Your First Orthodox Service

[feo]

so i Was Finally Able to Attend an Orthodox Service, and Let me tell You it Was Quite The Experience (i Mean That in a Good Way) im a Bit Confused at a Few Things That Happened Though, so Maybe You Could shed Some Light on a Few Topics.

i Showed up Early For The "Matins" @ 9AM... which Seemed to be a type of Prayer?- From What i Can remember. it Was early and im Not a Morning Person. What i Found Interesting, Was That There Were Only a Handful of People in The Large Building. after The "Matins" Ended @ 10AM, and The "Litergy" started... i Noticed More people Coming in. it Almost Appeared as if people Show up Whenever They Want... (which, by all Means, Theres Nothing Wrong With!) Unfortunatly, i Had to Leave Early because of Work... i Left Right Before Communion... Maybe About 11AM. From What i heard Though, the Service Lasted Another 90 or so Minutes. is This Also Common?

And Lastly, i Had a Difficult Time Distinguishing The Difference Between The "Matins" And The "Liturgy"... the difference, From What i Could Tell- was The Liturgy Was Mostly Read From a Book, while The Matins... we Just sorta listened to The Priest (?) Guy. It Almost Appeared as if They Sometimes Said the Same Exact Things. a Little Overlapping.

Was my Experience Typical? How Was it The First Time You Guys Went? Thanks For The Feedback!

 

[Philip]

so i Was Finally Able to Attend an Orthodox Service, and Let me tell You it Was Quite The Experience (i Mean That in a Good Way) im a Bit Confused at a Few Things That Happened Though, so Maybe You Could shed Some Light on a Few Topics.

i Showed up Early For The "Matins" @ 9AM... which Seemed to be a type of Prayer?-

Yes, Matins is the morning prayer service.

it Was early and im Not a Morning Person. What i Found Interesting, Was That There Were Only a Handful of People in The Large Building.

Sounds typical.

after The "Matins" Ended @ 10AM, and The "Litergy" started... i Noticed More people Coming in. it Almost Appeared as if people Show up Whenever They Want...

That is not entirely uncommon. At my parish, most people arrive before the beginning of the Liturgy, but there are people trickling through the whole service.

Unfortunatly, i Had to Leave Early because of Work... i Left Right Before Communion... Maybe About 11AM. From What i heard Though, the Service Lasted Another 90 or so Minutes. is This Also Common?

Sounds a bit long to me, but it depends on the size of the parish, whether or not the priest delived a sermon, etc.

And Lastly, i Had a Difficult Time Distinguishing The Difference Between The "Matins" And The "Liturgy"...

It can be hard to tell what is going on, especially if you are new.

the difference, From What i Could Tell- was The Liturgy Was Mostly Read From a Book, while The Matins... we Just sorta listened to The Priest (?) Guy. It Almost Appeared as if They Sometimes Said the Same Exact Things. a Little Overlapping.

While the priest says the Matins, I usually take that time to prepare for the
Liturgy. I say prayers from my prayer book, venerate the icons, light candles, etc. When I am 'ready', I listen to the priest pray and follow along in my book.

The Liturgy is said/chanted by the priest and the choir. They do sometimes overlap, and there are some repeating portions. It is acceptable for the rest of the congregation to join the choir. How much they do this depends on the parish.

All-in-all, it sounds like your experience was typical.

 

[Matthias]

Must ye capitalise every first letter of every sentence! It was so hard to read your message.

 

[feo]

Must ye capitalise every first letter of every sentence! It was so hard to read your message.

This, I apologize. Its just a bad habit, and I can type normally if you wish.

Moving on, the only thing I was not super pleased with, in regards to the Orthodox service I attended... was who was there. im not exactly sure of how to fix this problem, nor is it something thats associated with orthodoxy alone- but it seemed like a very "white" and "old" congregation. My ideal church is one that has every race, every age, and both genders: worshipping together as one.

 

[Philip]

Moving on, the only thing I was not super pleased with, in regards to the Orthodox service I attended... was who was there. im not exactly sure of how to fix this problem, nor is it something thats associated with orthodoxy alone- but it seemed like a very "white" and "old" congregation.

This varies greatly from one parish to the next

 

[Momzilla]

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. is the most segregated hour in America. God willing, that will change one day.

 

[Reader Nilus]

My first service in an Orthodox Parish was a vigil service and it was all in Slavonic. I apologized to a fellow that came up to us, I said "we had never been in an Orthodox Church before, we had found our place in the back corner, and I hope we do not offend someone as we do not know what is going on." He told us it was fine and gave a service book in English so we would have some idea what was going on, and then he told us we missed some great food at their bazaar earlier in the day. I was impressed with the incense it looked like a pool hall on a Friday night, and the candle light and hues of the ikons. I felt like I had been in heaven, but that was a response that came from deep within me, and not a thought out one.
Jeff the Finn

 

[Eusebios]

Moving on, the only thing I was not super pleased with, in regards to the Orthodox service I attended... was who was there. im not exactly sure of how to fix this problem, nor is it something thats associated with orthodoxy alone- but it seemed like a very "white" and "old" congregation. My ideal church is one that has every race, every age, and both genders: worshipping together as one.

Phillip is correct in stating that this can vary widely from parish to parish. Our small OCA parish is actually fairly diverse in terms of ethnicity, race and age. Much of the segregation that Dr. King spoke of is voluntary, though I agree with Momzilla, that it would be most welcome to see it change.
A 2 1/2 hr. liturgy would indeed be a long one. That is typical of a heriarchal Divine Liturgy (served by a bishop) or an ordination, A typical Divine Liturgy is usually in the 90 to 110 minute range.
As to people "staggering in" while it is not uncommon, it is not the norm either. Our parish priest is highly punctual and has a certain degree of expectation that the parishoners should share that sense of timeliness as well, this is particularly true for altar servers and choir members.
I'm glad you had a positive experience on the whole. Feel free to chime in with any other questions or observations.
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.

 

[ufonium2]

Moving on, the only thing I was not super pleased with, in regards to the Orthodox service I attended... was who was there. im not exactly sure of how to fix this problem, nor is it something thats associated with orthodoxy alone- but it seemed like a very "white" and "old" congregation. My ideal church is one that has every race, every age, and both genders: worshipping together as one.

While I agree that we should all want a unified church representing every race, age, etc, I think misguided attempts at achieving this have just about ruined Protestantism. A church gets in its head that it doesn't have enough young members, so they bring in a rock band. They've just alienated all the old members and turned God's service into a concert. The same can happen if a church actively tries to recruit a different race or nationality. My point is that these churches change who they are, what they do, and sometimes even what they believe, in order to achieve diversity. This is completely backwards. People should change for the church, the church should never change for people.

Do I believe we should try to expose young people and minorities to Orthodoxy? Of course. It's the truth, and we are called on to share it with everyone. But, everyone has to accept the Church for what it is, and realize it's not going to change just to make you or me or anyone else comfortable or happy.

 

[feo]

While I agree that we should all want a unified church representing every race, age, etc, I think misguided attempts at achieving this have just about ruined Protestantism. A church gets in its head that it doesn't have enough young members, so they bring in a rock band. They've just alienated all the old members and turned God's service into a concert. The same can happen if a church actively tries to recruit a different race or nationality. My point is that these churches change who they are, what they do, and sometimes even what they believe, in order to achieve diversity. This is completely backwards. People should change for the church, the church should never change for people.

hehehe i Agree With you Completely, But i'd Like to add on a Few Points You've Mentioned. While i'm Not Exactly Sure if a "Christian Rock" Worship in Church is Always Beneficial, i DO feel That Theres a Time and a Place to HOLD a Christian Concert... even if it Sounds like "crazy young ppls music". I Personally do Not Like to be Limited to How I Should Personally Worship, and i Also Believe That it Extends Far Beyond Just The Praises we Sing in Church.

As Far as Protestantism, i have Seen Their Efforts of Recruiting a Multi-Ethnic Congregation Both Fail And Succeed. at One Church i Attend, They Struggle With it a Little Too Much; yet Despite Their Efforts: it Feels very "white". yet another Protestant Church Has Every Race Imaginable: and Worshipping There Was One of The Most Beautiful Things I Have Ever Seen. If a Church Can do This Without Changing "what they believe" i see no harm in it, Quite Honestly.

and id Like to Just State Again: i am Not Blaming The Orthodox church; as i've Seen The Same Thing Happen to Many Many Other Churches. its Very Relieving to Hear Some of You Say That Your Personal Orthodox Congregation is Multi Ethnic. i Know it Probably Doesnt Seem Like a Big Deal to Some of You, but i am Very Well Aware of The Social Profiling That Exists Here in America, and i Have a Very Strong Feeling That Some of it Can Bleed Upon The Church, and Affect Some of its Members. The Last Thing i Need is For That to Hinder People's Relationship With Christ. Especially Since The Fact That i DO Worship a Very Diverse God.

anyway i'm Ranting. More Stories From You Guys About Your First Orthodox Experience Would be Much Appreciated! Thanks Everyone

 

[Photini]

My first Orthodox service was in a small Serbian mission church in KC. There was a strong mix of people there (though it was a small congregation). The church was originally planted as an outreach to African Americans and gradually morphed into an Orthodox parish. So there were all types there. Not only that, but parts of the Liturgy were done in several different languages. There were lots of kids there, and I was humbled when just before Communion several of them approached me and bowed and asked for my forgiveness then hugged and kissed me. I was amazed. St. Paul says "greet each other with a holy kiss.." and these people actually do!
Yeah...I didn't know what the heck was going on, but I knew I wanted to find out.

 

[MariaRegina]

My first visit to an Orthodox service left me with an incredible sense of awe, wonder, holiness and a feeling that this was home. I'm so happy that I am safely home in Orthodoxy.