Remaining Thoughts on the Orthodox Church

Orthodox Church Pros (or things I find interesting):

• Stresses the deity of all three persons within the Trinity. I think a lot of Protestant churches merely stress the deity of Jesus. We seldom talk about the Trinity in the Church (If you don't believe me...when's the last time you heard a sermon/talk on the Trinity?).

• The Orthodox Church stresses the love God has for humanity and how he wants a relationships with us. They really believe God loves the world and Jesus came to bring us into a closer relationship with God (I don't like the idea they don't really talk about sin or our need to be justified).

• Unity within the church. You don't see trivial church splits in their given country. Typically they won't join another Orthodox Church from another country, but I believe this is due more to language barrier.

• The use of icons to draw people into worship. I think it's fascinating that they use images (e.g. paintings) to help draw people into worship. They aren't "worshipping" the images, but rather using the image to help usher them into God's presence.

• Worship is participatory and experiential. Orthodox services don't have a sermon or message. This is bizarre to me, but they use music and sacraments in ways that really get the congregation involved. In other words, they aren't coming to church to be entertained or to be spectators. They are actively involved. I dig that.

• The ability to dialogue with other faith groups. The Orthodox church leaders regularly meet with other religious leaders of different faiths. They don't separate themselves or have a fortress mindset. They regular dialogue with other religious traditions and discuss religious/spiritual issues.

• The stress of community and how it should manifest Trinitarian love. Their community has a purpose. They aren't gathering together to chill or have "fellowship." They gather together to serve and to display God's Trinitarian love with one another and to those they are serving.

• There is not “rulebook” or “handbook” in the Orthodox tradition. In other words, change can occur without hermeneutical gymnastics (i.e. reinterpreting certain biblical texts). For example, if a woman feels inclined to lead or start a ministry group of some sort. The leaders would get together and discuss/decide whether or not they would like to permit the request. In other words, the Orthodox tradition is not as rigid or formalized as other religious traditions (e.g. Roman Catholic Church).