Many who are seeking faith and guidance in our society believe that there are only two choices when it comes to Christianity: Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. (Actually there are over 35,000 choices in the West: Roman Catholicism and the countless different and sometimes opposing denominations that sprang from it in the fracturing Reformation.)
But more and more folks have discovered that there is another place to
call home: The One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church that began at
Pentecost and never stopped. She survives intact, undivided and
unchanged in doctrine and order of worship to this day. It is the
Orthodox Church -- a safe refuge from the bizarre upheavals found on the contemporary religious scene.
As the early Church grew, she lived as the "one flock" prayed for by Jesus Christ (John 10:16). She was and is the Church of the martyrs and the fathers who
defended the Faith with their whole lives.
In 1054 AD, the Bishop of Rome brought about the Great Schism, separating
Rome and Western Europe from the rest of the Christian world, including Eastern Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The West came to be called the (Roman) Catholic Church, having been
further divided by the Protestant Reformation and the previously unknown
concept of Christian denominationalism. The Orthodox Christian East remained unchanged and undivided in Christ. In fact, every church entioned in the New Testament -- with the exception only of Rome -- was and is an Orthodox church.
In the 16th century, Orthodoxy came to America through Alaska, and, fed
by immigration, spread across our continent, often appearing as ethnic
groups. In more recent years, the Orthodox Church has turned Her
attention to all Americans who are seeking the fullness of faith and life in the Church of Jesus Christ.
At Saint Stephen's, all services are in English and people of all backgrounds are
welcomed into Orthodoxy's life of communion with God and her calm yet unflinching resistance to the perversion of truth in the modern world.
We invite you to an oasis of authentic spiritual experience and the peace
which comes from zealous spiritual warfare.
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Father Mark |
