Your First Visit

During worship, we believe we stand in the very presence of God, and we join the saints and heavenly hosts in joyful prayer and praise. So we try to avoid “chit-chat” in church. That doesn't mean we want to be unfriendly. We want to get to know you and help you get to know us and our church. But before and during our services, as people are silently preparing to worship, we try to avoid conversation. (Also, it’s a good idea to silence your phone before entering the church.)

An Orthodox church has only one Eucharistic service (called the Divine Liturgy) each Sunday, and in our church this begins at 10:00 and is preceded by a short service called Hours, beginning at 9:40. There is no break between these services—one begins as soon as the previous one ends. There is no point at which everyone is sitting quietly in pews waiting for the entrance hymn to start.

During the early part of the service the church may seem to be in a hubbub, with people walking up to the front of the church, crossing themselves, kissing icons and lighting candles, even though the service has begun. This may be distracting or seem disrespectful, but these are really just expressions of a faith that is not merely formal but very personal. We explain more of this below.

In the Holy Scriptures, people typically stood to pray. Jesus said, “When you stand, praying . . .” (Mark 11:25) This is the ancient Christian practice, and we Orthodox traditionally hold fast to the ancient ways. But by all means, if you have difficulty standing, please sit on the benches we've provided!

Orthodox worship involves the whole person: the mind, the heart, the senses, the entire body. We engage our bodies in prayer as we bow, make prostrations, or make the Sign of the Cross. While practices vary from church to church, It is always appropriate to cross oneself at the mention of the Holy Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; whenever entering or leaving the church; when passing in front of the altar; when venerating an icon, and at times for personal petitions.

We light candles for personal petitions and intercessions, usually when entering the church at the beginning of the service. Candles symbolize the light of Christ in our midst as well as our prayers rising to heaven. You'll see the candle stands next to the icons in the middle of the nave.

Every Orthodox church has an iconostas before its altar. This screen has an icon of Christ to the right and an icon of the Virgin and Child to the left of the central doors. These doors are called the “Holy Doors” or “Royal Doors,” because through them the King of Glory comes out to the congregation in the form of the Eucharist (the body and blood of Christ). Only the priest and deacons, who carry the Eucharist, use the Holy Doors.

The openings to the north and south of the icons (Orthodox churches are built so that the altar faces east) are called the “Deacon’s Doors.” Altar boys and others with business behind the altar use these, although no one may go through any of the doors without an appropriate reason.

When we first come into the church, we kiss the icons in the center of the nave (Jesus on the feet and other saints on the hands, typically). You’ll also notice that we kiss the chalice when receiving Communion, and we all line up to kiss the cross and Father Christopher's hand at the end of the Divine Liturgy. We kiss things to honor them. When we talk about “venerating” (honoring) something we usually mean crossing ourselves and/or kissing it.

Orthodox Christians do not worship icons (or chalices, crosses, or priests)! We worship God and God alone. The Seventh Ecumenical Council in Nicea in 787 A.D acknowledged that it is proper to venerate (that is, honor) the holy icons. Many people will treat photographs of loved ones with special care, putting them in lovely frames, in a special place, etc.. It is not the paper photograph they honor, but the person in the photograph. “Icon” means “image,” and we venerate the person represented in that image by crossing ourselves, sometimes bowing, and kissing the icon.

Orthodox Christians often address the Virgin Mary as “Theotokos,” the Greek word for “Mother of God.” By freely submitting her will to the will of God, she provided the physical means for God to become man and secure our salvation.

But though we honor her as Scripture foretold (“All generations will call me blessed,” Luke 1:48), this doesn’t mean we think she or any of the other saints are demi-gods or that they have magical powers. And when we sing “Holy Theotokos, save us,” we are not asking her to grant us eternal salvation but to help us by praying for our protection and growth in faith. Just as we might ask family or friends to pray for us, we ask the Theotokos and the other saints to pray for us as well.

We do not use musical instruments in our services. Our wonderful choir leads us in a cappella, 4-part harmony. Almost everything in our services is sung or chanted; very few words are simply spoken. This makes the words being chanted or sung "stand out," without the inflection or emphasis that the spoken word often has.

You will hear, "Lord, have mercy" very frequently in our services. To many people, “mercy” is what one asks for when one is about to be judged or killed, so some visitors might suppose we fear a hateful or vindictive God. Not so! We know God as the Lover of Mankind, infinitely compassionate, and infinitely loving!

Mercy means “Lord, soothe me, comfort me, heal me, take away my pain, show me your steadfast love.” Thus mercy does not refer so much to justice as to the infinite loving-kindness of God, and his compassion for his suffering children!

(Adapted from the book, Orthodox Worship.)

Orthodox Christians view Holy Communion as deeply, awesomely holy, and take seriously St. Paul’s words, “whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.” (1 Cor 11:27-28) To prepare and “examine ourselves” before coming to Communion, we fast, pray, examine our hearts, and confess our sins, seeking absolution from God.

Please note that Orthodox priests may only serve Communion to baptized members in good standing of the Orthodox Church who have recently confessed and fasted. This has been the tradition of the Church for its nearly 2,000-year history.

Some people like to wear their very best. Others choose less formal clothing. There is a wide variety of clothing styles in our church, and we want you to feel welcome and comfortable.

Children are always welcome in God’s house! “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” (Mk 10:14) In general, we try to avoid disrupting Divine Worship by coming and going, but this must be tempered with love. If small children should become restless or loud, they may need for loving parents to take them out, briefly, to return when they are able to do so.