After washing the feet of His disciples before going to his voluntary passion, our Lord Jesus Christ says the following to them: “Amen, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (John 13:21). Recognizing in these words the foundation of the Christian understanding of hospitality, St Nicholas Orthodox Church welcomes all guests who come to her, seeing in them the presence of Christ himself.
What is the Orthodox Church? The Orthodox Church is the “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” It is the Church founded by our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, and which has remained firm in passing down from generation to generation the same faith that she received from Him and His Apostles (cf. 2 Thess 2:15).
Our parish, St Nicholas Orthodox Church, is a parish of the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America. According to her mission statement:
The Mission of the Orthodox Church in America, the local autocephalous Orthodox Church, is to be faithful in fulfilling the commandment of Christ to “Go into all the world and make disciples of all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all [things that He has] commanded” so that all people may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth:
To preach, in accordance with God’s will, the fullness of the gospel of the Kingdom to the peoples of North America and to invite them to become members of the Orthodox Church.
To utilize for her mission the various languages of the peoples of this continent.
To be the body of Christ in North America and to be faithful to the tradition of the Holy Orthodox Church.
To witness to the truth, and by God’s grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit, to reveal Christ’s way of sanctification and eternal salvation to all.
At St Nicholas, we strive to live the mission of our Church at the local level. Planted by God in Mentor in 1973, in 2023 St Nicholas celebrated its fiftieth anniversary of witnessing to the Apostolic Faith here in Lake County and the surrounding area. God willing, we now look forward to the next fifty years of ministry to our neighbors.
Thank you for visiting the website of St Nicholas Orthodox Church. We hope that you might find on this website something that will be spiritually edifying. If you are interested in learning more about our faith, we invite you to explore the catechetical resources found on our website. And if you are interested in learning about the process of becoming Orthodox, a summary of what that process looks like is found here.
While we are glad to have you visit the website of St Nicholas Orthodox Church, we would be even happier to have you come to worship with us in person. A calendar of our current services may be found here. The most important service that we celebrate every week—the service that is at the core of our identity as Orthodox Christians—is the Sunday Eucharist, which we call the Divine Liturgy.
Especially if you have not been to the Divine Liturgy before (or even to an Orthodox temple), the first experience can be overwhelming. This feeling is entirely normal and to be expected: The point of the Liturgy is not that we take in everything at once. Rather, the way that God reveals himself in the Divine Liturgy unfolds mirrors how God reveals to us throughout history: This revelation takes place over time, such that it is meant to bring us more and more into union with him through a gradual process. St Symeon of Thessalonika, a medieval theologian who wrote a number of commentaries on the divine services, puts it this way: “In fact the rites are beyond all understanding, and not intelligence – either human or angelic – could explain God’s incarnation, or the manner of communion with God, or all that the Church proclaims and enacts” (Explanation of the Divine Temple, translated by Steven Hawkes-Teeples, p. 85).
By way of helping you to ease into the experience of worshipping God with us, here is some information to answer questions that frequently come up about first visits to our temple for a Sunday Divine Liturgy.
Before Coming to Church
Dress Code? Our temple does not have an official dress code. As you will find, there is a range of what our parishioners will wear on Sunday: Some men come to church in suit and tie, and some women wear dresses; others dress less formally. So long as your clothing is respectful and befits the temple of God, it will be fine. (If you are still curious about attire, you can always take a look at some of our videos on Youtube to get an idea of what people wear.)
Children? According to the practice of our Church, children are brought to the temple for the first time around forty days after child-birth. Thereafter, they should be brought to the divine services as often as possible. And so, children are not only welcomed to participate in the Divine Liturgy; it is our expectation that children will be in the temple to worship. At the same time, it is important to say: Orthodox services do not tend to be short, and children are children. Therefore, if you have small children, and if they might need a few toys to play with during the service, this is fine. We only ask that you bring toys that are appropriate for the temple (namely: toys that are soft, since these will not make noise during the services). Please also know that, if your children need a break during the service for a few minutes, that is entirely acceptable. We only ask you to please bring them back as soon as they are ready so that they can participate in the service as much as possible. (To learn more about how children participate in the Liturgy, please see the following pastoral letter: “Children and the Divine Liturgy.”)
The Morning of the Divine Liturgy
When you come to the temple, you will likely be greeted by a member of our parish. If you need any help, we are happy to assist you in whatever ways that we can.
Candles? As you will find, as people enter the church, many will take a few candles. It is a pious Orthodox custom to light these candles in the temple as offerings for our loved ones, whether living or departed. As they take them, most people will leave a small donation in the box near the candles to help off-set their cost.
Icons? Once you enter the temple, you will see people venerating the holy images (also called icons), which are located throughout the temple. If you are unfamiliar with this practice, here is a little background: Orthodox Christians venerate the images of Christ and his saints not because we believe that these images are divine in themselves, but rather because we believe that the images make Christ and his saints present to us (much like a picture of a loved one makes that person's presence felt). When we venerate the images, then, we are not venerating the materials that they are made from, but rather the persons whom they depict because of our love for them. If you are not familiar with this practice, we welcome you to participate in it as much as you would like.
Did I get here late? If you arrive before the beginning of the Sunday Divine Liturgy, you might be surprised to find a service already in progress. This is normal: In our parish, as in many Orthodox churches, it is the practice that the Hours are chanted before the Divine Liturgy begins. (The Hours are very short services consisting mostly of psalms and short prayers.) You are free to settle into the temple as they services are being chanted; it is not at all interruptive to move about during this time as you need to.
Posture? In honor of the fact that our God has become flesh, Orthodox worship is very physically involved: we worship not only with our hearts and minds, but also with our bodies. For example, during the Liturgy you will see people frequently crossing themselves (in honor of the Lord’s crucifixion), and making profound bows from their waists. (In Greek, this kind of a bow is called a metania. This word related to the Greek word for ‘repentance.’ Thus, we make these bows as a sign of our spirit of repentance.) On Sunday, our custom is to stand during the Divine Liturgy in honor of the Lord’s resurrection. If you come on a weekday then you might also see people kneeling during the service, or even prostrating—i.e., putting their knees on the ground and bowing all the way to the floor. In either case, it is recommended that you wear shoes that are comfortable. Especially on your first visit, all of these different postures and actions might seem like a lot to keep track of. If you want to participate in them, the best way is to follow what those around you are doing. Please also know that, if you need to sit even when others are standing, that is fine.
Book or no book? If you would like to follow the service for the Sunday Divine Liturgy, there are books in the pews. As you will see, some parishioners choose to use these to follow the Liturgy. Although there are different ways of thinking about what a newcomer should do, based on experience, it is advised that, if you are coming for the first time, it is best not to use a book so that you can instead focus on observing what goes on during the liturgy.
What about Holy Communion? According to Orthodox teaching, the Eucharist is the true the body and blood of Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ. We call these sacramental elements the holy Gifts (or the holy Things), which we receive at the apex of the Liturgy. Because the oneness of the Eucharistic chalice points is a visible sign of our unity of faith, worship, and common life in Christ, we do not believe that it is proper to extend the invitation to receive the Eucharist to those who do not share fully in the same beliefs of our Church. But although we cannot extend an invitiation to holy Communion to those who are not Orthodox, according to the current custom of our Church, everyone may receive some of the blessed bread. (This bread is called ‘antidoron,’ a Greek word meaning ‘instead of the Gift.’ For those who do not receive the Eucharist, this blessed bread is distributed at the end of the Divine Liturgy.)
A side-note for Orthodox Christians visiting our parish: If you are coming from another parish to visit us today, we welcome you. If you are a regular communicant in your own parish, and as long as you strive to follow the Church’s normal practices in preparing (namely, at a minimum: you have fasted from midnight before receiving, you have said the “Service” or “Office in Preparation for Holy Communion,” you have made a recent confession, you have come to the Divine Liturgy in a timely manner, and you are striving to be at peace with all people), you are usually free to receive the holy Gifts at our parish. For the sake of good order at the chalice, however, please write to the rector to tell him of your visit and desire to receive beforehand. Otherwise, he will ask when you approach the chalice.
Cross and Bread? After the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, congregants will come up to the priest and kiss the cross (to express love for our crucified Lord) and the hand of the priest (as a sign of respect for the fact that Christ gives us grace through the ministers of the Church). After this, blessed bread is offered (the antidoron). This bread is not the Eucharist, but it is taken from the same loaf from which the bread that was consecrated into the Lord's Body was taken. According to the current practice of most Orthodox Churches, those who are not Orthodox may partake of this bread. You may participate in any of these actions as you feel comfortable. But even if you choose not to do so, still, please come to introduce yourself to the priest.
Fellowship after Liturgy. After Liturgy concludes, we invite you to continue your time with us in the parish hall so that we might get to know you better. Typically, refreshments are served after Divine Liturgy (either coffee and a light snack, or sometimes a lighter meal).
Finally, a note on the collection: Going back to the earliest centuries, it has been customary for Churches to take up a collection to support the work of the Church and to help to provide for the poor. At our parish, a collection is taken mid-way into the service, after the holy Gospel has been read and the priest has given a homily (or sermon). While we welcome any contribution that you would like to make, we want to emphasize that this is entirely voluntary on your part. We are mostly grateful for your presence in our community, and we pray that God might send you back to us again.
(The above guidelines are based on, but also heavily modified from, the following two guides found online: here and here.)