The Church

The life of the Orthodox Church carries on and fulfills the ministry of Jesus Christ. The close bond between Christ and His Church is reflected in the images of Scripture: Christ is the Head and the Church is His Body; Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church is His Bride. These images express the reality that the Church does not exist apart from Christ.

The Lord and Savior who was known, loved and followed by the first disciples in Galilee nearly two thousand years ago is the same Lord and Savior who is known, loved and followed through His Church. As Christ revealed the Holy Trinity, His Church continues to reveal the Holy Trinity and to praise God in her worship. As Christ reconciled humanity to the Father, His Church continues to be the means of reconciliation, by word and action, throughout the world. As Christ showed the calling of authentic human life, His Church continues to be the place where the image and likeness of God in each of us is brought to perfection.

The Orthodox Christian is united with Christ at Baptism and nourished by Christ at every Eucharist. We believe that the Holy Spirit acts in and through the Church to make Christ known as our Lord and to bring His work to fulfillment.

Orthodoxy has resisted any temptation to shrink its vision of the Church. The biblical descriptions of the Church as the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit show that she must be recognized as much more than one institution among many, a social service agency, or an ethnic or fraternal organization. Certainly the Church has her institutional side, and she is always subject to the sins and limitations of her human members. Yet Orthodoxy believes that, alongside her human side, the Church also has a divine dimension. The Greek word for Church, "ecclesia", means a community called and gathered by God for a special purpose. The Church is the unique meeting place between God and His people.