Below is an overview of the journey to being received into the Orthodox Church at our parish of Sts. Constantine and Helen in Vallejo, California.
Discovering the Orthodox Church
Many people are discovering the Orthodox Church in various ways. Perhaps a family member or friend of yours recently converted, or you attended an Orthodox baptism or wedding, or you stumbled on a video about Orthodoxy online. Something about these experiences spoke to your heart and you wanted to learn more.
Becoming a serious inquirer
There are many books, websites and articles online about the Orthodox Church. Perhaps you started reading about and researching the Orthodox Faith on your own. Some people also join online chat rooms and forums to ask questions. Your interest continues to grow and you become more convinced that the teachings of the Orthodox Church make so much sense and that the Orthodox spiritual life is what you have been seeking for a long time.
Planning a visit
At some point, you realize that all the reading and videos are not enough. You want to actually attend an Orthodox Church service. In our theological and liturgical understanding, the divine services are intended for Orthodox Christians and Catechumen (those preparing to be baptized). We welcome visitors as our honored quests but instead of just showing up unannounced, please contact us first by filling out our visitor form. In this way, we can properly welcome you and provide guidance on how you may participate in the divine services as a visitor. We also invite you to join us for the Agape Meal and fellowship after church on Sundays, our catechism classes and discussion groups and to visit our Orthodox bookstore.
Meeting with our priest
Once you are here, our parish priest, Fr. Ninos Oshaana, would love to meet you and is available to schedule a private meeting to learn more about your spiritual journey and answer your questions about the Orthodox Faith. This step marks the beginning of a more serious discernment period about what has brought you to the Orthodox Church. It may take weeks or even months of attending the divine services, prayer, conversations with Fr. Ninos and personal reflection to discern if God is calling you to become an Orthodox Christian. There is no rush and no pressure. Yet it’s a decision that should be based on one simple reason: do you want to live a new way of life, striving for the healing and salvation of your eternal soul through repentance?
Becoming a Catechumen
The journey described above can be likened to what happens in a relationship. A man meets a woman and they begin to get to know each other. Soon after, they both realize there is a strong connection and a desire to enter a committed relationship. They fall in love and envision a married life together. Then comes the moment in which the man formally declares his love and asks the woman to be his wife. And when she accepts, the period of engagement begins as a time of preparation for the wedding when they will be joined together as one.
In the same way, becoming a Catechumen is like an engagement. It’s a serious step in the journey of being joined to Jesus Christ through the sacraments of Holy Baptism, Holy Chrismation and Holy Communion. Once you have been a serious inquirer for some time, are attending services regularly, have developed a relationship with our priest and met with him to discuss your questions, challenges, obstacles, and feel truly at home in our community and desire to become Orthodox, then you would formally request to become a catechumen.
The Catechumenate
The catechumenate is an ancient process of spiritual formation and education lasting a year or more, for individuals (catechumens) who are preparing to be received into the Holy and Great Church of Christ. As a catechumen, you would receive formal instruction through catechism classes and taught also how to begin living as an Orthodox Christian according to what we call the Holy Tradition. This includes such things as attending divine services, reading scripture, learning basic doctrines and traditions, celebrating feast days, creating an icon corner and following a prayer rule, singing hymns, making the sign of the cross and prostrations, making pilgrimages to monasteries and other Orthodox churches for their feast days, venerating icons and relics, standing during the divine services, veiling in church (for women), practicing fasting, tithing, almsgiving, and meeting with the priest for spiritual counseling and confession. Enrolling someone as a catechumen is not something the Orthodox Church does lightly. This step in the journey is just as serious as a marriage engagement and it should only be done when you are absolutely certain of your decision and our priest feels that you are ready for it.
Catechumenate: a time of repentance and preparation
The goal and purpose of the Orthodox life is to become holy and restore the image and likeness of God that we were created in (Genesis 1:27). We call this Theosis. It is the state that Adam and Eve originally were growing in to a greater and greater degree. Although it was interrupted by their disobedience and fall, it was healed and perfected through the God-Man Jesus Christ, who deified our human nature through his divine nature. Joining the Orthodox Church through Holy Baptism and Holy Communion offers the forgiveness of sins and being joined to Jesus Christ himself (Galatians 3:27), thereby restoring the image of God within us because Jesus Christ is the image of God (Colossians1:15). Through Holy Chrismation, the baptized believer receives the Holy Spirit through which he can strive over his lifetime to develop and mature into the “perfect man, to the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Holy Baptism restores the image of God in a human being and the sacramental life of repentance and sanctification through the Church restores the likeness of God in a human being. The innumerable number of saints of our Church (Hebrews 12:11, Revelations 7:9-17) from both the early centuries of Christianity and even in our modern era, are examples of how this truly can happen for anyone, no matter who they are or what they have done.
Attaining this calling is only possible through repentance. A catechumen is someone who has made a firm decision to reject his or her former beliefs such as non-Christian teachings and practices, false Christian teachings, i.e. Protestant and Roman Catholic heresies, as well as any new age beliefs and practices such as paganism, pantheism, astrology, etc. He or she must also make a commitment to abandon any sinful habits such as drugs, alcohol, dishonest gain, promiscuity, immoral acts and cohabitating with someone who is not your spouse. A catechumen is not someone who is perfect but someone who in humility before God recognizes his or her need for forgiveness and healing and is seeking help from God and the Church to change their life and become a totally new person. Such a mentality and level of commitment provides the best preparation to becoming an Orthodox Christian.
This short article is meant to provide a general overview of the journey to becoming Orthodox. There are many finer details, situations and unique circumstances for each person that cannot be adequately covered here. If you have questions about becoming Orthodox or would like to speak to a priest about it, please contact Fr. Ninos to schedule a private meeting.