|
|
Becoming an Orthodox Christian
To become an Orthodox Christian, it is important for an "explorer"
(i.e. the newcomer) to go through several steps before an official
baptism in the church. The Baptism represents the new Life in Christ
for a person and a determination to behave in a Christian manner,
to walk towards the Christ, in a Holy Communion with other brothers
and sisters in Christ, members if the Holy
Orthodox Christian Church.
Steps in becoming a Christian
- Personal interest is expressed in the Holy Orthodoxy and the contact is made with the priest serving an Orthodox Community at the local Eparchy or church.
- The "Explorer" starts attending Orthodox worship as frequently as possible in order to feel the Community of the Christian life.
- The priest helps the Explorer discover God's will for his/her spiritual journey as the Holy Spirit leads.
- If it seems right that the Explorer should proceed towards reception into the Orthodox Church, by own will and sincere feelings , then s/he will be formally received as a "Catechumen" and a further process agreed.
- The Explorer, now a Catechumen, will follow an appropriate course of instruction
in Orthodox Faith and Life which will include Spiritual Formation,
and the process usually takes one to two weeks (in Byzantium it
took several weeks or in the special case of baptism of foreign
rulers it could take much less).
- When the Catechumen is ready to be baptised or chrismated s/he will be prepared.
- After baptism / chrismation there will be a short review in which the newly
received Orthodox Christian will be able to find out more about
Orthodox sacramental life. Now the person is no longer Catechumen,
but the member of the Holy Orthodox Christian Church. As a member
of the Orthodox Church he could belong to several equal-among
Orthodox Churches of the World (see
the list of Orthodox Churches
 ).
|
|
