What is the Orthodox Church?
The Orthodox Church is today a federation of fifteen self-governing churches which share a common faith, a common liturgical and sacramental tradition, and a common history beginning at Jerusalem in approximately 33 A.D. In the Old Testament we find the Prophets who foretold the coming of Christ. From the Gospels, and the New Testament in general, we learn about our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ. We also find the establishment of Sacraments, liturgical worship, and patterns of administrative authority (bishops, priests, deacons) taking shape in the early Church. The Apostles, the twelve original disciples of Christ, undertook numerous missionary journeys traveling from city to city in the ancient Greco-Roman empire and established Christian communities—many of which survive to this day. Despite persecution, Christianity spread quickly throughout the Middle East, Asia Minor, North Africa, Europe, and India. The spreading of the Church led to the establishment of administrative cen
Archbishop Paul of Finland writes: “The Eastern Orthodox Church is organically the same congregation (or ecclesia) which was born at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem on Pentecost, a direct continuation from the Apostles by laying yon of hands from each generation of priests to the next. The Orthodox Christian recognizes the rich Christian heritage and proclaims that he belongs to this Church, which corresponds to the Church of the Apostles as does a grown-up person correspond to a picture taken of him as a child.
The Orthodox Church is the Church founded by Jesus Christ and described throughout the New Testament. All other Christian Churches and sects can be traced back historically to it. The word Orthodox literally means “straight teaching” or “straight worship,” being derived from two Greek words: orthos, “straight,” and doxa, “teaching” or “worship.” As the encroachments of false teaching and division multiplied in early Christian times, threatening to obscure the identity and purity of the Church, the term “Orthodox” quite logically came to be applied to it. The Orthodox Church carefully guards the truth against all error and schism both to protect its flock and to glorify Christ whose body the Church is.
The Orthodox Church is the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, founded by Jesus Christ and His apostles. It is organically and historically the same Church that came fully into being at Pentecost (Acts 2). Today, the Orthodox constitute the second largest Christian body in the world. Some 200 million people identify themselves as “Orthodox,” most of whom live in Russia, Greece, Romania and other eastern European countries, as well as throughout the Middle East. Approximately 4 million Orthodox live in the United States, concentrated primarily in the Northeast, Midwest and California. Long known as “Eastern Orthodoxy,” the Orthodox faith has established itself throughout the world, in North America, Africa, Australia and Western Europe. Small groups exist as well in Asia and South America. This dispersion or “diaspora” of Orthodox peoples intensified during the 20th century, particularly in the wake of the Russian revolution of 1917. Russian missionaries were present in Alaska from
