Seeking ride to church

[HowardDean]

Okay, my other thread was seized up by aliens.
When we left off, I was seeking a ride (as we have no car) to a local Orthodox church. There is one a few suburbs away; a nice poster an hours drive away has relatives here and they May be able to help.
In the meantime, I found another link to another (Constantine&Helens) I checked, and some people who live in my suburb seem to go there. I have e mailed them and are awaiting word.
Also, another nice poster sent me cool books to learn from (including a prayer book) and Thirsting For God, which I am a third of the way through.
I have questions, as I'd never known anything at all about your church til this board.
Right now, I am getting its the church which existed since the beginning, there are sacraments, and prayers(I pray often during the day anyway). I am slowly learning the history.
Anything anyone wants to fill me in on, as I am pretty well charismatic(protestant brand).
By the way, the wonderful OrthodoxyUSA(who I wish would come back and post again:( ) got me interested.

[HowardDean]

Mistakenly posted blog entry here.

[HowardDean]

Its finally dawning on me the 'ritual' idea. From the book Thirsting.
I used to think rituals were empty works (and if one goes through them that way, they are).
Say an alien wants to become a citizen so they go through the ritual of marriage to become one. Its meaningless.
But if one is in love and goes through the ritual of marriage, its a whole new thing.:amen:
You guys already knew this, but I just wanted to keep you appraised.;)

[Mary of Bethany]

Exactly. Anything is empty if you don't put something into it.

As a former protestant (Baptist) it was like you couldn't hear the word "ritual" without hearing "empty" in front of it. Might as well have been one word - emptyritual. :P

Nothing could be further from the truth! Ritual is very, very meaningful to us human beings. Why is it that ritual is okay in every other area of life - but not spiritual!?!? :doh:

Mary

[Philothei]

Howard, let us know when you find a ride for the church. It is already Saturday... St. Connies and Helen is in Cleveland??

God bless,
Philothei

[HowardDean]

No ride tomorrow. Definitely will call them Monday.
Finished the Gallatin book. Very good.
Question. Someone sent me a book of Prayers. It is okay for me to recite them, even though I'm not Orthodox?:crosseo:

[Photios]

Of course!

[HowardDean]

Forgive the question; this is a totally new religion to me!
I'd been distracted for about 2000 years...:D

[Philothei]

http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/prayers/prayers.html


The above link is a link with prayers you can recite.
Also check out these sites:

http://www.goarch.org/access/Companion_to_Orthodox_Church/SAINTS/


And the following is a sermon of Arch. Demetrios about St. Thomas (the gospel reading for tomorrow about Thomas). Since you are not going to church tomorrow I thought this should help:

http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8173.asp


Hope this helps,
God bless,
Philothei

[HowardDean]

You are a blessing! :hug:
This is cool.

[Philothei]

Praise the Lord! You are a blessing for us Howard too :). Thanks be to God for bringing you to our Church.

God bless,
P.

[HowardDean]

Orthodoxyusa is the one who sparked my interest. 1. His humbleness and 2. His posting on the meaning behind certain passages that got me.

[HowardDean]

I checked some more and its definitely one of the people listed is the mom of the girl I went to high school with. I e mailed her. They do live nearby. That would be so cool.
Its a small world, when God is working!

[Akathist]

No ride tomorrow. Definitely will call them Monday.
Finished the Gallatin book. Very good.
Question. Someone sent me a book of Prayers. It is okay for me to recite them, even though I'm not Orthodox?:crosseo:

Yes you can say those prayers even if you are not Orthodox. I started saying the prayers in the back of the Orthodox Study Bible as an inquirer.

However, the prayers in some prayer books are kind of long and this can be daunting at first. Some people try to take on too much and then crash and burn.

You might start out with the first few prayers and then skip to the last few prayers at the end. Or say the basic ones at the beginning through the Lord's Prayer (all the Prayers through the Lord's prayer are the same for morning and evening) and stop at that point, then each day read maybe one of the other ones and end with the Lord's Prayer again. ... something that keeps it simple and relatively short starting out.

[Shubunkin]

You can also get the flavor of Orthodox DL services on http://www.ancientfaithradio.com/ and listen to the music there. I find during the week it soothes a lot of things that are rough to go through with my life right now, and puts me in the right mind for praying, too.

[HowardDean]

The woman called and we have a ride. She said its about an hour and a half, then a half hour of coffee, then a half hour (they stay for) orthodo teaching.
Its in English.
So tell me the sequence of events..

[Breaking Babylon]

Sure. :)

The Great Litany
The First Antiphon
The Second Antiphon
The Third Antiphon
The Small Entrance
The Trisagion Hymn
The Epistle
The Holy Gospel
Prayer of the Faithful
The Great Entrance
The Petitions
The Prayer of the Proskomide
The Creed
The Holy Anaphora
The Lord's Prayer
Holy Communion
Prayer of Thanksgiving
The Dismissal

Coffee hour

[HowardDean]

Can you explain that in terms I could understand? :)

[kamikat]

You grew up Catholic, right? It's not that different from Mass. It starts with the Litany (a prayer intention by the priest followed by "Lord have mercy" from the choir and/or congregation), followed by a short hymn, then a litany, followed by the Beautitudes, another litany, followed by the Trisagion hymn. Then there will be an epistle reading, a gospel reading, then a homily (sermon). The priest and deacons, altarservers will process through the doors and the priest will say some prayers. There will be more litanies, the Creed, the peace (our church doesn't give the sign of peace to each other, but some churches do), the consecration of the Eucharist, the Our Father, communion, a thanksgiving prayer and litany, then dismissal.

[SeraphimSarov]

And when the priest says, "Let us complete our prayer unto the Lord," he's not finished. ;)

[HowardDean]

Thanks.:)

[Photios]

And when the priest says, "Let us complete our prayer unto the Lord," he's not finished. ;)

Yeah, you've got roughly twenty minutes left at that point, give or take.:thumbsup:

[cassc]

The woman called and we have a ride. She said its about an hour and a half, then a half hour of coffee, then a half hour (they stay for) orthodo teaching.
Its in English.
So tell me the sequence of events..
I have not been around the boards so much lately so forgive me if you have already answered this but is this your first trip of any type into an Orthodox Church? I assume that someone has already directed you torward "First Visit to an Orthodox Church" (http://www.stgindy.org/Features/first_visit_to_an_orthodox_churc.htm) , Be aware that many Orthodox Churches are multi-lingual, which can make it harder to follow if it is your first visit, but some will tell you the Orthodox Liturgy is hard to follow even if it is all English ;) The whole thing will just flow you will not have pauses in between each section and there even times when it seems like there are multiple things going on at once. For your first visit just take it all in. It is actually great that you needed a ride hopefully they will be your built in guide helping you follow along and answering any questions you may have.

[HowardDean]

I was brought up in a Catholic church. This one is Greek Orthodox. The woman who will drive us says it is in English.

[cassc]

Coming from a Catholic background you will probably feel some sense of familiarity. But some of the former Catholics on this site can be more helpful. My grandmother says she remembers many of the prayers from her childhood but I believe she was Episcopal then :)
I think that Kamikat gave a good summary but if you have more questions I use a very understandable Divine Liturgy Book that I have found really helpful for people knew to Orthodoxy.

[cassc]

I think it is good that you will be hearing an English Liturgy. Remember that the Orthodox LIturgy is LONG compared to the typical 45 minute Mass (comparable to the High Mass I believe)

When you first get there instead of blessing themselves with Holy Water the people will be lighting candles, crossing themselves, and kissing icons. :crosseo:

The Church may or may not have pews (many Greek Orthodox Churches do). Even still the parish will stand a lot.

We usually kneel in preparation for communion put we don't in this post-Pascha period.

The priest is not able to give communion to non-Orthodox individuals (other threads go into the reasons behind this). However if someone offers you a piece of Holy bread that is perfectly fine to take and eat just keep in mind that it is Holy and should not be thrown away.

At the end of church people don't just get up and leave they go up and kiss the priests hand (it's a sign of respect) a get a piece of Holy Bread.

then you get to go to the church hall for coffee hour and maybe some great greek desserts :yum:

[HowardDean]

She did say that, although she and her husband stay a half hour after coffee for a half hour of learning. I doubt my son will want to do that.

[cassc]

hmmm, maybe you could bring something to keep him entertained, does he like to read? did I see somewhere that he is like 11 or 12, there will probably be other kids his age there but I know that pre-teen can be an awkward age for hanging out with strangers...

[HowardDean]

He is 14. He used to enjoy services when we attended charismatic, but as he got older, its boring to him, sadly.
Question: Should I wear a kercheif? ;)

[Akathist]

He is 14. He used to enjoy services when we attended charismatic, but as he got older, its boring to him, sadly.
Question: Should I wear a kercheif? ;)
I don't think you need to wear anything on your head.

My experience is that Greek Orthodox churches don't tend to have much scarf wearing but it could just be the places I have visited.

Actually, to be honest, I don't think you will find hardly any Orthodox Church (outside a monestary) that requires scarves on women.... and I think the majority of churches have very little scarf wearing.

If a parish does really push scarf wearing they usually have extra scarves. We keep some on a peg board in our fellowship hall.

However, we NEVER ask visitors to wear a scarf. And we never talk to someone who is coming regularly and tell them they should wear a scarf... our Priest has said that is not to be done. If someone wears a scarf in our parish, it needs to be thier own idea.

[HowardDean]

I thought that. But the little Orthodox smilie :crosseo: looks so appropriate in one.:thumbsup:

[NyssaTheHobbit]

I rarely even see hats on women in my Greek Orthodox church. :)

[HowardDean]

Pray for a miracle that we get enough sleep. For the past two years, I've bene trying to get my son back on a good sleep schedule. We go to sleep about 3 a.m.
We have to leave at 9 tomorrow and don't want to be zombies for church.

[NyssaTheHobbit]

Sounds like you'll be in the same state as my priest today. He just got back from Arizona at 3am last night, and this morning had to do DL at 10am. AND he has to drive in from another county. :)

[Akathist]

Pray for a miracle that we get enough sleep. For the past two years, I've bene trying to get my son back on a good sleep schedule. We go to sleep about 3 a.m.
We have to leave at 9 tomorrow and don't want to be zombies for church.

I can't tell you how excited I am to hear that you are going for a visit. I might seem as though your just being on a website, when the computer was off I wouldn't think about it, but today going to Vespers, I was thinking about your visiting an EO church and was feeling so happy about it!

Sleep well! (as well as you can... I have insomnia too.. and am usually very tired on Sunday's as I sometimes don't get to sleep until 6 am... well, actually... usually lately I don't get to sleep until then.)

[Eusebios]

So, HD,
Have you been able to make it to Sts. Constantine and Helen's?
You've been in my prayers!
Don

[HowardDean]

Greetings!
Yes, we got 4 hours of sleep and made it. I loved it (check other thread for the experience).
Due to certain things, my son didn't like it, and we are still trying to get a ride to St. Nicholas. The Father has told us he announced the need Sunday and I am praying.:crosseo:

[OrthodoxyUSA]

I guess I'll have to change my signature again...

HD, Have you finished "Thirsting for God in a land of shallow wells" yet? I was so moved by that book.

Forgive me...

[HowardDean]

:clap: :wave:
There he is! The guy who sparked my interest in the original church!
I finished it in 2 days and also Becoming Orthodox.
I learned.
I went to church Sunday (its in another thread in taw). it was awesome (in the original sense).
I felt set apart from the world, it had disappeared and I was in a room with God and His people.
I felt the Holy Spirit and it wasn't difficult, the pastor didn't have to try and hold my interest or entertain.
Sadly, I miss communion, but someday I will take it.
I smelled like incense all day and still felt the Holy Spirit during the rest of the day.
ALL thanks to God using you (yes, I know it was Him, but you had a part in it) by your humbleness and your posting of the meaning behind Luke 10.
I feel I've traveled a distance in a few weeks, spiritually.
:crosseo:

[OrthodoxyUSA]

Thank you for your kind words, however I can tell you that I had little or nothing to do with it. You were always looking for the truth.. That is why you feel that you have found the pearl of great worth, not because of anything that I or anyone else here has done.

You were searching, just as the rest of us have been searching.

Welcome home sister!

Christ is Risen!

Forgive me...

[HowardDean]

This week, we have found that ride to the Mentor church.
He said its American but I hope it is no different (besides beign in all English).
Here if you want to let me know if its okay
http://stnicholas-oca.org

[cassc]

I can't find the other thread you were mentioning but I am glad that you liked what you found. It can be hard with teenagers sometimes... I don't have any info about the church that you linked to but they have lovely pictures :)

[HowardDean]

The amazing thing is, our ride lives near the church, and has to come 15 miles away from it to pick us up, then go 15 miles back to the church.

[cassc]

Wow that is amazingly kind! I can't wait to hear how it goes...

[OrthodoxyUSA]

This week, we have found that ride to the Mentor church.
He said its American but I hope it is no different (besides beign in all English).
Here if you want to let me know if its okay
http://stnicholas-oca.org

Their website says they are an OCA Church... That's good!

Forgive me...

[HowardDean]

Had a blessed time. The guy can only do that once a month though, ride wise.
It was so different. Everyone was friendly. People came and introduced themselves. Not a common occurance anywhere I've gone.
And the wife of the man who drove us looked so familiar, I asked, and she had gone to my first church; she was 15 and I was 26. And her father was the one who'd baptised me!
Small world. He's on a mission in Uganda now.
Love it.
The Father even talked to me afterwards.:amen:

[Akathist]

I am glad you enjoyed the service.

I think people in the OCA tend to be good about coming to introduce themselves. There are a lot of converts or second generation cradles of convert parents in the OCA so sometimes we can be a bit more forthcoming with the introductions, etc.

(Maybe even acting a bit more like how people act in Protestant churches when it comes to this kind of a thing.)

Some OCA churchs have headcoverings, did you see any?

[HowardDean]

Not that I noticed, though I am still looking for a kercheif for myself.;)
The Father came and gave communion first (before others filed forward) to an elderly woman in a wheelchair in the back, I thought that was nice.
Love the place. Hope to find a weekly ride.
:thumbsup:

[Akathist]

Not that I noticed, though I am still looking for a kercheif for myself.;)
The Father came and gave communion first (before others filed forward) to an elderly woman in a wheelchair in the back, I thought that was nice.
Love the place. Hope to find a weekly ride.
:thumbsup:

Maybe it is a slavic practice, but in our parish the elderly or ill get in line for the Eucharist first, followed by the children or families with children if the parents will be receiving. Then the rest of us get in line last. We have a woman in a wheel chair and the way our parish is it would be hard for her to come up for the Eucharist so the Priest goes out to her to give it to her. (Only he does it afterward as when he comes out the line to receive blocks his path to her.)

http://www.headcoverings-by-devorah.com/HEADCOVERINGS.htmThis site might give you some inspiration for some easy to wear headcoverings. The pic on the home page of the woman in the white one... that is the kind I wear myself... though not white... I wear black most of the time and only wear offwhite on feast days (or blue if the feast day is for Theotokos.). (ok, burgundy if the feast day is about the Cross.... ) ok, I love me some scarves!

[Photios]

In regards to headscarves, while my matushka has some very nice ones, in a pinch, she's willing to use a bandana or hankerchief.

[HowardDean]

I hadn't even spoken to the lovely woman in front of us, but when she came back from communion, she brought us some bread!
My ride said she new for about a year.
The father said about half are converts.
Its our church now!:clap:
This is why God had us not find a church or ride for 2 years, so I could ready for this one.
Also got more of those tracts from Conciliator press.

[HowardDean]

Just had a thought; does the saint the church is named after have something to do with the story of Christmas (old Saint Nick?):confused:

[Photios]

I would suppose that it is that St Nicholas (St Nicholas the Wonderworker, Bishop of Myra). However, he's really nothing like that strange Santa Clause stuff we heard as kids. Perhaps someon might supply a good link to a short hagiography for you.

[OrthodoxyUSA]

Here ya go...

http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=103484

Forgive me...

[Photios]

A further thought:

While it is most likely that St Nicholas, there is more than one, so it could be another. If you ever want a challenge, try finding out all the St Johns.

Off the top of my head:

St John of Damascus
St John Cassian
St John the Evangelist
St John the Dwarf
St John Maximovitch I (John of Tolbolsk)
St John Maximovitch II (The Wonderworker, of Shanghai and San Francisco.)

And I know that all those are just a fraction.

[cassc]

It is wonderful that you found a parish where you really clicked as they will surely become like family to you. Did your son make it this week?

[HowardDean]

If I made it, he did too. We are never apart.

[Mary of Bethany]

Not that I noticed, though I am still looking for a kercheif for myself.;)
The Father came and gave communion first (before others filed forward) to an elderly woman in a wheelchair in the back, I thought that was nice.
Love the place. Hope to find a weekly ride.
:thumbsup:

I'm in an OCA parish, and most of us wear headcoverings. And simple bandanas are just as common as more elaborate scarves. I have several longer scarves that I got from tznius (www.tznius.com (http://www.tznius.com))
but I also picked up several simple bandanas from Michael's (a local hobby/crafts store). So don't worry about spending much money on one.

I'm so glad you've found a parish that you love and is so welcoming! You and your son are in my prayers.

Mary

[Akathist]

To figure it out, I went to the churches website.

Look at this pic: http://www.stnicholas-oca.org/album/2006%20Pascha/slides/pic_0002.html

That is St. Nicholas of Myra, the wonderworker.

(It was fun to see the Church you visited too)

[HowardDean]

It doesn't seem to be the tradition here to wear them. Maybe I will wear one next Pascha.:crosseo:

[HowardDean]

A baptist pastor came to 'visit.' He does this every few months, why I don't know. We had gone there a few times years ago.
I told him I found a new church. I tried to explain as best I could. He said, Its like Catholicism without the pope?' No, not really.
Then he said legalism.
I don't see that.
And where was he when I called asking for rides? The church is about 2 miles away from us. No one could be bothered?
I know what legalism is, this church doesn't have it.
Maybe pastors should read up on other churches.
Just ranting.:)

[Akathist]

A baptist pastor came to 'visit.' He does this every few months, why I don't know. We had gone there a few times years ago.
I told him I found a new church. I tried to explain as best I could. He said, Its like Catholicism without the pope?' No, not really.
Then he said legalism.
I don't see that.
And where was he when I called asking for rides? The church is about 2 miles away from us. No one could be bothered?
I know what legalism is, this church doesn't have it.
Maybe pastors should read up on other churches.
Just ranting.:)

I am surprised he didn't try to "save" you!

I saw far more legalism in the various protestant churches I attended then in the EOC.

[HowardDean]

He knew that was unnecessary. I became spiritually alive 29 years ago. I can't imagine anyone wanting to go to church if they don't know the Lord.

[Mary of Bethany]

It's funny how people associate ritual and liturgy with legalism, when it's really so very far from the truth.

They just don't know any better. Pray for him.

Mary

[HowardDean]

We have another ride. The other guy can only do it once a month because of the time and distance.
This man, who gave us his number last week, lives far south of the church, but said he will drop his wife off (as she teaches) then come 15 miles this way to pick us up.
I would feel I am missing something if I don't go.
I sure do not want to miss the 27th!

[Eusebios]

HD,
That's great news! My godson Chad will be back at St.Nicholas tomorrow, and I told him to be on the lookout for you. Chad is a very Italian looking young man, good looking, dark hair and dark complexion, so you be on the lookout too!
Peace,
Don

[HowardDean]

I will look for him at coffee hour. What a friendly church.
I am trying to figure out how to advertise for it, especially in my suburb, so I can get some new attendees.
Our driver tomorrow lives in Twinsburg!
I don't want to miss the 27th, pentecost. Is anything different on that day, service wise?

[HowardDean]

Talked to the Father afterwards. He will help us get another bed, as we share 1 mattress on the floor.
Not only that, he's bringing 2 icons! I've been wanting some!:clap:
He said right now, I am a seeker.
Did any of youe ver feel impatient, like Why can't I join now? I'm there right now, but I don't plan on going anywhere else (unless we moved, and then it would still be an orthodox) so eventually we will be members.
Two people brought us bread, and we had brought juice so I felt like we were taking communion (at least we were techincally taking it protestant style, symbolically.)

[Orthosdoxa]

Howard, you are knocking my socks off. What a change I've seen in you this past year. Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!!

I am so glad the priest will be able to help with some material needs as well as your spiritual needs. That's what the church is there for. :thumbsup:

[Michie]

I'm so happy for you Howard! :)

[HowardDean]

Thank you Michie (I've known her online for years).
I find myself less likely to argue for some reason. Maybe I can see exactly where non tradition people are coming from, as I was so there not long ago.

[Michie]

Converts have a lot of pros as well as cons.

But the pros far outweigh the cons.

I just can't tell you how glad I am that you've found a caring spiritual home! :)

[HowardDean]

God's hand was in it. Many times He's closed doors in my life and I've taken the hint.
I had been without a church for 2 years and no ride anywhere (even 1 mile away) could be found. I think God was waiting for me to check out this board and the Orthodox section.
I was about to stop going to church totally and give up.

[HowardDean]

Funny, today I was checking the man's book in front of me to find what page I was to be on (I'm getting the hang of it) and he pointed to this word (theotokos) and started to tell me what it meant, and I went "Yep, Mary, mother of God." ha
All thanks to that huge debate thread a bit ago.

[Michie]

LOL!

God draws straight with crooked lines.

I just think this is so awesome. I pray that this will be your spiritual home for both you & your son.

You've had a long road. I'm so glad there is light to be seen now & God's hand at work.

I've never been in an Orthodox Church but would love to go sometime.

None in my area though.

Maybe someday.

[Thekla]

Did any of youe ver feel impatient, like Why can't I join now?


Our first Pentecost service (before we were Chrismated), I had to
"physically restrain" (gently) my husband from taking communion, lol

How wonderful, this "solution" to your seeking ....

Best !

[Anatole]

God truly knows all of our needs. I know that talking to all of you at TAW and reading all the comments has strengthened my faith.
I live 45 min. to as much as 2 hours from my church family. So they can't just drop by for a cup of coffee. So all of you here at TAW are my new church family that I can talk to whenever I want. Someone is always here.
This is what I needed and I know God led me here!!!

[HowardDean]

Yep. :wave:

[HowardDean]

We are staying home tomorrow as we needed to catch up on sleep, and its weird. I feel like I am missing out on something. I used to be able to get a tape of the sermon and worship, but I feel like I am missing by not being there. Do you guys know what I mean?
Its getting to me. ha;)

[Orthosdoxa]

Catching up on sleep is what Sunday afternoons are for. :)

I definitely miss the worship when I am not there.

[Theophorus]

but I feel like I am missing by not being there. Do you guys know what I mean?
Its getting to me. ha;)

Yeah. For me it was different than missing a sermon or lesson, it's more like I'm missing out on recess because it's raining. if that makes sense.

[HowardDean]

Its like, I am missing Church, instead of church.
Like I belong there.:liturgy: