Catechumen Lecture Series Catechumens are required to attend a series of lectures prior to baptism and chrismation. The following is a list of the catechumen lectures catechumens are required to attend. Alexander Schmemann Great Lent by Fr. List of Activities to Complete Prior to Baptism and Chrismation Requirements If the new catechumen was registered on the membership role of another religious body, the catechumen must upon being enrolled as a catechumen write to this body and ask to be removed from their previous membership roster.
This is exceedingly important should the catechumen die during catechism so that the Orthodox burial may take place unhindered. Present yourself for the Catechumen Litany in the weekly Sunday service and follow the Catechist out of the temple to receive weekly instruction. Attend Lenten Services — these are your primary preparation.
These are very important and cannot be missed without permission of the pastor. Fill out all of the required forms and return them to the Catechumen Coordinator return the Personal Information form right away. The others as they are completed. The Prayer Rule should be filled out as soon as possible and approved by Father so that this Orthodox practice can be formed as part of preparation for being received.
Prepare and make a life confession — the sooner the better. Establish regular confession practice at least monthly. Visit at least two other Orthodox Churches during catechumenate and provide this information to the Catechumen Coordinator. Turn in pledge cards Financial and Time and Talent ideally upon becoming a catechumen.
Once pledges are established, a new pledge card should be submitted every year during the pledge drive. Read all of the assigned books and inform the Catechumen Coordinator upon their completion. You must discuss your choice with the Priest prior to asking the potential sponsor.
The sponsor will need to be approved to be your sponsor by the Priest. Preparing to be Received at Holy Pascha You will need a baptism cross, baptism candle and a towel Black clothing for baptism must be obtained.
It should be loose and modest. Men can wear a large black T-shirt and long shorts. Women should wear a black one-piece bathing suit covered by a large black T-shirt or other loose garment that falls below the hips with long black shorts or leggings.
Note: If you are only being Chrismated, you will not need a towel or black clothing. You need to make sure you have an icon of your Patron Saint. If it has not been blessed, you will want to bring it to the Baptism so it can be blessed. Obtain a baptismal robe. Allow one gal to preach a sermon and women pastors will be the norm. Spend some time with a gay couple without confronting them, and their lifestyle will be considered accepted.
This paranoia is understandable if it is up to every single Christian, elucidating the proper moral precepts through Sola Scriptura, to uphold correct morality.
The Church has already made the declarations. These are not beliefs up for Scriptural review. On the plus side, those struggling with their particular version of sin—these days the hot button is homosexuality —are not shunned by the Orthodox Church. They are welcomed as sinners, but they are not allowed to take communion until they go to confession, agree that their problems are sins, and start a long process to overcome their problem, just like all the adulterers, fornicators, lusters, and liars in the church, who are also sometimes denied communion.
At the point of confession and a desire to repent, they are most welcome to commune take communion like all the other struggling sinners in church. Bishops and monastics tend to have long, fluffy beards. Hipsters love this. It sounds like a small thing, and it is. But it makes the point that Christians should be setting the standard, not the culture.
On some points, the culture will view ancient Christian practices as weird or offensive. In other ways, Orthodox Christians will be ahead of the curve. Let fashion catch up to you. Attend your typical Orthodox service and you will see images everywhere.
Icons on the walls, patterns on the vestments, Crosses on every neck, and a lot of color. Cool churches these days are trying to get back to having some art and images in the service. Basic human beings, and particularly non-religious ones, are really into art. Any good old farmer back in the day knew that a city boy with too much education can become so smart they become incredibly stupid. That pretty much describes Western culture these days.
We have no intellectual arguments against pedophilia. It took us five decades to figure out breastfeeding was probably a better idea all along than chemicals called formula. Everybody these days wants to think globally and with diversity.
Orthodoxy has always done so. There is a strong presence in Southern India. Scroll down on this page to get a great visual of it. This is likely not a coincidence. Eastern Christianity does not have crusades as part of its tradition. But in the West, militarism in the name of Christ has been a blemish on Christianity for a millennium, and its spirit continues until today with George W. Bush recruiting Bible Belt Christians to support the decimation of Iraq.
Undoubtedly, this is a complex matter, and Orthodoxy is not unblemished. But, generally, the Church does not support militarism or invasion but does allow for armed defense. For two thousand years, the Orthodox Church has started every Sunday morning service by reciting the Beatitudes. Like, they really believe them:.
In Prostestantism, it seemed to me we were always thinking,. We could list hundreds. Orthodoxy already knows what it believes and can therefore emphasize in its services the more important teachings.
As mentioned, the Beatitudes are always recited. Love your enemies gets mentioned a lot. As a Protestant, I was always a little embarrassed by the church. I made sure that I was going to a place that was decent, and I could always recommend that someone come to MY church if they wanted. Now, I can point someone to the Orthodox Church, whether they live in my town or in Indonesia. There is a real, physical place they can interact with, with real people and leaders. Their doctrine will not stray.
Modern day Christianity reminds me of a traditional continent with thousands of tribes. The ones with the most charismatic chiefs do the best. I like to view Orthodoxy as more like a constitutional country where things still flow somewhat smoothly even if a terrible President is in power like Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton pick your favorite whipping boy. Church splits are often the result of smarter, more gifted people in the pews getting tired of listening to pastor Joe Shmoe every single week.
Not only is his sermon 75 percent of the service, but he scripts and choreographs the rest of it too. The smarter people find something better, or they create it themselves.
Paradigm shift. Note: I like Fundamentalists in general, especially as co-laborers in the culture wars. We drink wine at major feasts, at Easter lots of it , and certainly enjoy it in generous doses away from church as well.
Russians bring a lot of vodka to the feasts. But you can know about him intellectually. And thus the great heroes of Western Christianity are often intellectual giants Aquinas, Calvin, Luther, etc. The East emphasizes mystery. Gregory Palamas affirmed what the church had always taught, that God can be known and experienced directly, not in his essence, but in his uncreated divine energies. Palamas debated a 14th Century Western scholar who said Eastern monks would be better off studying about God instead of praying all day, valuing knowledge over revelation.
Palamas said encounters like the Apostles at the Transfiguration were direct experiences with the Divine that others can also experience. Great novelist Fyodor Dostoyevski said the same. Start at 3. The Reformers accepted this troublesome premise by default, and never rejected it.
Christian movements in the last century have sought to address this real problem. But neither group may be aware that they are fighting uphill against their own theological traditions. Orthodox Christianity is difficult. You stand during church. You fast for 40 days before Easter and Christmas, abstaining from meat and all dairy products.
You also do this every Wednesday and Friday. You go to confession about once a month and share your dirt. But is this reason enough for me to belong? Why should I bother being part of the Church? What can the Church offer me? Why can't I simply avoid the institutional Church and just have a direct relationship with God? Why the Church? In the Orthodox Tradition, we might find some thought-provoking answers to such questions According to the Orthodox Christian viewpoint, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Church is necessary because of our very reason for being.
We are all meant to be in union with God. We achieve this union through a process called theosis or deification union with God by acquiring the Holy Spirit.
God communicates himself to us and we become participants in the Divine Nature. How is this possible? How can a human being be brought into the life of the Trinitarian God? This is where Christ comes in. If it were somehow possible to be incorporated into Christ, then we too could be brought into the divine life which deifies. The Church provides this possibility. Through the Church, Christ himself is with us.
By belonging to the Church, we are taken up into Christ and we become members of his Body cf. By our membership in the Church, we are incorporated into Christ himself and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit. How does this happen?
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