Lena Maxey - Church Visit #1

Saint Joseph Orthodox Christian Church

March 25, 2015

412 Crescent St, Wheaton, IL 60187

Orthodox Church


1. The worship service was quite different from what I am used to since the entire thing was liturgy and it was clear everyone was very accustomed to it, not needing to always follow along and reciting a lot of it from memory. I have been in churches where maybe one prayer is read or one piece of liturgy is used but have not experienced a service where the entire thing was recited/read. It was also different that at the very beginning some people came early to do confession with one of the priests. There are not many similarities that come to mind, like how we sat in pews that lined the sanctuary with us all facing the front where the priests were. Also at the end they invited everyone to stay afterword for fellowship time, which might have been special because it was the Annunciation, but that is similar to my church.

2. The part that was most appealing to me was that in the liturgy it stated the Orthodox theology and beliefs. I often do not know what my own denomination believes about some topics because they are rarely addressed and not publicly stated. I appreciated that the liturgy acted as a reminder to me of what my theology is and that it is important enough for me to repeat it when I am meeting with my community of the same beliefs. I feel like often in evangelical services the focus is on the practical application and our personal lives that what can be devalued is the established theology and making our beliefs clear.

3. Honestly, the most disorienting thing for me was all the kissing of the crosses and pictures and goblets, etc. I know this is minuscule in importance but since my background has barely any icons or even beautiful images, I am not accustomed to the gold and images and symbolic props. It made me uncomfortable to imagine myself joining the line to kiss the picture and the cross. I am not sure why this is, I think because I tend to feel like these acts are more distraction with the symbol rather than reverence for Jesus Christ himself. But perhaps if I took the time to listen to one person explain the depth of meaning there is for them then I would feel much differently about it.

4. Not that it was made much more clear to me, but the theology of the Trinity was focused on greatly. First in a part of the liturgy that literally states their belief in the Trinity and then throughout the service naming all three parts of the Trinity and then crossing themselves with their hands. This is focused on more than in other churches I have attended. Even further, I think certain persons of the Trinity are overlooked or downplayed in the churches I have been a part of, whereas in the Orthodox tradition, the full Trinity is acknowledged and worshiped.