I Go to an Orthodox Church. Read my Story

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#006633" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="001d6c00ddvuru.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#3399CC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Walmer Baptist Church</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#333399" FACE="Arial" >    </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > |     </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Walmer Baptist Church"><U><U><IMG SRC="01a581f0.gif" border=0 width="88" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> I Go to an Orthodox Church. Read my Story</div> <div> <B>When I come into the church I make the sign of the cross because I am entering the house of God. I then go and kiss the icons and light candles by them. If it is a special festival the icon in the centre of the church will show the festival we are celebrating. On Sundays the icon is of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead because we celebrate this every Sunday.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>I go to church every Sunday but sometimes on Saturday night as well. In church we stand most of the time as this is the normal position for prayer for us. Sometimes, especially in Lent we make prostrations. Some visitors to our church are surprised to see people moving about the church, kissing the icons and lighting candles. We feel a deep respect for the church as the house of God, but we also feel that it is our home, so our attitude to the church is a mixture of awe and freedom. </B></div> <div> <B>The main service on Sundays is The Divine Liturgy. This is also known as the celebration of the Eucharist. During this service we receive Holy Communion. We sing hymns of praise to God and then there are readings from the New Testament. After the reading of the Gospel there is a sermon. After we have prayed for lots of people there is a solemn procession during which the bread and wine which are going to be used for Holy Communion are brought to the Holy Table.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="034ed9e0.jpg" border=0 width="237" height="158" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Holy Communion </B></div> <div> <B>After the singing of the Creed there are some long prayers in which we remember Christ's life on earth and that he died for us on the cross and rose from the dead. We remember Jesus' last meal with his disciples and that during it he blessed bread and wine saying: "Take! Eat! This is my Body which is broken for you, for the remission of sins" and "Drink of it all of you! This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins!" The Priest prays that God will send the Holy Spirit on the whole congregation and the bread and wine which we have offered.</B></div> <div> <B>We receive Holy Communion as a great blessing from God. The bread and wine are given to us on a spoon from the chalice the special cup for Communion. We believe that God gives us Holy Communion so that we can share in his life. We receive Holy Communion from the time that we are baptised.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Icons are pictures which stand for, or open up, something bigger than the picture itself. We have icons on the walls and on special stands in our church to help us think about Jesus Christ, events in his life, and about the saints. People kiss icons and light candles in front of them to show that they love the person who is shown in the icon. These actions are also signs of asking the person shown on the icon for help or for a blessing. </B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="035b4d30.jpg" border=0 width="180" height="211" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Candles</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>People light candles in front of the icons when they pray. The candle is:</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>A sign of love for the person shown in the icon </B></div> <div> <B>A sign of a prayer </B></div> <div> <B>A sign of the presence of the person shown in the icon through the power of Christ's resurrection. </B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="036b2770.jpg" border=0 width="178" height="119" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <B>Making the sign of the Cross</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>To do this I put my thumb and the first two fingers of my right hand together. I put the fourth and fifth fingers against the palm of my hand. Using my right hand I then reverently touch my forehead, chest, right and left shoulder. This means that I am using my mind, heart and strength to bless the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>Easter </B></div> <div> <B>The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Julian Calendar to calculate when Easter is, instead of the more modern Gregorian Calendar used by other Christians. This year Easter in the Orthodox Church is on May 1st other Christians celebrated Easter on March 27th. In 2006 Easter Sunday will fall on April 23rd. </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Easter is the most important festival of the year. We celebrate Christ's resurrection from the dead and his gift of eternal life to each of us. We go to church in the middle of the night, just before midnight. Everything is dark. We leave the church and go round it in a procession carrying icons and holding candles. We sing very quietly: "The angels in heaven O Christ our Saviour sing of your resurrection. Enable us on earth to glorify you in purity of heart". This procession reminds us of the women going to the tomb of Christ to anoint his body with myrrh and spices. They found the tomb empty and angels telling them that Christ had risen from the dead. When we come back to the church we hear a loud shout "Christ is Risen!". Everything is brightly lit, the bells are ringing, and everyone keeps shouting "Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!" At Easter we have lots of good things to eat, including red painted eggs. We prepare for Easter with a long fast called Lent so it is good to eat all the food we have not eaten during the fast </B></div> <div> <B>Lent</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>We prepare for the festival of Easter with a period (six weeks) of fasting called Lent. It is a time to deepen our relationship with God, to take more time for prayer and to be more aware about our love for the people around us. In Lent we change our diet to make it more simple and we give money to people who are in need.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Theophany</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>On 6th January we celebrate the baptism of Christ. Normally when someone is baptised they receive a washing with water. When Jesus was baptised he "washed the water" because he is holy. At this festival we remember that Christ's presence in the Jordan river blessed the water and so we bless water, by dipping a cross three times into a large container of water, as a kind of extension of that event.</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Blessing water at Theophany</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>The blessed water is then splashed all around the church and on the people. People also have their homes and cars blessed with water at this time of year </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>A Greek Orthodox Baptism </B></div> <div> <B>The godfather reads part of the Scripture from the Divine Liturgy (the Greek Orthodox Church service book). The Priest also reads from the Scriptures. Everyone is happy that the child is being baptised into the family of God. The child is undressed during the service. Traditionally, the godparents do this. The Priest dips the child in the water three times. </B></div> <div> <B>The child is covered from head to toe in the water that has been blessed by the Priest. </B></div> <div> <B>The child is handed back to the godfather. The Priest uses holy oil to anoint the child's head, hands, feet and stomach. The child's family has photos taken with the Priest and the godfather. </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Conclusion</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>I Go to the Orthodox Church</B></div> <div> <B>One of the oldest Christian groups </B></div> <div> <B>Icons used in worship </B></div> <div> <B>Receive communion from time of baptism (as children) </B></div> <div> <B>Communion bread and wine given on a special spoon </B></div> <div> <B>Stand to worship </B></div> <div> <B>Some distinct ways of celebrating Christian festivals </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Glossary:</B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> <B>Anoint to pour oil </B></div> <div> <B>Baptism immersion or sprinkling to show a person has been forgiven and joined the church </B></div> <div> <B>Bless to set apart, consecrate, by a religious ceremony </B></div> <div> <B>Chalice cup for communion wine </B></div> <div> <B>Creed summary of Christian belief </B></div> <div> <B>Eucharist thanksgiving, Holy Communion sharing of bread and wine to remember Jesus' death </B></div> <div> <B>Fast to keep from eating food, or certain foods </B></div> <div> <B>Holy Table altar, communion table </B></div> <div> <B>Icon representation of Christ or a saint </B></div> <div> <B>Prostration to kneel with the forehead touching the ground as a sign of repentance </B></div> <div> <B>Purity clean, free (from sin and guilt) </B></div> <div> <B>Remission God's pardon or forgiveness of sins </B></div> <div> <B>Repentance turning back to God, redirecting one's life towards God </B></div> <div> <B>Resurrection rising from the dead </B></div> <div> <B>Sacrament a ceremony that Christians believe brings God's blessing to those who share in it.                                  Specifically, these are baptism and communion, and for Roman Catholic and Eastern churches also penance, confirmation, holy orders (being a Bishop, Priest or Deacon), marriage and the Sacrament of the Sick (for those with serious illness). </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Sermon talk explaining a Bible passage </B></div> <div> <B>Theophany festival celebrating baptism of Christ </B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Denominations"><U><B><IMG SRC="019581f0.gif" border=0 width="88" height="31" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>