St. Joseph Orthodox Church
412 Crescent St, Wheaton
Feb 8
Greek Orthodox, high liturgical
Worship service
The worship service at St. Joseph is highly ceremonial, rooted in hymns, creeds, and call-responses that I assume are the same for all the Orthodox churches. All readings, faith affirmations, benedictions, prayers, and of course hymns are sung (a cappella), even simple responses to the priest. The only thing not sung is the actual sermon. Along with the words are movements of the priests and the boys who hold the candles who probably have a name that I do not know. As one priest faced the alter, another would be in the inner part reciting passages or blessings or prayers. At one point a priest walks around the room with a sensor, filling the place with a sweet smell that I believe is supposed to be a reminder of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The movements are all known, and there is something mystical about it that is not present in the low church I grew up in.
Intersting/appealing
The experience was very holistic and weighty, as if I could feel these words echoed throughout the global Orthodox church across space and time. These same verses have been sung the same way for so many years, and every church sings them almost the same way. Language is no barrier to the liturgy, for the song transcends language. I can say this because I unwittingly went to the Slavic service, which meant I was lost the entire time, but it did give me an opportunity to witness the unity of this entire church across linguistic borders. I preferred it to the casual services I grew up with, largely because the ceremony had, as I said, weight. The weight of words offered to the Creator of the Universe. Their humility and reverence to God is striking, and to me was powerful. I also appreciate the Orthodox's reverence and attention to the presence of the Holy Spirit, not as an abstraction in our hearts, but a real presence in the church.
Challenging
As previously mentioned, there was a significant language barrier. If there were any theological quandaries for me to work through, I have no idea what they might've been because I do not know any Slavic, although I am now aware that the 'j' sound is used quite frequently. For the first half hour of the service I imagine I had a deer-in-the-headlights look on my face as I tried to follow along in my English liturgy book, which was a losing battle for about 97% of the time. If I had gone to the English service a challenge I would've had would've been trying to participate in the singing. I don't know the structure, so knowing which parts to sing and how to sing it probably would not have happened, at least for a bit. But since everything was in a completely foreign everything, I did not even try.
Theology illumination
Again, no words were understood, so the sermon might have been the most mind-blowing revelatory thing I ever experienced but I have no clue. I suppose something new and awakening is that the Holy Spirit can also be worshipped as part of the Trinity. Obviously He can be, but most churches I've been to in high school had the worship leader closing his eyes and heavily breathing into the mike he's practically making out with saying "Holy Spirit, move our hearts and give us eyes to see" while he's playing two chords on the acoustic guitar. This church actually worships Him though, acknowledging and praising His presence in the room and their hearts, but not in that weird sentimental way. It's a matter of fact, and their high worship includes all persons of the trinity, something I found very interesting. I was also fascinated by their ritual of Eucharist, the imbued meaning that is understood by all there, as opposed to many protestants who really do not understand the significance of the ceremony.
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