Quick Question

I'm in South Africa and have come across some Orthodox churches (never attended one though). There are areas here where the EOC is unheard of. What happens if an EOC member finds themselves in such areas (job transfers etc)? If already addressed, please simply direct me to the thread.

Personally, all I could say is that I would attend services at a Roman Catholic, Anglican, traditional Methodist, or Lutheran church. I would at a minimum have to make arrangments for an annual confession & communion at an Orthodox Church.

According to an old catechism I have:

"The church commands us all to confess our sins & receive the Holy Communion during the Holy & Great Week before Easter. This is the absolute minimum."

From: "A Catechism of the Christian Doctrine of the Holy Eastern Orthodox Catholic & Apostolic Church" of the Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of New York & all N. America 7th ed. c. 1960 original c. 1949 under the oversight of them Metr. Antony Bashir.

yeah, you go where you can when you can. contact the closest priest and work out something with him, and in the meantime, do what you can. it's the same as when an Orthodox soldier deploys, and there is no Orthodox chaplain around.

If you can find a couple of people who are Orthodox or are inquirers, one might also seek out the nearest bishop and ask to have a priest come around periodically to do sacraments. One can also organize (fairly easily) basic reader's services, which don't require a priest or deacon, to do on a weekly basis when the priest isn't available.

Basically, when this has happened in the past, it has resulted in new parishes starting.

Thanks all for the quick answers. I come across a lot of people who want to change churches and move towards liturgical worship. I could easily sway them to mine, but I prefer to give them all the facts so that they choose for themselves.