Preston Teuscher - Church Visit #1

Preston Teuscher - Church Visit #1

Church Name: St. Joseph Orthodox Church

Church Address: 412 Crescent St. Wheaton, IL 60187

Date Attended: Sunday February 28, 2016

Church Category: Orthodox Church

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

The service was different in almost every way from my context. First, visually there were many icons throughout but mostly in the front of the chapel. Images of Jesus and Mary and possibly apostles were ornately presented with candles around them. The congregation would go and kiss a few icons in the front and even have their small children do so as well. Acoustically, nearly the whole service was sung. The service began with a man in the front singing facing towards the icons. This went on for a while and I didn’t make out every word but they kept ending phrases with “… forever and unto ages of ages amen” in a tune that would be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Physically, the congregation stood nearly the entire two-hour service while singing and reciting out of a forty-page worship guide that at first I was certain we couldn’t get all the way through but surely enough we did. Even scent-wise, incense was brought out multiple times in the service.

How did the worship service illuminate for you the history and contours of global Christianity?

The service helped to show me some of the particularities of the Orthodox tradition and how much it differs from the Evangelical tradition. This Russian Orthodox service made obvious to me how highly the Orthodox tradition views the church through the way they named and honored several clergy members in one of the hymns. They were also very up-front and explicit about their theology, which I appreciated. They recited the Nicene Creed (minus the Filioque clause) and made references to Mary as Theotokos in hymns. Overall it was highly liturgical which showed their love of tradition. All this and more made me realize how vastly different the trajectories were that brought about Russian Orthodoxy and American Evangelicalism.

How did the worship service illuminate for you your personal identity as a Christian?

I think that the experience of going to a Russian Orthodox church service made me realize more than ever before how very much evangelical I am. I appreciated the liturgy but I much rather prefer to worship in evangelical fashion. Yet overall I believe I came to a newfound recognition that there are more similarities between Russian Orthodox Christians and myself than I would think at first. The reciting of creeds helped this understanding. Even with all sorts of other traditions and peripheral beliefs we both believe in the same base doctrines of our faith. Also talking with a woman and her daughter who are members of that church helped to put a friendly face with the denomination. Due to this visit I grew in knowledge and feeling that I am a small part of a bigger whole that is the global Christian Church. I am glad that there is diversity enough in the body of Christ for there to be some different traditions while still being united by our common love and need of Jesus.