Caroline Saylor - Church Visit #2

Church Name: St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church

Church Address: 733 S Ashland Ave, Chicago, IL 60607

Date attended: October 11th 2015

Church Category: Highly Liturgical

Describe the worship service you attended. How was it similar to or different from your regular context?

The service I attended was highly liturgical and followed a strict Greek traditional style. Characterized by continual Greek Orthodox chants and prayer, the service portrayed a typical Orthodox tradition. The service began with the Martin’s service, a call to worship through prayer, continued onto the Divine Liturgy portion and was concluded with the Homily. As guests we were given a packet to follow alongside the Service of Matins which included both the original Greek language alongside an English translation. Many of the practices included communion, and reciting Creeds which is most similar to my regular context. However this church introduced me to new concepts within worship. This particular service included incense alongside the recognition of various icons. The congregation barely spoke which was the most difficult difference for me to process through. What I found most interesting was their practice of communion. The Priest extensively prepared the sacraments and then walked through the congregation exalting the Eucharist alongside two icons. They then invited only those who were Orthodox to join the table of communion. I understand this to be similar within Catholic contexts, yet my regular context allows anyone who believes in Christ to partake. Overall I greatly appreciate this very new and powerful experience of worshiping in an Orthodox Church.  

What did you find most interesting or appealing about the worship service?

Overall the service was just under four hours, taking up all of my morning. However, what I found to be most interesting is that it barely felt as though it occupied 225 minutes. The service was so beautifully designed to embody a morning of continual worship to God. Although there were separate sessions characterized by specific processes, they all seemed so cohesive I did not even realize there were three sessions until I got three separate handouts. I found this extremely appealing because it shows incredible amounts of dedication, respect and gratitude towards God. The Church I grew up in was never able to capture such fluidity in the various practices we hold. Each process was able to smoothly transition into the other without any breaks or awkward transitions. Each moment was filled with chanting, prayers or appropriate silence. I greatly appreciated the beauty behind the design of the service.  

What did you find most disorienting or challenging about the worship service?

What I perhaps respect most about the Orthodox tradition is their dedication to their traditions. However this respect was mostly developed through intense emotions of discomfort. There were many small but significant details of this service that was unique but rather disorienting. The church I attended was almost completely covered with various icon images that the congregation would kiss each time they passed by them. During most of the prayers (spoken all in Greek) the Priest was come into the congregation carrying incense to spread among Gods people. Each person would immediately show signs of respect while I stood there unsure of how to express my respect. Something that was especially specific to the service I attended was when one of the cantors was exited out of the building on a stretcher. Something had happened during one of the prayers and all of a sudden an elderly man is down, yet the service did not stop. The other cantor—while still singing—motioned for people to come help this man. Soon almost 20 people were on the stage alongside the priest and cantor. Even medics came in to help the man yet the service continued as though nothing was wrong. Although I think this shows extreme amounts of dedication it was extremely difficult to process everything that was happening all at once.

What aspects of Scripture or theology did the worship service illuminate for you that you had not perceived as clearly in your regular context?

Something unique to this worship experience was the Matin’s service—a 90 minute session of continual chanting and prayers all in Greek. Although I deeply appreciated the deep rooted sense of tradition that this style communicated, I found it difficult to keep from worshiping alongside the hymns and prayers that I was only able to receive instead of act in. The only time the congregation spoke was during the Divine Liturgy service; to receive communion and to recite the creeds. It was through this that I realized truly how much I value congregation participation when I worship. It was only when I remained completely silent for close to four hours that I recognized a deep seated desire to interactively join in the worship. There is something about singing a hymn alongside an entire church that I am able to experience a sense of adoration for my Savior. This experience was able to highlight a specific perspective of Theology found in Orthodox churches that value tradition and a more profound level of worship.