Figure 1.--This photo was taken at St. Tikhon's Russian Orthodox Church in Tiftonia near Chattanooga Tennessee during 2006. The congregation is preparing for an open air baptismal liturgy. Usually the baptisms take place in the church, but in this case there is the baptism of an adult (in the Orthodox Churches the baptisms are always by immersion). The boy is looking at the censer.

The Orthodox churches have a rich liturgical life and believes that it has remained faithful to the Christianity's apostolic tradition. It is believed by Orthodox Christians that their Church has preserved the tradition and continuity of the ancient Church to a greater degree than the Roman Catholic Church. The Orthodox churches have developed after the division of the Roman Empire (4th century). Unlike Rome, the resulting Byzantine Empire did not fall to invading Germanic tribes. There was a unity preserved in the Church for several centuries, but the Western and Eastern Church finally broke, in large part over the authority of the papacy. The Eastern and Western Churches for centuries had been moving apart, but it was in the 11th century that the Great Schism occurred (1054-56). Orthodox clerics maintain that they remain faithful to the first seven ecumenical councils. Orthodoxy became widely adopted Russia and Eastern Europe. Orthodox churches today have about 300 million adherents around the world. The term word orthodox means "right belief and right glory") has traditionally been used in the Greek-speaking Christian world to describe communities or individuals who have preserved the true faith defined by the early councils. The official designation of the church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic Church", here catholic is used in the sense of universal. The Orthodox Church describes itself is a family of "autocephalous" (self governing) churches. The Ecumenical ( universal) Patriarch of Constantinople holding titular or honorary primacy as primus inter pares (the first among equals) in contrast to more authoitative pope in the Western chutch. There are also "autonomous" churches within the Orthodox communuity. These churches maintain a token canonical dependence from the mother see. Orthodoxy is a relative small part of American Christianity. This is because so few Orthodox Christians emigrated to America. There were Eastern European emigrants, especially from the Russia Empire before World War I, but they were mostly Jews or largely Catholic minorities from Poland or the Baltics.

Liturgy

The Orthodox churches have a rich liturgical life and believes that it has remained faithful to the Christianity's apostolic tradition. It is believed by Orthodox Christians that their Church has preserved the tradition and continuity of the ancient Church to a greater degree than the Roman Catholic Church.

Historical Origins

The Orthodox churches have developed after the division of the Roman Empire (4th century). Unlike Rome, the resulting Byzantine Empire did not fall to invading Germanic tribes.

Schism

There was a unity preserved in the Church for several centuries, but the Western and Eastern Church finally broke, in large part over the authority of the papacy. The Eastern and Western Churches for centuries had been moving apart, but it was in the 11th century that the Great Schism occurred (1054-56). Orthodox clerics maintain that they remain faithful to the first seven ecumenical councils. Orthodoxy became widely adopted Russia and Eastern Europe.

Modern Orthodox Church

Orthodox churches today have about 300 million adherents around the world. The largest component is the Russian Orthodox Church, but this is not the case in America because so few Orthodox Russians emigrated to America. More important in America are Greek Orthodox Christians even though Greece is the most important coyntry. The term word orthodox means "right belief and right glory") has traditionally been used in the Greek-speaking Christian world to describe communities or individuals who have preserved the true faith defined by the early councils. The official designation of the church in its liturgical and canonical texts is "the Orthodox Catholic Church", here catholic is used in the sense of universal. The Orthodox Church describes itself is a family of "autocephalous" (self governing) churches. The Ecumenical ( universal) Patriarch of Constantinople holding titular or honorary primacy as primus inter pares (the first among equals) in contrast to more authoitative pope in the Western chutch. The Orthodox Church very different than the Roman Catholic Church. The Patriarch is not an authoritavive pontiff heading a centralized religious body. Rather the unity of the Orthodoc Church is a matter of a common faith and communion in the sacraments. For the Orthodox Christiasns, only Christ leads the Church. In addition to the Orthodox churches are the autocephalous (independent) national churches, This has varied over time. Today this includes: the Church of Constantinople (Istanbul), the Church of Alexandria (Egypt), the Church of Antioch (with headquarters in Damascus, Syria), and the Churches of Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania and America. There are also "autonomous" churches within the Orthodox communuity. These churches maintain a token canonical dependence from the mother see, but of course share many common beliefs with the Orthodox churches. These include churches in Europe (Crete, Czech Republic, Finland, Ukraine, and Slovakia) and Asia (Japan and China) as well as the Sinai. There is also a substantial Orthodox Diaspora, including both the main-line Ortthodox churches and the autocephalous churches. The hierarchy of these churches seems to vary. Some are headed by patriarchs and others by archbishops or metropolitans. These are, however, purely honorary titles. In actuality, all the bishops in the Orthodox and related churches are equal as they were in the earchy Church.

Ethnic Base

Orthodoxy is a relative small part of American Christianity. This is because so few Orthodox Christians emigrated to America. There were Eastern European emigrants, especially from the Russia Empire before World War I, but they were mostly Jews or largely Catholic minorities in the Russian Empire from Poland or the Baltics. Tsarist antiSemeric and Russification policies explain why the minorities emigrated. We are not sure why so few ethnic Russians emigrated. One would have thought that many former serfs would have emigrated. We suspect that the power of the Russian Orthodox Church was a factor in descouraging emigration of ethnic Russians. Orthodox Russians for the most part did not want to emigrate to a foreign country where there was no substabntial Orthodox tradition. Here Russia's conservative traditions and suspicions of foreignedrs were surely related factors. Thus while Greece is a very small country, Greek Orthodox churches make up a very important part of Orthodoxy in America. Nationaland ethnic ties make up a very important part of Orthodoxy in America. Many Protestant churches have grown irrespective of natioinal origins. This is especially true of the evangelical churches. Orthodox churches in contrast have attracted relatively few adherents beyond the ethnioc communities that brought the churches to America. Of course intermarriage hs to some degree expanded the ethnic bases of these churches. For the most parts mixed families tend to follow the religious traditions of the mothers.

Created: 8:35 PM 1/2/2011
Last updated: 11:59 PM 4/29/2011