In early days of the Church, illiteracy and the lack of printed materials restricted the movement of the gospel message. The Church “writes” icons to be visual representations of Scripture, thereby telling the story of the Gospel in artistic medium. We do not worship icons or the people in them. Just as you might carry a photo of your family in your wallet, icons help us to honor our loved ones in the Body of Christ.

You will find that there is a lot of movement in the service! The deacon leads the service in prayer, and he is often moving in and out of the altar and around the building. The parishioners use their hands, heads and feet in the services for crossing, bowing and standing. It is a flurry of activity, but it helps us to keep our minds focused when we make our bodies follow along. Do not feel obliged to join in the activity — do what is comfortable for you.

Even today, many Orthodox churches make do without any musical instruments; the chant tradition is kept in our parish by a dedicated group of singers. Virtually every Sunday, changes in the hymns are made for not only the epistle and gospel readings, but for the “feast” that is being celebrated. If you listen closely, you will hear theological teaching come through in the service just as it had in the 1st century – by spoken word.

Incense represents prayers of the saints lifting up into the heavens before God. This is evident from Scripture that is sung in the Vespers service: “Let my prayer be set forth before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 140:2). In the book of Revelation, there are two places where incense is mentioned in the context of being a worship tool: Revelation 5:8 and Revelation 8:4. Historically, incense also filled a practical role in helping the early Christians worship in tombs and catacombs where they could escape the rage of Nero and other rulers who sought their destruction.