In the years after Jesus’ Resurrection, apostles and missionaries spread the Gospel throughout the known world. Soon, five major locations were established as centers for the faith: Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria, and Constantinople. In the year 1054, the Roman church broke from this united Church, and 500 years later Protestant churches began breaking away from Rome. But the original Church has remained united in the Apostolic Faith since the 1st century. This is Orthodoxy. 

One of the tasks of the early Church was defining and defending orthodox theology against the battering waves of heresies, which often appeared in disputes over the nature of the Trinity, or how Jesus could be both God and man. Church Councils met, searched the Scriptures, and formulated the common Faith that has stood the test of time for 2,000 years. From this time, the Church has been called "Orthodox," which means "right belief" or "right praise." 

Built on the foundation of Christ and His Apostles, nothing has been added to our faith, and nothing can be taken away. It is complete. It is of God. It is forever.
 

Orthodox churches still use forms of worship that were practiced in the first centuries. Our worship is based to a great extent on passages from Scripture. We sing most of the service, joining our voices in simple harmony to ancient melodies. 

Our worship is focused on God, not on our own enjoyment, fulfillment, or fellowship. We come into the presence of God with awe, aware of our fallenness and His great mercy. We seek forgiveness and rejoice in the great gift of salvation so freely given. Orthodox worship is filled with repentance, gratitude, and unending praise. 

We try, as best we can, to make our worship beautiful. The example of Scripture shows us that God’s design for tabernacle worship (Ex. 25, 26) as well as for heavenly worship (Rev. 4) is that worship which is offered with as much beauty as possible. 

A common misconception is that awe-filled, beautiful worship must be rigid, formal, and cold. Orthodox worship shatters that stereotype. The liturgy is not a performance, but an opportunity to come together as a family of faith before our beloved Father. True Orthodox worship is comfortable, warm, and joyful. It could be nothing less in His heavenly presence.
 

Values that are usually termed "Judeo-Christian" have never left Orthodoxy. We believe that sexual expression is a treasured gift, one to be exercised only within marriage. Marriage is a commitment for life. Divorce is a very grave action, and remarriage after divorce is a concession to human weakness, undertaken with repentance. Persons with homosexual or other extramarital sexual impulses are welcomed as fellow servants of God, receiving loving support as they make an offering to God of their chastity. 

Orthodoxy has stood against abortion since the earliest days of the Church. The Didache (circa A.D. 110) states, "Do not murder a child by abortion or kill a newborn infant." In the midst of a culture which freely practiced abortion, infanticide, and the exposure of infants, early Christians were a consistent voice against violence, as the Orthodox Church continues to be today.

Caring for the poor and disadvantaged has always been a concern for the Orthodox. The strong sermons of St. John Chrysostom, written in the 4th century, bear witness to the importance of this Christian responsibility. The Church continues to see its mission in light of the whole person, body and soul.

Orthodox believers are right, left, and center on many issues. But where Scripture and the witness of the early Church guide us, there is no controversy. It’s simple. We uphold and obey God’s will, not our own.
 

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