First Contact – Part 11 – Greek Orthodoxy

As I have mentioned in earlier posts, my son Andrew was a curious sort, especially in his teen years. But I guess many teens are curious. That is typically the time in a person’s life where beliefs and values are being formed. You know, finding out who you really are and all that.

At Andrew’s high school there was a Bible teacher that also taught classes in Hebrew and Greek. Andrew took both. He also found out that the teacher liked Greek Orthodoxy. When he discovered there was a Greek Orthodox Church about 70 miles away in Huntsville, he wanted to attend. The church was actually pretty close to where my father lived. So, on weekends when we visited Dad, my wife and I would take Andrew to the church on Sunday morning. Kathy and I tried attending the services, but their style of worship just didn’t appeal to us. So, we started going shopping at a nearby Sam’s Club while Andrew was at church services.

After services, parishioners would gather in a meeting hall and share food and drink. There was a small store there where items of interest to Greek Orthodox Church members were sold. Andrew loved finding interesting things to purchase there.

Over time a married couple at the church befriended Andrew and began looking forward to his visits. One year Andrew decided he wanted to go celebrate Pascha (Easter) at the Greek Orthodox Church. This celebration started on Good Friday and ran through Sunday. On Saturday evening the services ran from 11 pm until 2 am at which time there was a great feast. The married couple was gracious enough to allow Andrew to spend two nights at their house so he could participate in everything. Finally, he drove back home on Sunday afternoon.

I met several members of the church when I attended services and when I would pick Andrew up at the meeting hall. All seemed very kind and gracious.

To me, Greek Orthodox services seem very similar to Catholic services in that they tend to more formal than the protestant evangelical church services. There are differences in beliefs, but I am not knowledgeable enough to speak to those differences.