THE CHURCH Whenever reference is made to the religions of America, invariably three of them are mentioned: the Roman Catholic, the Protestant, and the Jewish faiths. There is a fourth, and within the past decade or more, an increasingly greater number of people are hearing about this "fourth major faith" … and it s Eastern Orthodoxy. Names have much to tell us about a religion, and the name of this fourth faith is no exception. WHAT IS THE EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH? The word "Eastern" has a geographical and a historical significance. The Christian Church was born in what is called the East … the Near East, today occupied by such nations as Israel (Palestine), Egypt, and Syria. The Christian Church emerged and thrived for several hundred years in the political framework of the Roman Empire. Just before the year 300 AD the empire was divided into two: Eastern and Western. The Eastern sector consisted of the areas around the Holy Land, plus such territory as northern Africa and Greece. The western sector included Italy and a good part of Europe. The one Christian Church grew up in this political framework, and it is hardly surprising that the Church came to have two parts: Eastern and Western, Greek and Roman. There came a separation of these two parts in the 11th century. In the 16th century there occurred still another separation. The protests of the faithful against what they thought were evils in the Western Church resulted in the Protestant Reformation. This led to the Protestant churches. The word "orthodox" is a common English term designating the correct way of doing something. It comes from the Greek, and in reference to religion, it means correct praise or true doctrine. To know a religion, we must go beyond the name and study the worship, the art, the spirit, the government, the doctrine, and the discipline of the Church. A noted American Orthodox theologian has written the following about worship: "The Church is first of all a worshipping community. Worship comes first, doctrine and discipline second … Christianity is a liturgical religion." The Orthodox Church is known as the liturgical Church. It has developed over the centuries a truly remarkable worship. The services are elaborate, solemn, full of ritual. The worship revolves around the Church Year, full of fast days and feast days, which not only portrays the life of Christ from beginning to end, but reenacts or relives that life, making it relevant and vital to each generation. The form of art known as iconography is the artistic heritage of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Many churches are covered inside with icons, not as decorative pieces, but as aids to worship, prayer and meditation. They serve, too, as remarkable visual aids. The icon is not so much a painting as it is a "presence". There is a mystical and spiritual character to the Orthodox faith. This is experienced by the faithful in the Divine Liturgy, the Eucharistic service that is celebrated each Lord’s Day, and in the other services, sacraments, customs and traditions of the church and home. The oft repeated petition, "Lord have mercy" reflects this spiritual character. The Orthodox Church consists of many autocephalous churches. And the form of government in these churches is conciliar. And so we have the fourth major faith in our land: the Eastern Orthodox Church. WHAT IS THE "GREEK CHURCH"? Our Church was established by our Lord on the day of Pentecost in 33 AD. Paul the Apostle brought it to Greece. "Eastern" signified the geographical location of the Orthodox Church. In contrast to the Western Church, which had their religious center in Rome, the spiritual center of the Eastern Church is in Constantinople. "Greek" refers to the Greek language and philosophy as instruments to teach the Gospel and interpret its meaning for the new Christians. They wrote the New Testament books in Greek. The word "Orthodox" means the right, the true doctrine in contrast to the false, untrue teachings of heresy. The Nicene Creed refers to the Church as "ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC (universal) and APOSTOLIC CHURCH." We have continued the teachings of Christ as we received them from the Apostles through the twenty centuries since the Church’s founding.