About the Orthodox Church


 

The History of Saint George Church


Saint George Antiochian Orthodox Church was founded by mainly Lebanese immigrants, in the beginning of the twentieth century.  These immigrants came from the Patriarchate of Antioch, where the disciples were first called Christians. (Acts 11:26) 

 Desiring to preserve their ancient Christian faith in the New World, they held the first general meeting of the Saint George Syrian Greek Orthodox Society in 1920.   This society raised funds for the first Saint George Church building, which was completed in October 1926 and was located at the corner of 13th Street and South Avenue in Niagara Falls, New York.  Over the years, the people of Saint George outgrew their first building and began seeking a new House of Worship. The current Saint George building was completed in the Fall of 1976.



The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

  Saint George Church is part of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church of North America.  This archdiocese is a branch of the Antiochian Orthodox Church, which is headquartered in Damascus, Syria.  There are approximately 350,000 Antiochian Orthodox Christians in North America.

  They are served by one metropolitan archbishop, six diocesan bishops and over 400 priests and deacons.  As of January 1999, there were 216  Antiochian Churches and Missions throughout the United States and Canada.

The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America has been a pioneer in the use of English for Eastern Orthodox worship and has done much to welcome thousands of people from various ethnic and racial backgrounds into the Eastern Orthodox Church. 

The Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is a family of churches which share the same faith and sacraments.  The Antiochian Orthodox Church is just one church in this family.  Among the Eastern Orthodox Churches are the Patriarchates of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia, Serbia, Rumania, Bulgaria and Georgia.  There are also churches of Cyprus, Greece, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Albania.

     As one church, the Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest in the world.  Only the Roman Catholic Church is larger.  There are approximately 250 million Eastern Orthodox Christians in the world, about 5 million of which are in North America.  The Eastern Orthodox Church, which is also called the Orthodox Church, claims that it has best maintained the Christian faith through the centuries, neither adding to it nor taking away from it. From its perspective, the Roman Catholic Church broke away from it and the Protestant churches branched off from the Roman Catholic Church.

       The Eastern Orthodox Church has always sought to preserve the faith.  It strictly adheres to the dogmatic definitions of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, practices genuine liturgical worship, maintains the Seven Sacraments and teaches Christian virtues which are not always popular with society.


Barriers to Unity Between the Eastern Orthodox Church and Other Churches

  There are significant doctrinal differences between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.  These differences are barriers to full unity between the churches.  The Eastern Orthodox Church forbids its faithful to receive Communion from Roman Catholic and Protestant churches and it forbids Roman Catholics and Protestants to receive Communion from the Eastern Orthodox Church.  Receiving Communion together is a sign of full doctrinal agreement.  It is the hope of the Eastern Orthodox Church that, with God’s help, these doctrinal differences will be overcome without compromising the true Christian faith. 

  Doctrinal Differences Between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches

    From the Eastern Orthodox point of view, there are at least two significant doctrinal differences between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.  They are 1) the claim of the Pope of Rome to have universal jurisdiction and 2) the Roman Catholic addition of the clause known as the Filioque, to the Nicene Creed.  

    Eastern Orthodox Christians maintain that the Pope of Rome should be the leading bishop of the Church but should not govern the whole Church.  The Roman Catholic Church regards the Pope of Rome as the highest authority on earth.  He is infallible when declaring doctrine.  The Eastern Orthodox Church regards the Ecumenical Council as the highest authority on earth. A council of bishops is considered ecumenical if its decisions are accepted by the whole Church.  There have been seven Ecumenical Councils.  The original Nicene Creed states that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father” but the Roman Catholic version of the Nicene Creed states the the Holy Spirit “proceeds, from the Father and the Son.”  Filioque is the Latin word for “and the Son.”  The Filioque was first added to the Nicene Creed by some Western Christians before 589 A.D.  It was fully accepted by the Pope of Rome around 1030 A.D.  Eastern Orthodox Christians do not accept this addition.

    The original Nicene Creed states that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father” but the Roman Catholic version of the Nicene Creed states the the Holy Spirit “proceeds, from the Father and the Son.”  Filioque is the Latin word for “and the Son.”  The Filioque was first added to the Nicene Creed by some Western Christians before 589 A.D.  It was fully accepted by the Pope of Rome around 1030 A.D.  Eastern Orthodox Christians do not accept this addition.



Doctrinal Differences Between the Eastern Orthodox and Protestant Churches


    From the Eastern Orthodox point of view, there are even more doctrinal differences with the Protestant churches.  The chief characteristics of the original Protestant churches were the acceptance of the Bible as the only source of revealed truth, the doctrine of justification by faith only and the universal priesthood of all believers.  The Eastern Orthodox Church has maintained different teachings for almost 2000 years.

The Eastern Orthodox Church regards Holy Tradition as the main way to know revealed truth.  The Bible is just part of Holy Tradition.  Before the Bible was even completed, Saint Paul urged Christians to “stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.”  (2 Thessalonians 2:15)  Without these traditions, people usually interpret the Bible as they wish.  This accounts for the incredible number of Protestant churches.

   

   Concerning salvation, the Eastern Orthodox Church teaches that one must have faith and do what is right to be saved.  “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20) and one is “justified by works and not by faith only.” (James 2:24)  The sacraments are also indispensable for salvation.  “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day.”  (John 6:53-54)  Protestants generally affirm the priesthood of all believers, but often disagree about what that means.  Since the Protestant Reformation began, churches which call themselves congregational (ruled by the people), presbyterian (ruled by the elders) and episcopal (ruled by the bishops) have developed.  The Eastern Orthodox Church has always had four orders of ministry found in the New Testament:  laity, deacons, presbyters and bishops.  Each of these orders is ordained by a sacrament which conveys a real grace and each has a specific ministry in the Church.