First Time Visitors

Yes! Many of us are converts to the Orthodox Church and were once non-Orthodox visitors too! We are honored to have visitors join us for prayer and worship. We come from various religious backgrounds too and we can probably anticipate many of the questions you will likely have about Orthodox faith and worship. We’ve gone through it ourselves so don’t be afraid to ask questions about what we do and why. We are happy to answer them and can offer resources to you for you to learn more.

When you enter our church, you enter the Narthex. We encourage you to seek out a parishioner when you enter and they will be happy to help guide you. On Sunday, you may hear prayers or singing going on when you come even if you come before the posted service time. Don’t worry! You aren’t late. We begin a time of prayer before our service begins. The posted service time is approximate. And, even if you enter after the service starts, it’s still fine to come on in. 

When you first enter the front door, on your right you will see candles in a box. If you would like to light a candle, you are welcome to. Simply take a candle, walk down the center aisle to the front of the church and light your candle at a candle stand. You can follow others as they do it.

Along with the candles, you will also see some small books. These are the printed texts of the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy. You are welcome to take one and follow along with the section “The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom”. Or, you may prefer to simply listen and observe all that is happening. Some people find it helpful to close their eyes and listen at first because there are often many things going on during worship. The Orthodox worship with their whole body and all the senses. You’ll smell the incense, hear the singing, see the beautiful surroundings. This may seem like a lot to take in at first. That is normal for someone who hasn’t experienced this before. This is why it can be helpful at first to close your eyes and just listen. 

Following the Sunday Divine Liturgy, we have a coffee hour, a time to eat and visit. You are welcome to join us! It’s a good time to get to know people and meet the priests. If you are not interested in social interaction at first, that’s fine. You are always welcome to follow your own pace and level of interest.

Vespers – Prayer service that lasts about 45 -60 minutes. We have a Vespers service on Wednesday evening and Great Vespers on Saturday evening. 

Divine Liturgies – Worship services on Sunday mornings. Divine Liturgy lasts about 1 hour 45 minutes.

There are additional services throughout the year as well that you will find on our calendar.

We welcome you to attend any of the services. If you have never been to an Orthodox church, you might find a Vespers service is a good place to start.

You won’t be asked to do anything that would make you uncomfortable and you won’t be asked or expected to make a financial contribution when you visit. You may notice parishioners kiss icons, make the sign of the cross, light candles, or kiss the priest’s hand.  Don’t worry if these things are unfamiliar to you. It is not expected that you need to do them. You can participate if you like or not. These things are often very new to those who have never experienced Orthodoxy. We get it. Many of us who have converted to Orthodoxy had to take our time to learn about them and come to participate as we became comfortable.

The general rule for men and women is to dress appropriately, modestly and respectfully, because we stand before the living God. We wear everything from jeans to suits, long dresses to skirts, tee shirts to shirts with ties, dress shoes to sneakers. We ask, however, that you do not wear shorts, mini-skirts, tank tops, low-cut or strapless dresses (unless covered by a sweater, etc.). Some Orthodox women wear head coverings, and some don’t. They are not required. Men are asked not to wear head coverings (baseball caps, etc.).

In the Orthodox Church, children are a part of the community and learn to worship by being present in worship. There is no child care provided; parents are responsible for their children during service. For some of us converts to Orthodoxy, we originally found this surprising and we wondered how this would work with our kids! But, it’s important to know a few things about Orthodox services. The services often have singing and other things going on that capture their attention and the Orthodox understand that having kids in church means that they will make some noise of some kind. Also, many parents may get up and walk around taking their kids to see the icons on the wall or bring books or quiet things that will help them be occupied. Or, if kids get truly upset, parents will step into the Narthex. Again, many of us have transitioned to having our children with us in service, so we understand and are happy to answer questions.

The traditional posture for prayer and worship in the Orthodox Church is to stand before the King of the universe! In many Orthodox churches there are no pews or only some pews or seats along the side walls. If you get tired or have trouble standing, you can feel free to sit down. There are, however, a few times during the service that it is appropriate to stand – the Gospel reading, the Little and Great Entrances, distribution of the Eucharist, when the priest gives a blessing and at the Dismissal. Don’t worry! At first, you may not know when these times are. Just look around and follow the congregation.

Lighting candles is an important part of Orthodox worship and piety. We light candles as we pray, making an offering to God to accompany our prayers. The candles also remind us that Christ is the Light of the World (John 8:12) and that we desire to also reflect His light into the world. 

Orthodox typically light candles when coming into the church, but there are times when candles should not be lit. Candles should not be lit during the Epistle or Gospel readings, during the Little Entrance, and during the sermon. You do not have to be an Orthodox Christian to light a candle and pray in an Orthodox church.

Close to seventy-five percent of an Orthodox service is congregational singing. Traditionally, Orthodox do not use instruments. Usually a choir leads the people in a capella harmony, with the level of congregational response varying from parish to parish. The style of music varies as well, from very traditional Byzantine-sounding chant in some parishes, to more Western-sounding four-part harmony in a Russian-tradition church, with lots of variation in between. 

In our church, the music is in Western four-part harmony and the songs are generally easy to learn. You can sing along with us as you feel comfortable. Or, you may choose not to sing along and just listen and simply take it in. The music is solemn, prayerful and intended to lead the faithful to worship the living God.

You may see some people kiss icons. Why do we do that? We are not worshiping the images, but expressing our love to the person in the icon. We are grateful to the saints who, by their lives, encourage us to follow Christ and who are in the presence of God even now praying on our behalf and on behalf of all mankind. So, we kiss the icon much like we might kiss a photo of a loved one when we haven’t seen them in person for a while. There is no expectation for visitors and people who are inquiring about Orthodoxy to kiss the icons. It is something people do as they feel comfortable to.

You will smell and see the incense being used through the services. Why do we do this? The incense is used for several reasons. First, it is used to represent the prayers of the people to God as you see in 

Psalm 141:2 – “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”

Revelation 5:8 – “Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

Incense is also used to show honor which is why the incense is directed toward the altar, the icons in the church, and to the people (who are also icons of Christ).

We even see in scripture that Malachi prophesied of the time when Gentiles would offer incense to God. 

Malachi 1:11 – “For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations, says the Lord of hosts.”

The Eucharist is reserved for Orthodox Christians who have been baptized in the church and who have prepared themselves to receive the Holy Eucharist through prayers, fasting and a recent confession.

We realize that if you haven’t been to an Orthodox church before, this may seem strange or even inhospitable. We want to reassure visitors that we mean no disrespect; we are honored you are here with us.  But we understand the Eucharist as the church did from its founding; that it is the body and blood of Christ. And, we head the warning given by St. Paul to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32 “ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”

However, we also want to mention that there is blessed bread that is served after the Eucharist on a separate table, and we welcome you to eat it with us. You may have a parishioner offer you some and at the end of the service there is an opportunity for you to pick up some of the blessed bread. You are welcome to participate in these things.