It is Catholic (but not Roman)
When people hear the word “catholic” they often think of Rome, the pope, the Vatican, and other things associated with Roman Catholicism. But Orthodox Christians understand the word “catholic” according to its original meaning: “whole, complete, lacking in nothing.” The Orthodox Church fits this description, confessing and practicing the Christian Faith in its fullness, without the need for a pope or magisterium. The Apostle Paul called the Church “the fullness of Him [Christ] who fills everything in every way” (Eph 1.23). This is the Orthodox understanding of “catholic.”
It is Evangelical
(but not Protestant)
Although the Orthodox Church is not part of Roman Catholicism, it is in no way affiliated with the thousands of Protestant sects that exist in the world. But the Orthodox Church is “evangelical” in the sense that it has been proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and the Good News of His death, burial, and resurrection—non-stop for the past two-thousand years. (1Co 1.23)
It is not "non-demoninational"
(it is pre-denominational)
When Christ established the Church in AD 33, there were no Christian “denominations” like there are today. The “denominational” system that we see today, with thousands of independent and unaffiliated Christian bodies all believing and worshiping in their own ways, was utterly unknown to the early Church and is unknown to Orthodox Christians today, who, all throughout the world, worship and believe in one single, united Faith, and have done for two-thousand years (Eph 4:4-5).
Christ did not establish the Church in order to bring judgment and condemnation to the world; He came rather to bring healing. In fact, the original Greek word for “salvation” is sozo, which means to heal, restore, make whole, and reconcile. Christ came to heal us of the disease of sin (Mark 2.17), and to make us holy (Heb 10:14, Col 1:22). It was for the purpose of bringing this healing and holiness to the world that He established the Church. Only the Orthodox Church has the spiritual medicine to heal our broken souls.
It is a hospital
(not a courthouse)
The Orthodox Church wrote and compiled the New Testament
Did you ever wonder where the Bible came from? Well, for the first three hundred years in the life of the Church, what we recognize today as the Bible didn’t even exist. The Old Testament had been accepted and used by Christians from the very beginning of the Church, but the books that came to be known as the New Testament were not compiled and accepted as Scripture until the late fourth century. It was Orthodox Christians who, through the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, wrote the Gospels and Epistles, and later established them as Holy Scripture.
It is the Body of Christ
The Orthodox Church is not merely an earthly organization which is headed by bishops and priests who hold the ministry in the body that is officially called “Orthodox.” The Orthodox Church is the mystical “Body of Christ” Himself (Eph 1.22-23; Col 1.18, 24), and it is composed not only of clergy, but of all who truly believe in Christ, and who have entered through Holy Baptism into the Church He founded; it includes those living upon the earth and those who have died in the Faith and in piety (Mk 12.27).
It is the Church of the Book of Acts
Unlike many Christian bodies today, the Orthodox Church isn’t just modeled on the early Church; it is the early Church! The body of Christian believers described in the Acts of the Apostles is the very beginning of what has come to be known as the Orthodox Church. People are often astounded to find that the Orthodox Church can show an unbroken, continuous life of worship and prayer and teaching and evangelism stretching all the way back to the very first gathering of Christians. No other Christian group can say the same.
The Orthodox Church is Faithful
No other Christian body can be shown to have maintained, unchanged and undistorted, the “Faith once for all delivered to the Saints” (Jude 1.3). Not once in two-thousand years has the Orthodox Church changed its belief or teaching. What it believes and teaches now is exactly what the Apostles taught and believed.
The Orthodox Church is Stable
Unlike other Christians groups, the Orthodox Church has never had the need for a “Reformation,” or a “Counter-reformation,” or a “restoration,” or a “revival.” People will sometimes criticize the Orthodox Church for being so unwilling to change with the times. But we believe, as the Apostle Paul did, that we are not to conform ourselves to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12.2). We also believe that, in a world that is constantly shifting and changing, it is good and important to have stability in our Church. After all, the God whom we worship does not change: Mal. 3.6; Heb 13.8; James 1.17.
The Orthodox Church
is for everyone
There is not a person in this world who could not benefit from the saving power of Christ, which He bestows through His Church. Anyone who is looking for a genuine, intense, beautiful Christian experience (instead of merely entertainment and the pseudo-Christian fluff that is so prevalent in our society today) will find it in the Orthodox Church.
COME AND SEE!
