My journey to the Orthodox faith, part 2

     There are many details to fill in today.  I shared last time about visiting an Orthodox church over Labor day weekend of 2005.  Vera, our searching daughter, was living at home but driving 60 miles to teach ESL at a university in Western , Ky.  We were watching some programs on the Orthodox internet television around the end of August.  She told me how much she would like to change jobs.  Vera was tired of teaching ESL. In the midst of our discussion, the phone rang.  It was a friend of my brother.  She had never met me or Vera.  However, my brother told her about Vera’s training in ESL.  She asked Vera if she would like to come to Murfreesboro, Tn., for a job interview.  Immediately, Vera perked up.  Her interest was renewed.  She had heard that there was an Orthodox mission in Murfreesboro, so she was extremely excited.

     That brings us back to our visit to the Orthodox Church in Franklin, Tn.  Fr. Steven talked to us during coffee hour.  He gave Faith a copy of The Orthodox Study Bible and told her that the mission church was part of this big church in Franklin.  I had mentioned that Jim cried after the service.  He got a chance to meet Fr. Gordon Walker , who was a key character from the book, Becoming Orthodox, A  Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith, by Peter E. Gillquist.  Gordon Walker had founded a church in Franklin.  Later, he was ordained a priest and his church became St. Ignatius Orthodox Church..  He was semi -retired but still participated in the services. Jim wept on his shoulder.  It was a touching moment.  For you see, Jim had always opposed any kind of liturgical service.  I had gone to a liturgical church for nearly four years and left Jim at the Baptist church.  He tried  to persaude me how wrong I was the entire four years.  So this was a gigantic step for my husband. 

      Vera was busy making an Orthodox notebook full of prayers she downloaded from the internet.  We would often use some of those prayers to start or end our day.  The three of us knew we could never turn back to the Evangelical world.  We went with Vera to her job interview .  Art read many of the articles in the back of the The Orthodox Study Bible, while we were waiting.  Our discussions were full and rich on the ride home. 

     We continued visiting St. Ignatius through the end of September.  We literally focused all of our extra time on the study of Orthodoxy.  Then on Saturday , October the 8th, our lives took a different turn.  It seemed like a normal day.  I had spent a great part of it with my older daughter and my grandsons.  Jim was home alone all morning. Everyone ate lunch at our home.  Then Vera and Jim went shopping at second hand stores.  I took a nap.  We had waffles for supper.  Our son came over wanting to talk with us about something on his mind.  After he left, we prayed one particular evening prayer for the first time: “O Christ, our God, who at all times and in every hour in heaven and on earth are worshiped and glorified; who are longsuffering, merciful and compassionate; who love the just and show mercy upon sinners; who call all to salvation through the promise of the good things to come; O Lord , in this hour receive our supplications and direct our lives according to Your commandments. Sanctify our souls, purify our bodies, correct our thoughts, cleanse our minds; deliver us from all tribulation, evil, and distress. Surround us with Your holy angels, so that guided and guarded by them, we may attain to the unity of the Faith and to the full knowledge of Your unapproachable glory.  For You are blessed unto ages of ages, Amen.”

     We also read Psalm 51.  I cleared the table and got ready for bed.  Jim was working on the computer.  Suddenly, he yelled out very loud. Vera ran to check on him.  He had collapsed.  He seemed not to know who we were.  We called 911.  At the hospital, the Doctor whispered to me: “His aorta has split.  He probably won’t live.  We will get him on a helicopter to Vanderbilt Medical Center.  They will do all they can for him.”  The next post I will pull together Jim’s  story along with the continuing of our journey.

My journey into the Orthodox Faith, part I

     I am a graduate of a very conservative Bible college.  I met my husband there and we were married after my graduation.  My husband graduated a year later.  Our journey was often frustrating .  We tried many churches and some house group churches through the years. One thing became clear to us both after 30 some years of searching.  Every group, every denomination claimed to have the whole truth about Christianity and the Bible.  Now there are some 30,000 denominations.  There can’t be that many interpretations.  So that is a short background.

     Four years ago, I entered the university to gain a degree in piano.  My youngest daughter who had been teaching in Ukraine as a missionary met a young man she decided to bring over to the USA  with the intent of marrying him.  He arrived around Thanksgiving time of my first semester.  Immediately, they set out on a cross country trip , which we strongly argued with her about.  She later married this young man.  It turned out to be a sorrowful experience.  She moved back home with us.  After months of struggling with her own faith , she remembered having learned a little bit about the Orthodox faith.  She went to Ukraine with the purpose of teaching English and hopefully winning the Orthodox to Christianity.  ( This is sad, because the Orthodox  Church is the most ancient and pure form of Christianity.)  In her search , she began studing and reading.  She became asking us to read certain books and listen to certain internet programs.  We had gone through so much agony with our daughter and her broken marriage.  My year of studying professional music was disrupted constantly with her struggles.  When we saw that she was gaining purpose and joy in her life once again, we began to listen to some of the programs with her.  It was the summer of 2005.  We listened to a podcast called , Our life in Christ.  We learned that the idea of Sola Scriptura  was an idea of the reformation.  The early church used oral tradition as much as anything to portray Christianity.  Basically, our church history studies at the Bible college began with the Reformation.  Nothing much was ever said about the years prior to the Reformation.  I had heard of one church father, St. Augustine.  However, I knew nothing about the early church fathers.  I began listening to these podcasts during the days while I was working through my day.  I just couldn’t get enough information.  My husband was using any free time he had to study also.  We took long walks discussing these new ideas and comparing our Evangelical journey with what we were learning.  Finally, labor day of 2005 we visited an Orthodox church 100 miles from our home.  (There are no Orthodox churches in our town or our part of the state) We knew we had come home.  My husband broke down and cried for joy. 

    That was the beginning but to become Orthodox requires much more than just walking down an aisle and joining a church.  It would be many months before we even became catechumens.  In the days to come, I will give more details about those months and give some links to the podcasts we listened to.  Join me in my journey