with other Christians but believe they have a more accurate understanding of the faith. At a recent daylong festival in Dallas about Orthodox Christianity, Archbishop Dimitri encouraged people in other denominations to cling to the elements of the historic faith that their churches uphold, but added an invitation: “If you find there are holes at the bottom and you have to abandon ship, then head for one that’s still afloat,” he said.

In search of history

Conversion to Orthodoxy often begins with an intellectual quest, Mr. Shinn said. He began searching when he saw modern churches abandoning historic Christian tenets, such as the Nicene Creed, and stripping their sanctuaries of any religious symbolism to be more seeker-friendly.

“The elements of Christianity were disappearing before me like the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland. What kind of Christianity would my grandchildren inherit, and would the Gospel even be recognizable?” he said.

Studying church history and tradition raised even more questions: Why was the Apocrypha a part of Scripture until the Reformation? Did the early church really have bishops instead of the congregational rule that governs most Protestant churches? Why did they have such a high view of Communion and baptize infants?

And the ancient liturgies, chants, incense and sacraments used in Orthodox services, he discovered, were not taken from medieval Catholicism – as his Protestant upbringing taught him – but from early church worship.

“It all caused me to re-evaluate my core assumptions. Instead of me judging history, I decided I wanted history to judge me and tell me what should I practice,” Mr. Shinn said.

The unchanging nature of the Orthodox Church is a strong draw for “serious Christians” who are tired of Protestant individualism yet disagree with the Catholic Church’s teachings, said the Rev. Peter Gillquist, chairman of missions and evangelism for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

“It’s charismatics and evangelicals, those diamonds in the rough who are looking to find Christ’s church. There’s a lot of people who love the Lord and his word, but they’re still looking for his church.”

Father Gillquist was a “card-carrying evangelical” himself before his conversion to Orthodoxy. He attended Dallas Theological Seminary and Wheaton College, and was a director for Campus Crusade for Christ, a nondenominational evangelistic campus organization.

Now he uses evangelistic strategies to promote Christianity and the Orthodox Church. Most who come into the church now are people from other denominations who are confused by the hundreds of Protestant denominations and disturbed by increasing theological liberalism, he said.

Ethnic flavor

But some who are ready to convert still think the church might be too exotic for them, said the Rev. Anthony Savas, pastor of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Dallas.

“They’re afraid it’s too ethnic. They wonder, ‘What will my friends think?’ ” he said.

It’s true that the Orthodox Church in America took on the ethnic flavors of 20th-century immigrants. The dozen Orthodox churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area reflect these geographic and ethnic heritages. Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is Dallas’ largest, with 1,500 active members. The church holds services in Greek and English and hosts an annual Greek festival with ethnic foods, dance and crafts.

St. Seraphim Orthodox Cathedral in the Oak Lawn area is predominantly Russian. At Sts. Constantine and Helen, an Antiochian Orthodox Church, 80 percent of the families speak Arabic. Services at both are in English. There’s a Hispanic congregation in Oak Cliff – Holy Transfiguration Hispanic Orthodox Mission.

Converts become more familiar with the church through catechism classes and the guidance of spiritual godparents (individuals and couples in the congregation who mentor new converts). If they’ve already been baptized in another church, they also must be chrismated, or anointed, to be received in the Orthodox Church.

Americans who convert to Orthodoxy know they will be part of a minority faith. That doesn’t bother Father Savas at Holy Trinity, who grew up Orthodox among Mormons in Salt Lake City.

“It’s wonderful to practice the ancient Christian faith in an environment that doesn’t know what to do with it. A minority can be a beacon of light, like the apostles, who took it beyond their own country,” he said.

“It’s a beautiful eye-opening experience for people to see the church of the New Testament is alive and thriving today. We don’t define ourselves by who we’re not. The church is just here. And we’re here to lift it up.”

Adherents say there is only one Orthodox Church, which is administratively organized into several jurisdictions. The faith, worship and doctrine is the same, but churches differ in language and administration.

Dioceses of Orthodox Churches are administrated by bishops in North America, as well as archbishops and patriarchs abroad.

Thanks for FWD from Fr Victor Potapov.

Not exactly a blizzard. But it is Palm Sunday — almost May, in the South.

May God grant all a spiritually profitable Passion Week and a glorious & bright Paschal Feast.

(Now, where did I put those snow boots?)

Ex-Anglicans to be received into Orthodox Church this Saturday
By Michael Spears, Staff Writer, Friday April 22, 2005

Fort Saskatchewan Record — For seven months several former members of the Anglican Church have been meeting in the Chapel of the Riverview Funeral home to lay the foundations of a new church in the Fort. The ‘new’ church will in fact be one of the oldest branches of Christianity, the Antiochian Orthodox Church. The church will be a part of the Archdiocese of North America, Diocese of Los Angeles and the West.

“We were looking for a stability that doesn’t exist any more in the Anglican Church,” said David Johnston, Mission Coordinator of the Fort Saskatchewan Antiochian Orthodox Christian community. “And stability is exactly what we’ve found – a stability that is rooted in the doctrines and teachings of the Apostles, and that doesn’t shift with the last public opinion poll.” The months spent studying the literature and text of the scriptures, have served to prepare not only Johnston but those who will form the congregation too.

The congregation numbers eight converts and three Orthodox members. “It’s been a journey to Orthodoxy. We are at a point now where we will become full members of the Orthodox Church and we will be able to participate in the whole life like be able to receive the sacraments. To describe it, the best description I have is that, it feels just like coming home,” said Johnston.

“For me this journey has given me more confidence in my life in Christ, and being Christian. It certainly also has changed the disciplines of my life. Orthodoxy has a very strong ascetical element in terms of practicing spiritual disciplines. “

This Saturday the Orthodox congregation will take part in a Chrismation ceremony. It is open to the public and it takes place at St. Philip’s Antiochian Orthodox Church, 15804 – 98 Ave, in Edmonton, Saturday, April 23 at 11 a.m. following the regular Orthos or Matins. Then the Divine Liturgy will be given and the Fort Saskatchewan congregation will then receive their first Communion.

“Chrismation and Baptism are two of the sacraments. Chrismation is the anointing with oil. In the Western Church the closest thing to it would be Confirmation,” said Johnston. “What will happen, this Lazarus Saturday, is that we will all be presented by our sponsors. We will then affirm our faith by saying the Nicene Creed. Then we will be annoited with oil as prayers are said over us. The prayers will include in them asking the Holy Spirit to fulfill in us whatever is lacking.”

From reading and practicing the teachings of the Bible in the Orthodox fashion he has noticed a few changes in himself. “Now I am experiencing more personal strength over the temptations and the things in me that I don’t like. Just belonging to the Orthodox Church has brought a real sense of personal victory. Things like getting angry are very different. I find that I am not getting angry the same way about things that I used to. Part of that is due to the ascetic discipline which includes fasting,” said Johnston. “When we fast as Orthodox Christians we don’t eat certain foods. There’s nothing wrong with eating food, but by saying no to certain foods we train ourselves to say no to the things that we should say no to. We are not in the habit in today’s society of saying no to anything,” said Johnston.

It is through this spiritual strength that he has reached what could be perhaps likened to an new evolution of self. “By practicing through fasting we become more equipped to say no to the sins like anger, lust, gluttony and all of the seven deadly sins. Within Orthodoxy the fasting is entirely voluntary. The only required fast is that to receive communion you are to have fasted from food for that day. The other fasting during the week and during the fasting season like Lent is entirely voluntary,” said Johnston. “The church in Her wisdom says that if you want to grow, become more mature and more Christ-like you should fast, pray and give alms. Fasting is a way to do that and it is a proven way to do that for over 2,000 years.”

Mentorship has been immensely valuable to David Johnston. “Father John Finley has been coming up every month and that has been invaluable. First of all because he has been through what we’ve gone through. He’s able to zero in on just the right issues that we need to. He’s been a Father in Christ, a brother, and a dear friend, that mentorship has just been invaluable,” said Johnston. “I think that anybody who converts to Orthodoxy ends up with somebody in that position. Instead of a father it will be a week by week relationship with their parish priest.”

In future the Fort Saskatchewan Antiochian Orthodox Community will be expanding on its services. “We hope starting in May to start having two Divine Liturgies here in Fort Saskatchewan each month,” said Johnston.

Thanks to anonymous FWD.

Realising that some of you are preparing — perhaps for the first time — to make a good Confession before Pascha, H E R E is a good aid in examining your conscience.

Some good ol’ Christian Basics.

If you must, more Pope news.

Wanna go to a GodBlog convention in California? H E R E.