Visitor Information
Welcome to St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Church!
Thank you for visiting our website. We hope that you will also visit our parish soon. This page contains lots of information about our community, and you can follow the included links to get more details both from this website and from others.
What You Can Expect
Orthodox services are very distinctive, so, while we hope that you’ll worship with us soon, we also want you to be prepared for what you will encounter. If you would like some information about the kind of clothing that is appropriate for Orthodox worship, just read the article, “Clothe Me with a Garment of Salvation”. There are also a few other things about our parish community that we want you to know right up front.
We Do Lots of Standing
Christians have historically stood during worship because that posture best expresses the reverence and respect that are due the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everyone sits down during the homily—or sermon—and people take a seat whenever they get tired. But we don’t have pews or rows of chairs in our facility. There are benches and chairs along the walls, but most of the space is open because most of the time we are standing. Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to stand through the entire service. If you need to sit down, please go ahead and find a spot on one of the chairs or benches.
We Love Beautiful Music
The music that we use in our services is absolutely gorgeous. Everyone in the congregation sings, but we also have one of the best choirs around. To learn more about Orthodox music, and to hear some hymns, read this article by our choir director. But one of the most striking characteristics of Orthodox music is the fact that it’s sung without any instrumental accompaniment. In other words, we don’t use organs or pianos or guitars in our services. That’s because Christians have historically worshipped without musical instruments. Of course, there’s nothing at all wrong with organs and pianos and guitars, but none of those instruments can approach the beauty of the redeemed and sanctified human voice. Also, we don’t use hymn books, and we don’t project hymn lyrics on to screens. That can be a bit frustrating when you’re visiting, and you don’t know the hymns, but it doesn’t take long to learn them, and you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is to worship when there’s not a book or a screen between you and the Most Holy Trinity.
We Have Lots of Children
In the Orthodox worship, we don’t segregate ourselves according to age and developmental capacity. So you will see many, many children and young people in our services.
A Holy Presentation is a detailed article that contains everything you need to know about children and young people and Orthodox services.