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Holy Trinity Orthodox Church
Reston, Virginia

by Ryan Dunn

My knowledge of the Eastern Orthodox Church for many years has been limited to second-hand knowledge. I realized that it was popular mostly in Eastern Europe, and after "The Great Schism" had been powerful in the regions of Alexandria, Antioch, and Russia. Yet I had not ever personally seen in a service what made Eastern Orthodoxy so different from the other denominations or branches of Christianity. I had been in a historic Russian Orthodox Church in Juno, Alaska and had heard a little presentation from the local father, yet I had not seen or participated in the church's worship.

Therefore, for my self-edification, I went to the internet and learned of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, a congregation that meets at a community center room off Soapstone Dr. and Glade Dr. in South Reston. From the information on the website, I learned that the parish had first been started by a Father John Meyendorff at the end of the 1970's. Furthermore, I also learned that all services were conducted in English.

I arrived at the community center at 9:50, ten minutes before the service. Although there were chairs along the sides of the wall, I remembered that in most Orthodox Churches members are required or encouraged to stand. This is in respect for being a state of worship and in the presence of G-d. I spoke with one member, a Mr. Greg McKinney, and he was kind enough to inform me the first thing done in the service would be singing the liturgy, as well as hand me a melody hymn book. 

One thing that I noticed also in the single room community center was that the priest had set up a number of icons. I had seen icons of the saints personally at the Juno, but the first time I had seen them in Reston. I noticed many of the people going up to kiss the icons, and wondered at the sanity of that. A number of candles were lit at the center of the church near a main icon on a table, and I distinctly smelt incense in the air. 

A grandmotherly woman was kind enough to stand nearby and showed me what songs were being used throughout the service, as most of the members had the liturgy memorized. I was surprised to see that when the service began, the children, not more than toddlers remained standing with their parents. I also noticed that the Priest had two altar boys attending him, in addition to a cantor. 

Father Paul, the priest, began the service with an invocation and a blessing, and from then on the singing of the liturgy continued to make up the majority of the service as we stood up. All two hours. Really the singing was most pleasing to hear, and I participated in most of it. It was uncomfortable for me to see all the crossing of the body, and although I tried to participate in it, I couldn't make it feel authentic.

Toward the end of the service, the priest announced that communion was prepared for those who could participate, but I would not participate was Mr. McKinney had forewarned me that only "Orthodox Christians" should participate. Although I knew and know that as a Christian I was entitled, I followed the advice of Paul to not cause any brother to sin over trifles. I would receive communion at the church I was registered later, and I knew that I would receive it in a much cleaner fashion: all the parishioners were spoon-fed the blessed wine, and they used the same spoon for every person. 

The last two things to be done in the service was a praying for the dead. Following this everyone was blessed again by the Priest, and then lined up to kiss the cross and have coffee and refreshments. At that point I decided to kiss the cross, to see if I could get a sensation from it, but again it only felt awkward. As I was the last person, I asked Father Paul to speak with me if he had time, and he said he would be able to spare a few minutes. 

The priest did not really give a sermon in the sense that I have normally experienced. Rather, there were three readings from the Bible, and like St. Thomas á Becket, they were all done by members of the congregation. Unlike the Roman Catholic Thomas á Becket, however, they were all read in the center of the room. Yet like Reston Hebrew Congregation, the Holy Scripture was paraded around by the Priest. 

In recollection, I also remember that the garb worn by the Father Paul looked distinctly like that worn by Rabbi Gold at Hebrew Congregational. (I doubt they share cloaks) And similarly, the Father Paul continually faced the front of the building, away from the congregation. If all Christian churches hold recollection from the Jewish heritage of Christ's legacy, then certainly the Eastern Orthodox Church has maintained a number of these customs.

I was latter able to speaker with layman Greg McKinney about his beliefs of the church, and asked him why he had converted. I found that he had converted from a Baptist Church because he believed that the Orthodox Church was more historically correct according to tradition in following the beliefs of the Christian Church. I asked if he ever thought that kissing icons was strange to him, but he explained that for Orthodox Christians, icons were like photographs of family members, and the saints were in no way to be worshiped. I then asked Mr. McKinney what he though of taking wine from the same spoon, and although he admitted it might be seen as unsanitary, he though the wine had enough natural anti-septic in it, in addition to a scriptural reference that they shall drink poison and not die.

The questions I asked Father Paul followed most of what I was advised to ask. My first question was what made Orthodox Christianity a better denomination than other beliefs, such as Roman Catholicism or Baptist. To this Father Paul said that, "We're not better," but as he explained I understood he referred to the people themselves. As to the beliefs, he explained that Roman Catholicism held many similarities to the Orthodox Church, but had become worldly at one point and thus ineffective. From there, the Protestants left off from the Roman Catholics, so by that logic Protestants were really Roman Catholics protesting against the practices of the Roman Catholics.

He then continued, saying that a number of denominations in the Protestant sect were becoming even more polluted. For this he pointed out the Presbyterian and Episcopalian sects which have o.k.'ed homosexuality and have begun to give watered-down sermons, completely leaving out G-d and Jesus factor, leaving out the ecstasy of worshiping a G-d who is a just judge who would extend His love to suffer for us by dying a criminal's death.

I have left with some formulated opinions now, at least of the Orthodox Christians I have meet. I see that they appear sincere, and most dedicated people. The symbolism throughout the sermon appears at times excessive, yet they appear able to use it to achieve a state of worship. There were though a number of factors, such as the active participation in the singing of the liturgy that made the service a blessing to me. I would gladly do it again, though I would be fearful that they would no longer be willing to accept me as only a visitor.

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