Attending an Orthodox Service, what should I wear?

[-Kyriaki-]

I have no idea how appropriate it is, I just know they do it!

My shoes stay on. I don't think those around me would appreciate smelling my feet

 

[cassc]

Thank you for the answers, I know what I'm going to wear now. Thankfully I have a button down and a nicer pair of pants. :-D Thanks so much!

That sounds good. While it does vary from Parish to Parish, wearing jeans (for men or women) would probably draw a lot of attention. I'm a bit traditional but here is my take on the "what to wear question" I'm sure you've heard the expresion "Sunday Bests" this is a real good place to practice that. Basically if you would put on nicer clothes to go to work or visit relatives then you probably are not wearing what you should be, at least in my opinion it's a mater of respect and acknowledging that you are entering God's house and you are in the presence of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and that is a really big deal (and that's an understatement!). If the very best thing you have is jean and a T-shirt then that is what you wear, but if in your heart you know you can do better then do better. Does that make sense?

There are quite a few Orthodox parishes within the area I live, since I'm in a big city, so I selected the one that was closest, I've never attended an Orthodox service before, so I was going to attend Vespers, would it be preferable if I waited till Sunday to attend the liturgy?

The Sunday Divine Liturgy is really an amazing service, but it is certainly not the only service- vespers is really beautiful and nice in the sense that it is very intimate, typically there wont be many people there and if you let him know you are coming the Priest can make time to sit and talk with you after (which on a typical Sunday would be hard).

I'm glad that you are going and I hope that you have a great experience. Don't be shy about asking questions, it will probably be unlike anything you have been to before!

 

[Orthosdoxa]

I'm curious to know which parish you choose to go to and what your impressions of it are, since I know all of them so well, except the Greek. If you don't want to share on the board where you go for privacy purposes, you can pm me. If you don't want to do that, that's fine, too, but I still look forward to hearing your impression of a Divine Liturgy.

 

[nomoreillusions]

Former Omaha-an here, now sadly exiled to Washington state, but hoping to end up back home at some point in the next few years.

I actually live in the Bellevue area being as I'm military,

Ooh ooh!! I'm in WA, too! I was thinking about visiting a local Orthodox church one of these Sundays as well!

 

[Orthosdoxa]

Hi NoMore,

Macha actually means Bellevue, NE. Little suburb of Omaha with an Air Force base.

I'm in Wa though, eastern part. If you're in this area, too, pm me, and I can give you some ideas about parishes that would be good to visit. I don't know anything about the western half, though.

 

[Dorothea]

I go to a Greek Church, and most everyone wears skits, dresses, or slacks, and the men wear khakis, or suits with ties. It's mixed. Personally, I wear skirts or dresses. I've only worn jeans once (because we were visiting a church while our son was in the hospital for 5 weeks for his surgery, so we weren't prepared), and slacks around 3 times the whole 10-12 years I've been attending DL's. Vespers, I can wear jeans and a top. I always wear flats with all my dresses or skirts. Can't stand heels. They're so uncomfortable. lol Can't believe I used to wear them all the time when I worked in the business world.

eta: Had to edit some typos because my stupid computer freezes up every 30-60 seconds.