The cross is used by the priest in all the rites, orders, and services of consecration. The holy fathers taught that Christ consecrated the air by being lifted up; Christ consecrated the earth by being planted into it and descending. There are several orders involving different aspects of a church. Putting a cross on the cupola of it has its own order as well as one for the bell tower or campanile, and the consecration itself. Metr. Hilarion calls the act of consecrating a dedication. It’s where, among other liturgical services, the eucharist is offered and celebrated, and where we dedicate our whole life to Christ. The Barberini Euchologion is a manuscript of a prayer book from about the 8th c. It gives us a description of how an Orthodox church is established, and little has changed since then. Every founding of a church is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about Christ. A church is the antitype, the reality, that the kingdom of God is here now. There is really no other religion that has spread and become more influential in the world than Christianity. In 1794, less than 20 years after American Independence, the first Orthodox mission was set up in Alaska’s Kodiak Islands by the Orthodox Church in Russia. Obviously their primary audience wasn’t yet going to be the French, Spanish, or English colonists but the Inuit and Athabaskan people. Where the holy altar will be a cross is placed into the ground, and the service order censes the trenches dug out for the building. The first stone used in the construction is censed and prayers to a saint are offered whose name will be given to the church. The church is founded on holy people and dedicated women, men, and youth, not issues or causes. This interpersonal aspect of founding a church is considerably important to remember.
The order of dedication, as it’s called, of a church happens after the construction is finished. During this phase, the antimension is consecrated and given by the bishop. It’s a cloth or plank of wood with a relic inside of it and without it the eucharist cannot be offered. It’s the bishop’s apostolic signature and permission; a safeguard for the eucharistic community. This altar cloth is personal because it contains parts of the body of an Orthodox martyr. We are given this image and example to make our own hearts a foundation for the altar to God. The antimension is used in the liturgy right after the consecration of the church. Holy water and many other sacramental elements are used to bless the building. Chrism is an important mixture of ointment for maintaining connections to the bishop and receiving apostolic blessings. The blessed oil that comes from the bishop is distributed to the churches so that our spiritual needs are met.