In this section you can find answers to some Frequently Asked Questions :

1.  Why do you call yourselves "Orthodox"?

The word orthodox was coined by the ancient Christian Fathers of the Church, the name traditionally given to the Christian writers in the first centuries of Christian history. Orthodox is a combination of two Greek words, orthos and doxa.

Orthos means "straight" or "correct." (It is also found in the word "orthopaedics," which in the original Greek means "the correct education of children.") Doxa means at one and the same time "glory," "worship" and "doctrine." So the word orthodox signifies both "proper worship" and "correct doctrine."

The Orthodox Church today is identical to the undivided Church in ancient times. The Protestant Reformer Martin Luther once remarked that he believed the pure Faith of primitive Christianity is to be found in the Orthodox Church.

2. Which do you believe in, the Bible or Tradition?

A good short answer to this question is "Yes!" The question implies precisely a kind of polarity (i.e., "Bible versus Tradition") which is not found in the Orthodox Christian worldview.

"Tradition" or in Greek paradosis, is used very often in the New Testament both as a verb and a noun. (See I Corinthians 11:23, where literally translating the original Greek, Tradition means "that which is handed over." The New Testament carefully distinguishes between "traditions of men" and The Tradition, which is the Faith handed over to us by Christ in the Holy Spirit.

We distinguish between The Tradition ("with a capital T") which is the Faith/Practice of the Undivided Church, and traditions ("with a little t") which are local or national customs. Due to changing circumstances, sometimes cherished traditions must be altered or respectfully laid aside for the sake of The Tradition.

Orthodox Christians therefore believe the Bible, as the inspired written Word of God, is the heart of the Tradition. The Tradition is witnessed to also by the decisions of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, the writings of the Fathers of the Church, by the liturgical worship and iconography of the Church, and in the lives of the Saints.

 3. Do you have the Virgin Mary, Saints, pray for the dead, and have confession "like the Catholics?"

There are points of contact between Orthodox and Roman Catholic belief on these issues, and modern Roman Catholic practice. There are also significant differences.  The following is a brief statement of the Orthodox point of view.

We honour the Virgin Mary as "higher than the Cherubim and more glorious than the Seraphim" because she is the woman who gave birth to Jesus, Who is the Word of God, Who is God, (in Greek, Theotokos). We call her blessed and think of her as the greatest of missionaries, for her unique mission was to deliver the Word of God to the world. (See Luke 1:43, 48: John 1:1, 14; Galatians 4:4.)

We likewise honour the other great men and women in the life and history of the Church - patriarchs, prophets, apostles, preachers, evangelists, martyrs, confessors and ascetics - who committed their lives so completely to the Lord, as models of what it means to be fully and deeply Christian. These men and women are called "saints"; a  word deriving from the ancient Latin word meaning "holy." For example, we believe that men like the apostle Paul - in their devotion to Christ - led holy lives and that we are indeed to be imitators of him, as he was of Christ.

We also believe that in the risen Christ, prayer transcends the barrier between life and death and that those who have gone before us pray for us, as we remember them in our prayers. In Christ, we are one family. (See Hebrews12:1; II Timothy 1:16-18.)

As indicated in John 20:21-23, and James 5:14-16, we practice sacramental confession and absolution of sins. The presbyter (priest) is the sacramental agent of Christ. The priest sacramentally conveys Christ's forgiveness, not his own.

4. Does your church practice "Open Communion?"

In the strictest sense the Communion of the Orthodox Church is open to all repentant believers. That means we are glad to receive new members in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox concept of "Communion" is totally holistic, and radically different from that of most other Christian groups. We do not separate the idea of "Holy Communion" from "Being in Communion," "Full Communion," etc.

In the Orthodox Church therefore, to receive Holy Communion, or any other Sacrament (Mystery), is taken to be a declaration of total commitment to the Orthodox Faith. While we warmly welcome visitors to our services, it is understood that only those communicant members of the Orthodox Church who are prepared by confession and fasting will approach the Holy Mysteries.

 5. Why do you have all those pictures in your church?

Icons are not pictures in the sense of naturalistic representations. They are rather stylized and symbolic expressions of divinized humanity. (See II Peter 1:4; I John 3:2.) Icons for the Orthodox are sacramental signs of God's Cloud of Witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). We do not worship icons. Rather, we experience icons as Windows into Heaven. Like the Bible, icons are earthly points of contact with transcendent Reality.

In the original Greek of the New Testament Christ is called several times the icon (image) of God the Father. (See II Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3.) Man himself was originally created to be the icon of God (Genesis 1:27).