Justin Smith – Church Visit #1

Church name: The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Demetrios

Church address: 893 N. Church Road, Elmhurst, IL 60126

Date attended: 10.11.2015

Church category: Orthodox Church

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

The worship service I attended was entitled “Divine Liturgy.” As I approached the building I could hear liturgy being announced through loud speakers––my intermediate Greek allowed me to pick up a minimal amount of words, just sufficient enough to know that it was Greek liturgy. My Wheaton education must be paying off. Inordinately pleased with myself, I entered the church. Those in front of me kissed the icons at the front of the sanctuary, and lit some candles. I awkwardly procured a bulletin from the rack and entered into the sanctuary. Yes, I’m certain it’s Greek liturgy now.

            For the next two hours there was a mixture of choral singing, both in Greek and English, liturgical reading, scripture reading, and incense burning. Everyone in the room looked Greek, and seemed to know what was being said. As I went with the flow of the service––standing up and sitting down and trying not to make eye contact with the priest who seemed to have me pegged as a heretic––I could not help but notice the beauty of the sanctuary. Stained glass windows, intricate altars, elegant robes, and a breath-taking mural on the ceiling, which was a dome structure. Indeed, it was a far cry from my little Baptist church back home.

            The two hours of Divine Liturgy culminated with the sacraments: “the very blood and very body of Christ.” I’m not sure if it was the fact that I had skipped breakfast, or the nearly tangible holiness of the atmosphere, but one or the other made me crave the elements. But alas, I restrained myself. After the sacraments a short sermon was given.

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

            One cannot help but feel connected to the historical church when surrounded by paintings of prophets and saints, ranging from Moses to Ignatius. This is something you just don’t get in the average protestant church. We don’t really know where we come from. Luther? Sure. Calvin? Absolutely. But ask your everyday protestant who Athanasius is and, as they say back home, they’ll look at you like a calf at a new gate. I know because I would’ve done the same just a couple years ago, and told you to read your Bible (KJV, of course).

            The worship service also illuminated for me the sheer multitude of Greek Christians right here in Chicagoland. The place was packed, and here I thought of the Orthodox Church as some mystical church out in the Middle East. I am truly humbled and appreciative every time God shows me a greater depth to the church than I knew before; this was yet another one of those days.

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

            I left with a question, perhaps this is an illumination on my personal identity as a Christian, perhaps not: What would it look like for the church to be united? Is it possible? Jesus prayed for the church to be unified. Are we going to leave that up to the eschaton? What about bringing the Kingdom until the Kingdom comes? What would it look like if someone gave their life to seeing the church united? I think that’s a worthy cause to give your life for. Maybe there’s identity in that.