Visitors to the Holy Apostles Orthodox Christian Church's 10th anniversary celebration this weekend in rural Bixby might think they have stepped back in time.
A gold dome adorns the top of the chapel, reminiscent of Eastern Orthodox churches in Russia. Inside the church, icons cover the walls, stylized religious paintings of Christ and Christian saints.
Orthodox Christians practice a form of worship that is essentially unchanged over the 2,000-year history of Christianity, said the Rev. Ambrose Arrington, who has led the congregation for nine of its 10 years.
At the Day of the Holy Spirit Divine Liturgy on Monday, Arrington wore ornate green and gold vestments. Women and girls wore head coverings. Candles and incense burned.
The nearly two-hour liturgy, the day after Pentecost on the Orthodox calendar, included responsive singing, prayer for religious and government leaders, Holy Communion, singing of the Nicene Creed and chanting of Scripture, including the Lord's Prayer. Worshippers stood for most of the service, children playing at their feet. The room had chairs around the perimeter, but no pews.
A young girl played hopscotch with spots of sunlight that beamed through skylights onto the wood floor.
Arrington preached on the Holy Spirit, the third person in the Triune Godhead, who, he said, came to live in the lives of Christian believers on the original day of Pentecost some 2,000 years ago.
He urged his congregation to not be negligent or casual or lackadaisical, but to make room for the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives, so they can become "a source of joy and fullness" to those around them.
As worshippers left the room, they kissed the icons, a practice the church website says venerates, but does not worship, the paintings and the saints they depict.
Arrington said when he came to Tulsa in 2004 to pastor the fledgling church, shortly after his ordination, about 12 to 15 people were attending services in a store front near 61st Street and Lewis Avenue and five of them were members of his immediate family who came with him.
That same year, the church bought eight acres on Peoria Avenue south of 151st Street in rural Bixby. The first service in their new chapel was in September 2007. Since then, a fellowship hall has been added, and a rectory, where Arrington lives with his wife and now six children.
About 75 people currently attend services, he said.
Some have been converted to Orthodoxy and were baptized at the church, some are ethnic Christians from Eastern Orthodox regions of the world, and some are American converts who have moved to Tulsa from elsewhere in the U.S.
The growing congregation has a master plan that includes a large parish temple and community hall, and an Orthodox church cemetery.
Arrington said that Orthodoxy, the second largest body of Christianity after Catholicism, preserves the ancient tradition of the early Christian church unbroken through history.
He said the Roman Catholic Church broke with the Eastern Orthodox Church about 1000 A.D. over political differences, called the Great Schism, but over time, those differences deepened into theological differences.
Protestantism, he said, came about 500 years later in a protest over abuses in the Catholic Church, abuses that Orthodoxy never embraced, and then Protestantism splintered into numerous denominations.
Holy Apostles Orthodox Christian Church is affiliated with the Orthodox Church in America, part of the worldwide Eastern Orthodox Church.
The Eastern Orthodox Church is the dominant Christian faith in Russia, Greece and much of eastern Europe, and has many adherents in the Middle East. Some 250 to 300 million people worldwide are Eastern Orthodox.
Holy Apostles Orthodox Church
What: 10th anniversary celebration
When: Saturday - 4 p.m.: Vespers; 5 p.m.: Picnic with children's activities. Hamburgers and hot dogs provided; bring side dish. Sunday - 9:30 a.m.: Divine Liturgy, Feast of the Holy Apostles, followed by festal procession around the church
Where: 15710 S. Peoria Ave.
Bill Sherman 918-581-8398
bill.sherman@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Preserving traditions of early church
Religion
The Rev. Charles Freyder, a chaplain at the prison, said many inmates wanted to help build the chapel and they could hardly contain their excitement.
Yom Kippur service. 11 a.m. Saturday, at Iglesia Oste Asamblea De Dios, 3615 W. 51st St., the new meeting place of Holiness to the Lord Congregation (Kodesh L' Adonai Kahal).
