Caleb Sprenger: Orthodox Church Visit

Caleb Sprenger: Orthodox Church Visit

October 9^th, 2016

The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Demetrios

893 Church Road

Elmhurst IL 60126

1)    During the Wheaton in the Holy Lands program I was able to observe a couple of Orthodox liturgies, so this was not my first time in an Orthodox setting. I even stood through a four-hour Greek liturgy from 12-4am at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre! The service itself was very similar to what I experienced in the Holy Lands, except with substantially more English and we were able to sit down at times. Also, there was a choir and a piano/organ which was definitely not a part of the orthodox liturgy I experienced on the trip. The entire service is sung and follows an exact script. For the most part it was only the priests actually saying the liturgy, with the audience occasionally joining them. There was a lot of incense and the lighting of candles which added to the sensory aspect of the service. There seemed to be various processions throughout the service where the kids holding crosses and lights walked around the room. This was very different from my non-denominational service I am accustomed to. The obvious differences included: Greek vs. English, communal worship through song vs. priest worship through song, preaching vs. liturgy, communion every month vs. communion every week, not-crossing yourself and crossing yourself, no-icons vs. icons and no-dome vs. a dome.

2)    This worship service, along with the Holy Lands trip, significantly changed my perspective of the global church. People are generally very skeptical of things that they are unaware of, and this certainly described how I felt about Eastern Orthodoxy. Through experiencing the community at St. Demetrios, I felt as though the congregation treated me as a brother in Christ and not an outsider. This was not the case in the Holy Lands, when an old woman actually screamed at me for being at their service! Therefore, I have mixed feelings about their hospitality as a church. (I do realize that many churches are not very welcoming and it is not just the eastern orthodox). One of the coolest things about Eastern Orthodoxy that I took for granted before studying church history in depth is their unification. Whereas the West has divided over and over, the East, for the most part, has stayed together. They have even had the same liturgy for 1500 years! How cool is that!

3)    This worship service challenged my conception of my personal identity as a Christian. It did so by challenging my thought that the Christian faith is an individualistic endeavor. Eastern Orthodoxy does not preach a “Jesus and me” gospel but rather stresses the communal faith of the church. Certainly I still believe that every individual needs to decide for themselves to follow Jesus, but sometimes I think individualism in my church context is not what the church is about. The liturgy itself speaks to the Orthodoxy’s commitment to community. In a sense, they participate with the church throughout history through the liturgy. They also devoted time after the service to spend time with one another in community, something that my church rather does.