A Southern wedding

As for the building & the oak trees, I can make no commitment. But the old Book of Common Prayer is used in certain Western Rite parishes of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. Other Antiochian Western Rite parishes use the old Roman services in English. The idea is to make the Orthodox Church more comfortable for Western converts.

Thanks for your concern, Rod, but the Anglican Communion isn’t going to die at the hands of the current crop of secessionists, any more than it succumbed to the Methodists 250 years ago. Many of the breakaways will return, or convert to another Protestant sect, once they realize how extreme their new African prelates are.

And no English-language rite can touch Anglican-Episcopalian liturgy and music for reverence or emotional resonance. Remember the 9/11 memorial service at Washington National Cathedral? When the going gets really tough, everybody becomes an Episcopalian.

Rod said:
"I'll be honest with you, I found myself thinking at one point during the wedding service, "God bless the Episcopalians."

I don't get it. What is there in that sentiment that requires a conscious attempt at honesty?

My thougts...

When the going gets tough, believing and practicing Christians, no matter the Sect or Denomination, Protestant or Roman Catholic, Coptic or Orthodox (there is more than one) should turn to GOD. The Church is a Good Place -- God's Place, but the GOD-Head is whom we should be leaning on, learning from and listening to... via the Church, God's Word, the learned teachers of our Christian Faith... there are many in each sect and denomination...

In the end, it is my understanding, there will be only one Church with a capital C -- we need to begin that process sooner not later ... Jesus Christ was not a Christian, afterall...We call ourselves Christians because of our love for Him; our Faith in Him...Can we please practice that love and faith??? If we would practice Biblical Truths... imagine the changes!

The Shack by Young -- altho' a novel, it will give great insight and create the appropriate questions; stimulate thought about our FAITH...

To Joshua Knox--

To (very, very sketchily) supplement what masha had to say:

Both the Orthodox Church in America and the Greek Orthodox Church are branches of the worldwide Orthodox Church, in communion with each other. They both worship using the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom as a basis. That said:

The Orthodox Church in America is a self-governing Orthodox Church which traces its roots to the efforts of Russian missionaries in pre-communist times. Some parishes are still predominantly ethnically Russian; others are majority convert (and hence usually garden-variety American). Their ratio of English to Church Slavonic in the service varies similarly. Music will generally be recognizably western. Visit oca.org to get more information about the parish near you.

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America is governed, ultimately, by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. As in the OCA, some parishes are predominantly ethnically Greek; others have more converts. Use of Greek in the service varies similarly. Music will often be Byzantine chant. Visit goarch.org to get more information about the parish near you.

To experience some of each type of music (and for plenty of excellent podcasts on Orthodoxy), visit ancientfaith.com, a 24-hour online radio station with both talk and music options.

And, yes, by all means, visit both churches!

Susan

Thanks to both Susan and Masha!

"When the going gets really tough, everybody becomes an Episcopalian."

Tell that to Thomas More.