Author Archives: OCCMT

“Orthodox” describes that Church that understands itself to be the living continuity of the faith and life established by Jesus Christ, given to His apostles, described in the Bible, and practiced and passed on by those Christians associated with the ancient centers and earliest centuries of Christian history. More ancient than Protestantism (16th century) andContinue reading “What is the Orthodox Christian Church”

Notice how, in John 20, Christ breathed upon His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” That’s one example of a principle of Christianity: physical acts carry spiritual power. The greatest physical act filled with spiritual power is The Incarnation. The Incarnation – when a spiritual God became material flesh and blood – is likeContinue reading “Worshipping With Mind, Body, and Soul”

Icons – sacred art portraying Christ and those persons made holy by – flow from a proper understanding of the Incarnation. God, who is Spirit, became Man, who is Flesh, and the material world will never be the same again. If God used material creation to reach for us, we can use material creation toContinue reading “Why Icons?”

Salvation is both an event and a process. The event of our salvation is the historical reality of the Incarnation, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ; the process of our salvation is the growth of a person from being the “image” of God to becoming the “likeness” of God (Gen 1:27). In baptism isContinue reading “What the Orthodox Believe About Salvation”

by Frederica Mathewes-Green Welcome to the Orthodox Church! There are a number of things about our worship that are different from the services of other churches, whether Roman Catholic, liturgical Protestant, or evangelical. In an effort to help alleviate confusion, here are twelve things I wish someone had explained to me the first time IContinue reading “12 Things I Wish I Knew”

The Bible is the sacred written record of God’s involvement with His creation – a record received, written down, transmitted, protected by the Church for all ages, and proclaimed for the salvation of the world. The word of God that is Holy Scripture – Old and New Testaments – is distinguished from the Word ofContinue reading “What the Orthodox Believe about the Bible”

As mentioned on our “About Us” page, Orthodox Christian worship of God is an experience that engages both the mind and the body with all its senses. Visitors notice many Scriptural texts “come to life” during their visit – our use of music, psalms and other Scripture texts, incense, icons, and sacraments, call to mindContinue reading “What Can I Expect from St Elizabeth’s?”