Visitaiton to Greek Church

Visitation Project: Greek Orthodox Church

All my life I have attended some type of Baptist church. My family never really ventured out from the traditions they grew up with. For my visitation project I wanted to go out of my usual comfort zone and attend a church that is different and more formal than my current church. So I decided to attend Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Fayetteville,NC, which is my hometown. This is not the first time I have heard of that church, every year I got to the annual Greek Festival there and participate in many events, but I have never been a part of their church service before. So I thought this would be a great church to visit.

Before I even got ready for church I was shocked when my friend texted me about when to arrive. She told me church started at ten o’clock but no one really showed up until ten forty-five. I was so confused because I have been used to everyone arriving promptly at the church and everyone was there to start the service together at eleven. My friend also told me that they don’t start Sunday school until after communion, which I thought was strange because the younger people of the church would miss a big part of the service. I decide to arrive around ten fifteen and to sit with my friends mom. It seemed that a person attending the church could attend as much prayer time as they wanted before the church actual service started.

Bowers 2

Once you walk into the church doors you are in the narthex, which is the area where the faithful make an offering, receive a candle, light it before an icon, and offer a

personal prayer before joining the congregation. Greek Orthodox christians believe that the sanctuary is the most sacred part of the church. Before we walked into the nave, which is the large center area of the church, we had to make sure the priest back was facing us, or we could not walk in the church. Thank goodness I was with my friend’s mom or I would have been lost...