My Journey into The Ancient Church, Part 1

Winter by Hieromonk Savvaty (Valaam Monastery)

Part 1 // Part 2

My journey into Orthodoxy was not easy.  But it is not meant to be.  It challenged me (and continues to do so) to become the person God has created me to be, and to recognize my place in His Body, the Church.

When one becomes Orthodox they are called a “convert,” which helps to emphasize just how much of a change one must experience.  Becoming Orthodox is not simply acknowledging one belief system as being superior to another.  It is an ontological change, meaning it regards your entire being.

In order for the conversion process to be authentic, one must encounter this mystical body of Christ and not ask, “What do I like about this that I can choose from?” It is not “cafeteria Christianity.”  Rather we must allow ourselves to be shattered upon the Rock and rebirthed into a child of the most-high God.

One of the best images of that rebirth is the phoenix. I remember reading about how Harry Potter, while sitting in Professor Dumbledore’s office, was surprised to see the Professor’s bird burn up in flames. It later rebirthed began a new life. Other ancient Orthodox accounts also draw on this parallel between the rebirth of the phoenix and the death of the old man and our resurrection in Christ.

MY JOURNEY:

1280px-Healing_'laying_on_of_hands'_ceremony_in_the_Pentecostal_Church_of_God._Lejunior,_Harlan_County,_Kentucky._-_NARA_-_541337I was raised in a conservative Christian home that leaned toward the charismatic, tongue speaking side. I attended non-denominational churches throughout most of my youth and student years. I enjoyed that type of worship for several years and stuck with it through college because it seemed alive and not full of “dead traditions.”

After college though, I became disillusioned with the modern American church scene, which often seemed to contain more hype and emotion than an authentic and life-changing presence of the Holy Spirit. I began to dialogue with other Christians as well as atheists through a blog network. These dialogues forced me to consider points of view I never knew existed. Consequently, I adopted the view that “everybody has it wrong and I don’t know what to think church is supposed to look like anymore.” My wife and I dropped out of church for a couple of years and I committed my time to studying the Bible and church history.

Eventually, I connected with a few churches in my area but couldn’t fully commit to one. I thought of that as a virtuous sort of thing, because hey, none of them had it fully right anyway. At least in this manner, I could cherry pick the things I liked.

I was a worship leader for years and, it seemed, no matter where I went I ended up assisting with or leading their music. I found minimal lasting fulfillment in it. The excitement of leading worship usually last less than an hour or two. When I left the parking lot of the church or outreach ministry, I felt the return of a nagging restlessness and emptiness.

THE RESTLESS EMPTINESS

What to do with these unpleasant feelings? Being the typical American Christian, the answer seemed obvious: become more busy with “serving God.” I hung out with the homeless one day of the week, reached out to the unchurched another day, went to a Bible study on another day, was involved in prison outreach, Sunday morning worship, etc. During a period in which I was jobless, I was involved with various spiritual communities almost every day of the week.

While a desire to be involved and serve God is admirable, I knew there was something missing. No matter how involved I was, the warm fuzzies of the event would fade away and I was left with my restlessness, emptiness, and even loneliness at times. I attempted to manage my sin the best I could, but it had the upper hand. I was a slave to my sinful desires and I exhibited self-destructive behavior that hurt both me and others.

Something had to change.

WHAT IS THIS ORTHODOXY?

I tried the charismatic movement, I ran in progressive Christian circles, and I even considered starting my own home church. Nothing had a satisfactory answer.

Winter on Svyatoy (Holy) Island by Hieromonk Savvaty (Valaam Monastery)A spiritual mentor of mine suggested I look into Eastern Orthodoxy (he himself was not Orthodox but had friends who were). I gave him a dismissing waive, telling him I had read about them in my history books, “They’re nothing more than the Roman Catholic Church of the East.” He told me there was much more to it than that; there was a hidden depth and treasure of spiritual knowledge within Orthodoxy. I highly respected his opinion and tucked that conversation away to chew on later.

My spiritual journey continued as I outlined above: full of busyness and emptiness. But I found something odd: I kept “bumping into” Orthodox Christians in my online discussions as well as their theology in some of my readings. Every time I had a differing opinion with them, I found that I agreed more with the Orthodox Church than I did with myself. After a year or so, I sighed and decided it was time to take the advice of my spiritual mentor seriously.

As with many inquirers, I began with Kallistos Ware’s The Orthodox Church and The Orthodox Way. They were good primer books that helped me to understand some of the beliefs and practices of the Orthodox Church. After reading most of the way through those books and having several discussions with Orthodox bloggers, I decided the only thing left was to make an actual visit to an Orthodox Church.

For several months I wanted to attend an Orthodox Church, but I was afraid of letting people down.  Eventually, I decided I would not be controlled by my fear of people’s opinions and I would go where I felt God was leading me.  This was an important step for me.

I had a difficult discussion with the man who was at that time my pastor. While not everyone would need to talk to their pastor about leaving their church, I was part of the Sunday morning worship team and, on some Sundays, the primary leader. The pastor was disappointed to see me leave, and I felt a bit guilty for letting him down. I told him it might only be for a month or two. I had no idea what God had planned for me.

ENTERING A FOREIGN LAND

starting a journey by Hieromonk Savvaty (Valaam Monastery)My wife agreed to venture out with me for our first liturgical experience: a visit to the local Greek Orthodox Church.

We were completely lost.

About half of the service was in Greek; they were swinging incense around; many people were coming in an hour late (we were one of the first ones there and were only a couple minutes early); people were standing and sitting over and over; there was (what seemed to us) a random procession where the priest walked out with some shiny dishes in his hands and everyone became solemn; there were conversations around us in Greek (nearly everyone there was Greek); and we hadn’t a clue what was happening. With all of this chanting and singing, I wondered when they would begin the actual service. There was a sermon at one point that, while brief, struck my heart and I longed to hear more.

After standing (and some sitting) for two hours they began a memorial service and I looked at my wife and whispered, “You ready to go?” She nodded emphatically and the two of us quickly walked out just as people were going up front to receive a piece of bread.

What just happened in there? we both wondered as we hurried to the car. Trying to be positive, I said, “That was an interesting cultural experience.”

Soon afterward, we decided to check out a Russian Orthodox parish that was a little further away. As we walked in and looked around in our usual clueless manner, the elderly priest walked up to us with a smile and explained that they were going to be doing their first service ever partially in Slavonic. We nodded and said, “Ok, thanks for letting us know” as I thought, “Slav…what?” There was something deep and loving about that priest, and even though we were bored with the liturgy, I felt a tug in my heart to return.

By then, my wife was finished with experimenting in Orthodoxy, though she did not oppose my continued exploration.  I frankly couldn’t blame her. And if it wasn’t for an incredibly powerful and irresistible tug in my heart toward it, I would have given up on Orthodoxy as well.

Growing up in charismatic circles, I had grown used to live bands, words on large projector screens, upbeat music, and an entertaining and sometimes emotional sermon that took up most of the service time.  It was the Sunday Morning Show.

To me church was supposed to loosely follow this format:

  • Opening song
  • Announcements
  • Three or four more songs
  • Sermon (which took up a majority of the service time)
  • Altar call
  • Closing song

Every time I visited the Orthodox Church, I found that I was waiting for the service to actually begin. It was then that I realized that my subconscious impression was that Sunday morning services are a sermon with an opening act, which is ironic considering I was a worship leader for years.

DIGGING DEEPER

a prayer by Hieromonk Savvaty (Valaam Monastery)One day, I heard that there was another Orthodox Church much closer to my home. I visited the all-English Carpatho-Russian parish and found the people to be quite inviting. After a couple of chats with the priest, he recommended a book to me called Introducing the Orthodox Church in order to help acquaint me with the service, the theology, and the church building itself.

I was repeatedly challenged in Orthodoxy: so many of the concepts were foreign to an American and charismatic Christian like me. Many of my struggles included the role of Mary the Theotokos, praying with the saints, a service that was not open to changes on a whim, submission to hierarchy, the exclusive claims of Orthodoxy as being the Church, and –as strange as it may sound- the repeated requests for God’s mercy. Aren’t we all already saved, I thought, why keep asking for God’s mercy?

But there were many aspects of it that I found to be refreshing: once I was used to a different style of worship, I realized there was a deep beauty to it. In the Orthodox Church there was no rock star worship leader or superstar pastor who took it upon himself to be the center of Sunday morning. Instead, I found that the Eucharist was celebrated as the actual body and blood of Christ made present among us, and that was the center of attention – Christ’s (invisible) presence in our midst. And it wasn’t even talked about so much as it was acknowledged through experiencing the service.

With that being the case, it was very unpretentious. Sure there are clergy with fancy vestments, incense, and bells.  But no Sunday morning rock concert, no motivational speech, no hype, and no warm fuzzies. You were expected to simply show up with a ready heart and meet God there.

I also realized the altar call (which began during the revivalist movement) was absent from the typical Sunday morning service (called the Divine Liturgy). That really bothers some people. How can we get people saved without an altar call? Of course, in order to answer that, we should pose a better question: what does it mean to be saved?

In Orthodoxy, salvation is not an event that happens to us (i.e. a prayer for Jesus to come into our hearts) so that we can escape hell and go to heaven later. Rather, it is a lifestyle and an orientation of our entire being toward Christ and His Cross.  Our desire is to become intimately one with Him in this life and the next.  Most of the time, that process of change is a lengthy one.

In that sense, Christians are those who are “being saved” rather than “the saved.”

THE TRUE EARLY CHURCH

After arriving at the Carpatho-Russian parish, I spent a few months waffling. Part of me was ready to give up on the boring liturgical services and go back to something with a bit more hype and excitement. I was having difficulty engaging in the services. Also, some of the above mentioned theology was challenging.

So, I spent months studying the writings of the ancient church within its first 120 years after Christ’s death and resurrection. Many Protestants have a desire to return to the “early church;” quite a few (myself included at that time) think the Church became completely pagan by the time of Constantine.

But my studies blew away all of my assumptions regarding what the early church looked like. (You can read some of those writings here, they are called the Apostolic Fathers.) I had to confess that most everything I was learning was contrary to the fantasy I had in my head about the early church.

I learned there were bishops and Christians willingly submitted to them; the Eucharist (communion) was considered the actual body and blood of Christ; services were liturgical in nature; only baptized believers were allowed to stay until the end of the service when the Eucharist was served; there was no mention of instruments being used in worship; there were days and seasons of fasting (especially Great Lent as well as Wednesdays and Fridays); and many other things all within the first few generations of Christians!

As my historical research progressed, I could not help but admit, somewhat unwillingly, that the Orthodox Church was the early church they were claiming to be. However, that is not what convinced me to join. After all, what good is the claim to an outward structure and worship format if there is no life within?

Click here for Part 2


END NOTE: My intention is not to bash the Greek or Russian Orthodox churches — I love them both.  There is a large Greek population that the local parish is serving; and in regards to the Russians using Slavonic, they only use it occasionally.

All images taken from Valaam Monastery’s website, valaam.ru, except the photo of pentecostals, which is from wikimedia commons.

12 thoughts on “My Journey into The Ancient Church, Part 1

  1. I believe I and many others can relate to your frustrations with “church” here in the West, and can understand what you mean by a life filled with “emptiness and busyness.” Somewhere, deep within us, we suspect that there must be more to life than what we’ve been led to believe.

    Your journey really resonates a chord with many of the things I too was feeling, but didn’t know how to articulate. And being your wife, and watching you make this journey, has been one of the most incredible experiences that has happened to me and to us as a couple. I can personally testify to your complete change as you have been utterly transformed by Christ and the Orthodox Church. I’ve seen you grow from a man struggling with restlessness and anxieties of all kinds, to a man filled with peace and compassion. Your journey has been your testimony that This Is The Way, and I can no longer stand on the sidelines, merely watching.

    Initially, I was unnerved by the culture shock of the Orthodox church, and clung to my traditional Baptist and charismatic roots. I didn’t want to admit that the things I had always believed were not the fullness of Truth, but the more I heard and learned about Orthodoxy, the more I became convinced that they were “on to something.” With your encouragement and the grace of God, I began to look into it.

    And well–you know the rest~! I’m now a catechumen. Glory to God for His divine providence! He truly goes to the ends of the earth to bring every soul to Him, to work out salvation for each and every one of us.

    1. It has been a joy being on this journey with you and seeing our good Lord work in both of our hearts.

  2. Hi my friend! God bless you!!!! Thanks for your story!!

    I was born (1981) and I raised in the small Protestantic sect “2×2 Church” – “No Name Church” – Worker Sect.

    After much pray and soul searching I find the really Truth in the Eastern Orthodox Church! And in 2001, I baptized Orthodox Christian, too!

    Here in my site is my story how I became Orthodox:

    http://ex2x2lettersfromgreece.wordpress.com/abel-anastasios-gkiouzelis-my-convertion-from-protestantism-atheism-flirting-with-the-hippies-to-orthodoxy/

    It was very difficult for me because I was born in the Worker Sect and I really hated the Christian Orthodox Church…

    There was a need Jesus Christ did a small miracle so as to believe in the Christian Orthodox Church. I said to Jesus Chirst «If You exist really and if You tell in Holy Bible “If someone knocks Me I will open him” give me an answer where is the Truth. It is in the “Workers” or in the Christian Orthodox Church? And if You give me an answer I will not deny You!».

    And really He open me the door and now I am to His Home, in the Christian Orthodox Church!

    Christ is Risen!

    1. Glory to God, I’m glad you found your way back to the Orthodox Church.

  3. Jeremiah, your story touched my heart. I have been attending an Antiochian Orthodox Church in Salt Lake City for most of this year. I became a catechumen a month ago, and classes begin this Saturday. I am excited, and in retrospect, stunned about the journey. I am now 64. I am the son of a Pentecostal (Assemblies of God) preacher, and have been in that denomination most of my life, serving in teaching, board (what AG calls deacons), and other positions. I had always had doubts about such things as the Rapture (the scriptural “proofs” seemed circular in logic to me and I grew to question them increasingly), and the idea of salvation as an event, rather than an ongoing work didn’t match what I read in the Bible, when put in context, etc. I also began to realize that the “tongues” business was misunderstood, and the Pentecostal practice unsupported, as well as doctrinally unsound, however well-intentioned — and sometimes, it just plain isn’t well intentioned; I’m sure you understand. Even a “senior citizen” can learn and experience the truth, if he or she is open to the Truth.
    God bless you and your continuing journey.

    1. May God be with you in your journey, Bob. Thank you for sharing a bit of your story.

  4. Hi,
    Thanks for sharing! I’m disappointed in the majority of the white evangelical church. I have friends from all walks of life (age, religion, etc.) we all came to the same conclusion… this type of church can’t shake racism out of their inner core..or ethos. There are pastors who have admitted publicly that it/racism just part of the culture in the Southern States (aka “Bible Belt”). I can never understand why the church allows the burning of a symbol/icon known as the Crucifix/Cross?

    This simple test always work, ask them the church body and leaders, do you allow black and white marriage (especially if they’re both Christian)?
    And then ask if they have outreach to black communities to have some attend the church…to sit side by side to hear the Word of God together.

    Anything is possible with God…in the bible I read Paul used to harass Christians before he became a prolific writer in the Bible. It’s justifiable that African Americans are cautious…

    God Bless You

    1. I’m from the Southern USA as well and have seen racism. Unfortunately, I have heard of racist people converting to Orthodoxy and trying to use their bad interpretations of the Church Fathers to justify their racism. It’s rare but it does happen. Generally though, the Orthodox Church is such a huge, international body of believers that racism is not a problem. We’re quite used to interacting with people of all colors, cultures, and languages. It is really a melting pot of diversity, which I thoroughly enjoy.

      1. Roberta Hubbard August 2, 2024 — 10:32 am

        Great reply.

  5. The Truth is revealed to us in so many different ways, but each way wondrous and unique…just like God made us. I am a convert. I was baptized in the Catholic faith, but never belonged to a church. As a young adolescent and later young adult, I would attend different denominations on and off with friends, family or acquaintances. With no purpose or direction, just to be around good people. The more I searched, the more questions I asked. The more questions I asked, the more curious I became. By the grace of God, I found the Greek Orthodox Church and just like that so many doors began to open. I get tears in my eyes just thinking about it. My life changed in so many ways. I have been an Orthodox Christian for 12 years now.

  6. Roberta Hubbard August 2, 2024 — 10:44 am

    Dear Father Jeremiah,
    I loved reading your blog this morning, it was perfect! I say that with a smile, because you had me laughing several times, and I saved paragraphs what you said and wrote, as they so resonated with me too in my personal experiences visiting Orthodox Churches.
    “there was (is) a hidden depth and treasure of spiritual knowledge within Orthodoxy.” This holds true for me as well, as alone I keep coming back to all the writings and teachings and books about what it means to be a Christian, the Orthodox way. It is the best means of any kind of psychological counceling anyone can get anywhere. 🙂 I have lived apart too far from the Church for 4 years, but have come closer now, yet the Russian Orthodox Church is a bit difficult to get to and the Servian church too, as my bus does not go there. I look online a lot and follow the Orthodox fathers from other churches which really speaks to me, changing me, to the depth of my core and being, and my awareness of God, myself and my Christian identity keeps opting up layer by layer going deeper and deeper teaching me things about myself and Christ which I realize I have lacked so much before. So, yes, my heart is tugged again and again at this Orthodox Way, path, lifestyle, I still have yet to convert, but I hope there will be a way, God willingly, to help with my transportation needs to get me to the Orthodox Church on Sundays. I appreciated your honest and expressive posts about your journey into the Orthodox Church, and now I will begin your next blog #2 and continue your journey. Thank you, with a smile, and appreciation for your sharing.

    1. May God bless you in your journey to draw closer to Christ, Roberta!

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