Study
Survey of Orthodox Christianity
Discover a Church that has withstood 2,000 years of changing politics, fashionable trends, and cultural adaptation by continuing to practice and preach the Christianity of the early Church. Find a two thousand year history of consistent theology, reverential worship, and salvation through the fullness of living as Christ taught and the Apostles witnessed. Learn how the early Church worshipped, what the Old and New Testament tells us about the early Church, and how the Church continues to live scripturally then and today. Embrace the Christianity you know in your heart. Come and see the early Church.
Week One
The history and practices of the Church from it’s inception on Pentecost to the Great Schism of the Church will be covered.
Week Two
How did the Church start? Why do we celebrate Pentecost, what is it’s significance, and how the events have shaped the Church and us to this day?
Week Three
Have you ever asked, ‘why does the Orthodox Church baptize infants?’ Have you wanted to know more about the Mysteries of Baptism and Chrismation?
Week Four
Have you ever been asked if you are ‘saved’? How are we saved? What is humanity’s role in salvation? What helps us to attain salvation?
Week Five
Who succeed the Apostles? What are the responsibilities of the bishop? The priest? The deacon? Who decides who becomes a priest? We will explore the Ordained ministries of the Orthodoxy Church, their origins, ordination, and responsibilities.
Week Six
Who wrote the scriptures? To whom were the scriptures addressed? How were the scriptures intended for use? How do the answers to these questions shape our study of scripture today? How do we interpret scripture?
Week Seven
The early Church struggled with heresy, but what does ‘heresy’ mean? Learn what the struggles were about, how they were resolved, and why the deliberations of these Councils continue to impact us today.
Week Eight
What is dogma? What do we believe as Orthodox Christians? How do we affirm our faith? What is included in our beliefs and why?
Week Nine
The Orthodox Church is sometimes criticized for it’s rich interiors, iconography, the use of precious metals, and for unfamiliar utensils in their Church building.
Week Ten
What are icons, why does the Orthodox Church have them, and what do they mean?
Week Eleven
How is the Divine Liturgy structured? When and how did Orthodox worship develop? What is the role of the laity?
Week Twelve
We will discuss how the Mysteries unite us to Christ and one another in our journey toward salvation.
Due to popular demand, TWO Survey of Orthodoxy Classes will be offered this year. The Monday evening Survey class is offered in response to the needs of those people who would like to attend class, but work during the day. A second Survey class covering the same information will be offered Thursday mornings from 10:30 to noon for people who do not like to drive at night. The weekly lesson in both classes will be the same.
