Gwen Farber - Church Visit #1

Gwen Farber - Church Visit #1

Church name: St. Joseph Orthodox Church

Church address: 412 Crescent St. Wheaton, IL 60187

Date attended: February 8, 2015

Church category: More/less liturgical 

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

The Greek Orthodox service I attended was extremely liturgical (which I am not used to in my regular context) and consisted of vocally sung liturgy throughout 3/4 of the service. It began with one man singing from the book of Psalms, and continued when the priest and deacon began the official service. There was a liturgy booklet (54 pages long) that we sang and prayed out of for the first hour and a half, following along in a call-and-response style of worship. This was followed by a twenty minute sermon on the Prodigal Son from the Gospels. There was incense that the priest brought around the room, and the Lord's Prayer and "Lord, have mercy" were said multiple times. The Eucharist and prayers leading up to it were also performed. Unlike my regular church context (I come from very low church), the incense, liturgy, and icons all around the room were very different than anything I had seen before. 

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

The singing liturgy was fascinating--there were three different patterns (or tracks: A, B, and C) of liturgy with the same words but different music so that the church could change each week. The fact that there was a book for the liturgy was something I had never seen before, but I liked it simply because I could read the words on the page and thus participate more fully in the words being said and the worship being offered. I also found it interesting in looking around the church body how different the members of the church were: toward the front were many older people, but there were also many families with young children and babies in the church, and seeing them participate in the church service was very interesting. 

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

The length of the service was challenging because there was a lot of standing for very long periods of time as we sang the liturgy together. The vast number of icons of Jesus and other biblical figures at the front of the room was also a little disconcerting--I had forgotten that icons were such an important aspect of the Orthodox tradition. It was also challenging to hear the prayers to Mary before the Eucharist was taken; trying to make sense of what they believe was difficult at times. 

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

Father John spoke on the Prodigal Son during his sermon at the end of the service, and brought up the beautiful point that it was not just the son that was prodigal in the story as he extravagantly used his father's money--but the father was also prodigal as he lavished his grace and love onto his reckless son. He made the connection between our Heavenly Father and the way that He has lavished us with his love, and the reminder that we have a prodigal Father watching out for us was really cool. Also, because I come from a church background that does not practice liturgy, seeing the intensity of the liturgy at the Orthodox church made me appreciate what I saw in a different light. They said "Lord, have mercy," over and over and over again--not to remind God that He should be merciful to us, but to remind us that we are constantly in need of His mercy. Saying things liturgically does not need to be a form of dead, lifeless tradition, but can instead be a way of reminding self of our need for a Savior.