Church Visit #2

Church name: The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Demetrios

Church address: 893 N Church Rd, Elmhurst, IL 60126

Date attended: Sunday, March 15, 2015

Church category: Different liturgical experience

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

This worship service was not like any church service or event I have ever been to before. It was in a traditional orthodox building that had icons of Christ, saints and biblical scenes painted throughout. There were stain-glass windows, an altar with candles and religious sacraments, and many more fine details. One of the Greek men in the congregation spotted me and Mikey near the back of the building and came over and showed us the divine liturgy and how to follow along with the worship. When the liturgy first started, there were maybe twenty people in the whole congregation. About an hour later, a little less than halfway through the service, the pews were completely full and cramped. It seemed as if being present for the whole liturgy was not mandatory, and during it I could often hear people chatting in a friendly manner. There was also an American flag hanging on a wall six feet from the stage... I don't think I've ever seen that in a church before, and I was surprised to see it here. 

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

The service forced its participants to be actively engaged. We were constantly being motioned to stand up, sit down, kneel, and members of the congregation did the sign of the cross many times. Everyone appeared to be participating wholeheartedly for however long they were there. The clergyman had a chain with incense that he would shake constantly in different directions while reciting from the divine liturgy book in Greek. I was amazed at how passionate the people could be about essentially the same "message" every week. I'm sure there are minor changes from week to week, both intentional and unintentional, but that doesn't take away from the fact that these few hundred people meet consistently and do the same rituals faithfully for whole lifetimes. It really did feel like true faith; it's not a concise, feel-good service that someone would attend just for fun. And even though the setting was very formal, the people were also friendly and seemed to be close to each other. The clergyman spoke in English for the announcements and a short message separate from the divine liturgy and it was very meaningful. I caught a reference to "theotokos!"

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

I'd say at least 80% of the service was in Greek. It could have been 90%. And it went for over two and a half hours. So for me personally, it was challenging to worship because I generally had no idea what was going on and couldn't follow in the divine liturgy book because they rarely said things in English. Also, the many rituals, such as the incense, the melodic chants, and the marching of the altar boys didn't mean much to me. They had communion, but most people did not physically participate in taking of the bread and wine. Obviously, the only reason these things were challenging to me is because I can't understand Greek and I wasn't familiar with their practices. This allowed me to focus on observing the other worshipers and the clergy during the service, but I did feel slightly disrespectful for watching it as a show instead of trying to actually worship. 

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

When I visited their website beforehand, I noticed how defensive they were about the numerous icons in their church. They addressed many theological issues on their website in an apologetic manner. The service was very much a result of that. They gave us handouts in our bulletins that had a long summary of why they edify the cross. If anything, this showed me just how important it is for us as Christians to have a solid knowledge about God and our faith. I may not completely understand or agree with the Orthodox views on the Trinity, but they showed me just how seriously we are supposed to take learning about who God is, and how we ought to show our respect to him. He really is worth 2.5 hours of standing and sitting and reciting chants. It requires an incredible amount of genuine faith and discipleship to be so dedicated, and it made me ask myself if I would ever be willing to do this intense type of worship regularly if I felt the Spirit led me to it.