Matt Cardillo: Church Visit 1

Church name: All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church    

Church address: 4129 W Newport Ave.

Date attended: September 21, 2014

Church category: Different ethnic or racial demographic

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

The service at All Saints was much more formal, much more structured than even the most of evangelical churches. The entire service consisted of liturgical responsive readings, prescribed passages of scripture to focus on, symbolic representations (clothing, objects, icons, smells). At the same time, however, it seemed more casual in many ways than a typical service. People stroll in to the sanctuary in the 30 minutes surrounding the beginning of the service as if no one is early and no one is late. After the communion has been prepared, the congregation, which is largely conglomerated into the main area of the sanctuary, solemnly yet subtly yet celebratingly makes their way to the front to receive the (actual) body of Christ. As I hang towards the back as I am not permitted to receive communion, an older lady silently greets and welcomes me, making me feel at home even though I am clearly an outsider. In short, the structure of the service was entirely different. The “sermon” lasted less than ten minutes. The service however, lasted nearly three hours. We stood for the vast majority of the time. Luther would have been appalled by the amount of ceremony.

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

Perhaps it was just the relative novelty of the experience, but all of the symbolism seemed to hold so much meaning for me. And I probably only caught a small portion of it. For example, after the service, someone explained to me about the incense-burning censer that has different parts symbolizing the trinity, the oneness of God, the disciples, and the gospel. Every portion of the service was given so much thought. It seemed like the whole service flowed beautifully instead of being segmented into different parts. They definitely did not have a “worship time”.

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

While it did seem to hold so much richness in a lot of ways, it was not always easy to get through or understand. It did at times seem inaccessible and exclusive. A large portion of the service revolved around three infants being baptized and it could come across like the priest was very pompous in his robes and central role. There was a great deal of repetition throughout and those who are not orthodox cannot literally or symbolically participate in communion (Although they can receive a blessing and partake of the bread of friendship). It does seem rather difficult to connect with orthodoxy unless you are already a part of it. It takes a lot of work to appreciate, and I found myself somewhat bored or lost at times. I would guess that it also takes a lot of work to keep the service from becoming trite or just going through the motions (In their defense, the service does vary a great deal throughout the year as they celebrate so many feast days. Every time seems special in some ways).

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

The omnipresence of God is quite apparent in the Orthodox Church. Every motion, every part of the service, the smell of incense, every aspect of the way that the sanctuary is set up, the constant chanting are all constant reminders that God is with us. At the “greeting time”, the congregation says to each other “Christ is in our midst,” and the reply is “He is and shall be”. I think related to this is the feeling of just how powerful God is that He can embed himself in every part of a church service and in turn, every part of our lives. How nothing is outside his realm, not the smallest, most insignificant thing, not the greatest, most massive issue. God is all encompassing. I don’t always get this from the evangelical setting that puts more of an emphasis on the explicit words that are being spoken while sometimes neglecting the implicit, seemingly unimportant, mundane aspects of a church experience (for example, the actual physical environment in which worship takes place).