The Orthodox "Difference" - The Relationship of Worship to Religious Education

Paraskevè (Eve) Tibbs, MA, doctoral candidate, Religious Education Director, Metropolis  of San Francisco (Published in PRAXIS Magazine August 2002)

"What makes Eastern Orthodoxy different from western Christian[1] traditions?" Most Orthodox Christians have either been asked, or have heard this question.  The response is often similar to: "Orthodoxy has not changed anything."  While this is a common perception, it is only partially correct.  It is certainly true that the Orthodox Church has preserved the Apostolic teachings intact for all these centuries, but Holy Tradition is living and dynamic – not stagnant.  Preserving the Faith has only been possible by creative adjustment of forms to the people and cultures into which the Faith was being planted.  America has been no exception to this dynamism and diversity of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church.  Things have changed here, too.  

 Then what would be a more accurate answer to this question of difference?  Very simply, the answer is: worship.  Much of western religious thought has reduced Christianity to intellectual, ethical or social categories, but Orthodoxy considers worship to be the "essential act" of the Church because of the sacramental character of the world and of humanity's place in the world.  It is no coincidence that "Orthodox" means at the same time "proper belief" and "proper worship" (or "proper glory").  However, it is not merely an emphasis on worship that distinguishes Orthodoxy, but that worship is the basis for theology, for religious education, and for life itself. 

 Orthodox Christianity did not begin with an academic, theoretical, or even theological concept of what the Church should be and then work backwards to implement it.  Doxology, or giving due glory to God alone, always comes first.  Worship is what makes people into the Body of Christ.  Worship is where we are given the opportunity to approach the heavenly Kingdom of God.  And worship has always been the only way to true religious education, as God speaks directly to the hearts and minds of His children through the "proper worship" which the Holy Spirit has revealed.  Unfortunately, in the process of becoming established in the American landscape, this critically important Orthodox view of worship has faded.  Orthodoxy's fundamental "difference" has itself been compromised by western influences.  This is one cultural adaptation that must be reversed if we are to remain true to the Holy Tradition of Orthodoxy. 

Children and Worship

An emphasis on worship is particularly critical as we consider raising children in the Church.  A generation ago, for example, the most common arrangement was for the children to be segregated in Sunday School classes during the Divine Liturgy.  Although this practice is still found in many parishes today, it is simply not “Orthodox” to separate children of any age from the Divine Liturgy at any time.  Sunday Schools are a very recent “import” into the history of Orthodox Christianity – only about 60 years ago.  Our immigrant grandparents borrowed the idea from their Protestant neighbors who had an entirely different concept of worship than did the Orthodox.  The unfortunate result is that some people now perceive Sunday Schools as having a greater importance for children than the Divine Liturgy.  In other words, learning about Christ with the intellect began to take the place of the lifetime process of knowing Christ mystically through prayer and worship.    

As Orthodox Christians, we receive our infants into the full membership and practice of our Faith.  Baptized and confirmed, they are part of the community which in "communion" shares the Holy Eucharist, and which together grows in Christ.  Children should be fully included in the worshipping Church now as they had been for the 2000+ year history of the Church.  As the Body of Christ, we meet Him as fully present in the Chalice of Holy Communion - not in classroom textbooks.  While knowledge is indeed a foundation for Faith, it is not necessary that children “understand” everything that is going on in worship.  The Divine Liturgy is not a purely intellectual experience – even for adults.  We should let the Divine Liturgy “wash over” our young children as Fr. Steven Tsichlis recently told a group of St. Paul's teachers in Irvine, CA.  The sights, sounds and smells and tastes of our worship become for us an experience of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  These are far more important memories in one’s early religious development than the definition of the words used.  

In some parishes, the children are brought into church with their classes for some portion of the Liturgy.  But clearly, young children do not develop a sense of piety by sitting next to their peers who are climbing on the pews, or making faces at one another - with a few teachers here and there trying to keep them all quiet.  When behavioral corrections become necessary, one-on-one (parent, grandparent or Godparent ) is the ideal.  Religious piety is ‘caught” not “taught” with children observing adults whom they respect – their parent or grandparent sitting next to them, engaged reverently in prayer and active participation in the Liturgy.   

Family Worship

The issues briefly addressed here are among the reasons that there is now a clear directive from our Archdiocesan Department of Religious to refrain from holding classes during the Divine Liturgy (or at least to hold classes after Holy Communion) and the number of parishes doing so is growing.  Although the many benefits to implementing such a change far outweigh the negatives, several parishes still find the practical issues of a schedule change to be a great challenge.  The attitude of "we've always done it this way" or "this is the way it was when I was a kid" often interferes with returning to the "true" Orthodox way, not just Orthodoxy under the influence of western Christian forms.  

Many parishes throughout the country have found innovative ways of providing religious education in a classroom setting, without compromising the Orthodox heritage of the priority of community worship.  What many churches are now calling "Family Worship," meaning everyone worships together, has been the Orthodox norm for centuries.  There are certainly many possible options.  Each parish must give serious thought to determining a proper and practical schedule which would be the most Orthodox possible, and yet still allow time for instruction and community building in the classroom setting.  

My home parish, St. Paul's in Irvine, CA moved to family worship nearly 13 years ago. By the end of the first year it seemed already to be second nature for many families to be together at the Divine Liturgy, which is as it should be.  Among the many benefits is included an immediate increase in summer attendance, since families who had gotten into the routine of worshipping together each week did not stop coming to church when classes ended for the summer.  The post-high school population attending the Liturgy is much higher now as well.  When students graduated from formal classes, it was natural for them to continue to be in the Liturgy.  Although we have found other practical advantages, we hope and pray that the priority of worship will ultimately lead to greater faith development and full participation in the sacramental life of the Church. 

Conclusion

          The most prominent distinctive of Eastern Orthodoxy is the emphasis on worship as the basis for theology and for Christian formation.  Unfortunately, this critical aspect of Orthodox praxis has been negatively influenced by western culture in the recent past.  We must return worship to its rightful place in our lives and especially in our religious education schedules.  A Church school program in its proper role should augment the parents' guidance of their children’s religious and spiritual growth in the most Orthodox way possible.  Families should be allowed and encouraged to worship together.  Everything that takes place in the classroom, no matter how beautiful and beneficial (even discussion about worship) is nonetheless secondary to the actual praxis of our Faith in the sacramental action of the entire worshipping community.  Nurturing our children in love, to attain personal faith in Jesus Christ, with full participation in the liturgical life of our Faith is the true Orthodox Way.