Toying with the idea of attending an Eritrean Orthodox Divine Liturgy...

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

and in that regard is there anything I should keep in mind regarding the liturgy?
I have some experience with DL from the Moscow Patriarchate in the past does that help me or does the OO differ from the EO, if so how?

Also another (maybe a lot stupider) question, will I make a fuz?
Keep in mind that the congregation Im tempted to visit has like 200 registered parishoners so its a rather small congregation.
Will it be like, who is the white guy or??

 

[dzheremi]

Hi.

There is, to my knowledge, one regular Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo poster on this message board, Gxg (G²). He usually posts more on the EO board (The Ancient Way), though. He's definitely the best person to answer your question, as the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches were one until the latter gained its autocephaly in the early 1990s after Eritrea became its own country. As a result, the two churches share basically the same liturgy, history, hymnody, etc.

I have never been to a Tewahedo Divine Liturgy/Kidase myself (I've worshiped with Ethiopians at the Coptic liturgy, but haven't had the opportunity to attend a Tewahedo church yet; hopefully God will grant me the opportunity to fix that soon), but you can compare the two for yourself using Youtube if you wish. Here is the liturgy being celebrated at St. George Tewahedo Orthodox church in Rochester, MN:

Here is a similarly-sized clip of the Russian Divine Liturgy, celebrated by HH Kirill of Moscow in Kaliningrad:

The differences should be fairly obvious, though they're probably quite similar in their core. Not sure how much that would help when the externals are different, though the local Eritreans and Ethiopians in my area attend the OCA and Bulgarian churches with no problems, since there are no OO churches at all for many miles here in northern California. (There are longer clips of both liturgies available elsewhere on YT, too, but I chose these due to sound/image clarity, which is not always very good in other EOTC videos of their liturgy, due to many of them being handheld, shot too far away, etc).

200 people is a small parish to you? Wow. My little Coptic parish had about 20, and that was on a good day. Huh. Anyway...yeah, "there's a white guy" can happen, but it's not going to be a problem. Maybe they'll be curious, but probably not rude. It's not like Eritreans living in America have never seen white people before; it's just that usually non-OO people aren't interested in their churches. Heck, if I came from one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations, I'd probably wonder what the rest of the world's deal was, too. Just be friendly and respectful (you probably already know this, but please do not approach for communion), and try to do as the locals do to the best of your ability and you should be fine. You have a wonderful opportunity here to meet the Lord our God through one of the oldest forms of Christianity still practiced today. That's a real blessing, even if you're not sure what to expect! Perhaps since there are so many people there, they may even have someone there who is tasked with helping you get oriented to the best of your ability. I have heard of that in Coptic churches, anyway (one of my Coptic friends says that she's her church's designated "white people wrangler"; hahaha).

If you do go (and I pray that you do), please let us know how it was for you!

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

Thanks for answering me Dzheremi I reallly appreciate how you take the time to answer my questions.
I havent yet worked up the courage to visit, but hopefully I will attend during the Christmas season (according to the Julian calendar that is).

What I meant by "200 people is a small congregation" is compared to mass
in my local parish there are over 8000 catholics so I consider as few as 200 to be a small congregation and it sadens me to hear that such a small congregation is actually considered large by your standards

Im not looking for a new spiritual home by any means as Ive found peace within the Catholic Church, but rather Im interested in harvesting some of the spiritual fruits of your communions rich Tradition.
I symphaties greatly with the history of the copts and the other OO and find myself interested in learning more about you guys.
A greater insight will only do good anyway

Thanks again dear friend for your answer and for your kindness
God bless you.

 

[Gxg (G²)]

and in that regard is there anything I should keep in mind regarding the liturgy?
I have some experience with DL from the Moscow Patriarchate in the past does that help me or does the OO differ from the EO, if so how?

Also another (maybe a lot stupider) question, will I make a fuz?
Keep in mind that the congregation Im tempted to visit has like 200 registered parishoners so its a rather small congregation.
Will it be like, who is the white guy or??

Shalom

I would have responded to this sooner but I have been immensely swamped for sometime due to all of the Graduate school work I am having to do currently. That said, in regards to Ethiopian Orthodoxy when it comes to Liturgy, there was actually a discussion elsewhere which compared a lot of the differing types of services. For more info, one can go here to OC vs RCC.



I also have shared my experiences with Ethiopian Orthodoxy before when it comes to the Liturgy, should you go here to Oriential Orthodox Beauty via Ethiopia Lalibela Rock Churches: Made by Men or God?

Attending an Ethiopian Liturgy can be a wonderful experience. I grew up with family in the West Indies so having a focus on Ancient Christianity from an African perspective was a big deal and it's one of the many reasons why I value the Ethiopian tradition in the Church and what it symbolizes (as I've shared before here and here). African Christianity is always wonderful to see in action...and for more info, one can go to "Issue 105: Christianity in Early Africa" ( ) and "Beauty of the Lalibela Rock Hewn Churches (Ethiopia): Wondering who made them.."

Will always love the family within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church I've connected with over the years - as it concerns going into their community at the stores/keeping up with all of the things the Lord does. What always caught my attention was the fact that some of their practices include celebrating on Saturday as well as Sunday (in view of the Sabbath) and doing other customs consistent with early Jewish practice like circumcising children/eating kosher foods (similar to others in the OO Church), due in part to many who were Ethiopian Jews while also due to respecting the lifestyle of Jewish culture. They have remained consistent in doing so with the example of the early Church since it's done in honor of the Lord/celebration of Him And being Jewish, that was a big deal to me and part of why I was drawn to them.




The place I and my spiritual father/group went to for the service I attended was here:

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You can actually see some of the services they have done in action here...

• Debre Haile Kidus Gebriel EOTC ATL., GA. (from last year)
  
• Debre Haile Kidus Gebriel EOTC ATL., GA.
• Ethiopian Orthodox Church Debre Haile Kidus Gebriel 2009 Part 1
• Ethiopian Orthodox Church Debre Haile Kidus Gebriel 2009 Part 2
  
  
• Ethiopian Orthodox Church Debre Haile Kidus Gebriel 2009 Part 4

Most of the men who went with me were white, with 2 of them being Jewish (as I am) but we were more than comfortable in the atmosphere. It is forever one of the most powerful moments of worship I've ever been in, be it in Orthodoxy or in camps outside of it, due to how vibrant they are. If you go, dress with bright colors. Some come with shawls that are white to symbolize purity. That said, it is something you will be able to adapt to easily I believe. The priest was very calm and yet passionate in his sharing on the Church and God's work in the community with Ethiopian migrants who needed help with their English skills and economic situations.

As it was, it happened to be the case that the day we went involved us witnessing a baby dedication/baptism - and it reminded me of seeing the dedication reminded me of when Jesus's parents brought him to the temple to be given to the Lord ( Luke 2:21-23 )....

And although I was tired due to lack of sleep, made it through/was glad to be standing with others all over - some on their faces in giving thanks to the Lord while others stood in awe of Messiah and some stood before the Lord knowing He was God. The entire service was in Ethiopian - although the priest (who is friends with the leader of my fellowship) told us in English what he was talking on later (John 21 and how Jesus asked Peter if he loved him). You didn't have to have them speak English to know exactly where they were coming from in worshipping the Lord - and the way the focus is on SYMBOLISM/The visual as a means of helping others remember the scriptures is so precious....

They also had drums being played at one point as well as clapping hands later on during the service - in patterns in praising the Lord - and it was intense.

A picture of the place I went to..

For more, what is seen in the next photo is women still in their dress (called Shama and kuta, gauze-like white fabrics) - looking to dress like the folks in heaven when seeing everyone in service bowing down during certain times in the liturgy (as well as standing for as long as they did...2 hours ) and dressed in their white robes like the saints in heaven ( Revelation 4:3-5 /Revelation 7:8-10 /Revelation 7:13-15 Revelation 7 ). I will always be amazed at how much hospitality they showed in serving us some of the most AMAZING FOOD Ever (lamb, chicken, greens and injerea - bread ) - as the meal afterward is still considered a part/extension of the service of worship to the Lord. Hard-working women....but beautiful in action

For the general tone of the atmosphere, there's definitely a charismatic aspect to the service that is quite wonderful - a fact which is not surprising since Charismaticism predates the "Charismatic movement" and it's not surprising that there have been elements of it in traditional liturgies in the past. Again, Charismatic elements are quite common in the Tewahedo churches. An example of this can be seen if seeing a review of an Eritrean Eastern Catholic Liturgy...if going to what happens at 36:30 in this video

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Also, the Ethiopians (and Eritreans as well) do have a sort of "liturgical dance," and are very different in style from the Byzantine tradition - even though they are nonetheless Orthodox and not "low-church" or remotely evangelical in worship. Orthodoxy can vary in expression depending on location. For across the vast continent of Africa, where there is Ancient Christianity, you find rhythmic movement along with it. In Ethiopia, Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, etc. The reasons for this are due to how this is the normal organic development of local Orthodox expression within African cultures - African Christianity is truly a rhythmic culture on many levels..and it's beautiful seeing the ways dance/using the body for glorification of the Lord is accepted African and Asian Orthodoxy is truly beautiful...

The use of drums in the services is also present and very wonderful...
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And with that comes the other reality of African Orthodoxy in the Diaspora - as it is amazing how it takes place in areas like the West Indies (my beloved Jamaica being amazing in how worship chants go with the Rasta culture - with them being very proud of their expressions as well when it comes to Orthodoxy). Of course, what occurs with African Orthodoxy varies from other groups.

But again, should you go, I thin you'll have an amazing time. I was very glad for the hospitality they showed us - even though the minister spoke in his native language. And the youth also did a song for the congregation. It was a small congregation of about 50 people I believe at that parish, as there are several Ethiopian congregations within Atlanta.​