Orthodox Church Websites

This blog post describes how the top 20 church denominations in America portray themselves visually.  I found it fascinating and very revealing.  

The blogger collected images from the U.S. websites of various denominations and published a summary and some observations.  

Here’s the compilation of images from the Greek Orthodox Church Archdiocese of America, and the blogger's description of the page: 

“With the use of artwork and imagery of older leadership, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has a strong visual emphasis on history and antiquated approaches to Christianity.”  (I would have used the word “ancient” rather than antiquated.)

This inspired me to look at the websites of other Orthodox church jurisdictions in America.  I found that Orthodox websites feature icons and photos of worship services and church leadership. All of them include at least one image of Christ (unlike the websites of many other Christian denominations, as pointed out by the original blog post.)  Orthodox websites focus on church news and activities, and include aids for worship, such as sermons, articles, Bible readings, and information about upcoming feasts.  

As every website includes at least one icon, the visual images portray quite a different feel from those of other denominations. Most of them also include photos of church events, which makes for an interesting juxtaposition of ancient and modern. While largely informative, the websites draw the readers into an attitude of worship, much as the Orthodox church buildings do. 

Here are compilations I made of the images from various Orthodox church websites:  (Click on the images to see a larger version)

The Orthodox Church in America :

The Antiochian Orthodox Church: 

The Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese: 

The American Carpatho Russian Diocese of the U.S.A.: 

The Romanian Orthodox Diocese in the Americas: 

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia: 

The Serbian Orthodox Church: 

The Ukranian Orthodox Church: 

Ancient Christianity

Years ago I was reading a blog about a family who were lighthouse keepers on an isolated island.  The mother wrote the blog, and I enjoyed the posts. It listed one of her interests as "ancient Christianity."  That struck me.  I liked the term. There was something there that seemed to strike a nerve, seemed to satisfy some unknown hunger. But what did it mean?

I did a google search on "ancient Christianity" and found only information about Orthodox Christianity.  "That's lame," I thought.  I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that.  I had no desire to learn about Orthodox Christianity, so I dropped it.

If I'd read some of the websites, I might have found that Orthodox Christianity is indeed ancient Christianity. It is the faith of the Apostles, preserved for 2,000 years.  It really was what I was looking for, but I had no idea at the time.

Spell Check Fail

I find it disturbing that neither the Microsoft Word nor the Blogger spell check recognize the words "chrismated" or "chrismation." Hopefully this will be changed in the next revision.

"It's nice, but it's not church"

When a couple who had converted to Orthodoxy described their journey, they told us about visiting various evangelical churches. Their reaction: "It's nice, but it's not church."

Think about the services in many evangelical churches. If you didn't know the language, what would there be to distinguish the service from a concert/lecture?  Sure, some people may raise their hands, but you see plenty of hand-waving at some secular concerts.  Yes, someone might bow their heads to pray, but interestingly, the Bible never mentions anyone bowing their heads to pray.  Jesus lifted His eyes to the heavens.

Walk into a typical evangelical church, and it might look like a hotel, a school, office or even a warehouse, but not like a church. There may be a cross somewhere, but there is nothing that sets the building apart as a place of worship.

This is often intentional, part of the "seeker friendly" model. But what are seekers seeking?  If they are seeking something "not of this world," do we want it to look just like the places they hang out in all week? If they are looking for an encounter with the supernatural, will they find it in a lecture or a concert?  Some food for thought.