The Holy Orthodox Church is the Church founded by Jesus Christ and described in the pages of the New Testament. The history of the Orthodox Church can be traced back to the time of the disciples. For almost 2,000 years, this Church has not changed its faith or its tradition. The doctrine, worship and structures have remained intact since the early centuries of Christianity.

The early Church was guided by bishops or local Church councils. In the great cities of the Roman Empire, the bishops gradually came to be called "patriarchs" . Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem : each of these bishops was responsible for his patriarchate, or geographical area, and did not have authority in any other area.

     Over centuries, Christianity spread. New bishops and patriarchs were appointed. When the Church needed guidance, all the bishops met together in an Oecumenical Council. After discussions, everyone prayed for guidance from the Holy Spirit before voting.

    This is how the Church was run in the days of the Apostles. This is how the Orthodox Church functions still : a family of local churches, each under its own patriarch or senior bishop, guided by the Holy Spirit.

Unfortunately, as time passed, some Christians developed the idea that one patriarch was senior to all the rest. In the 11th. Century, the Patriarch of Rome, the Pope, was put forward as the head of the Church. The Popes tried to establish their authority over all Christians. Every single one of the other patriarchs rejected this new teaching. The Orthodox remained as one family, but the Roman Catholics in Europe split away from them.

The West has forgotten the Church to which it once belonged. People remember Papal power in the Middle Ages, and the reaction of the Protestants at the Reformation. They do not remember the centuries during which the Orthodox Church kept its faith unaltered in the face of Turkish conquest and oppression. The West remembers Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Calvin, Huss and the reformers. It knows almost

nothing of the great Orthodox teachers such as John Chrysostom, Basil, Symeon the New Theologian and Gregory Palamas.

     The whole world remembers the great Protestant missions in Africa and the Cast. Most people have heard of the Jesuits, and the spread of the Roman Catholic faith in South America. Yet the Orthodox missions to Eastern Europe, Russia, Alaska, China and Japan are forgotten. It is quite common for people to say that the Orthodox Church is not a missionary Church. Nothing could be more misleading.

For many centuries, the Orthodox lands of the East were ruled by the Turks. Compared to the West, the people were backward and the Church was struggling to survive. In spite of this there were missionaries and martyrs during the time of the Turkish occupation. Then in the 19th. Century and 20th. Century, Orthodoxy once again took up a worldwide mission.

     Various local Orthodox churches have spread to America. They now have as many members there as the Baptists, and they are receiving many Evangelical Christians. In Britain, Orthodoxy is one of the fastest growing Christian bodies. In South America there are now millions of Orthodox Christians under the guidance of the Patriarch of Antioch. In Korea, Japan, Africa and the Philippines there are Orthodox missions. Orthodoxy is the world's second largest Christian communion, and growing fast.

In the modern world there is a desperate search for meaning and spiritual experience. Many people have turned to Eastern religions for spiritual enlightenment. However, growing numbers are finding what they are searching for in the Orthodox Church. For 20 centuries, Orthodoxy has had an unbroken spiritual tradition. This leads us to a living union with God, who is the goal of all our searching

"And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42)

     "So I entered the place where I usually prayed ... At once I was so greatly moved to tears and loving desire for God that I would be unable to describe in words the joy and delight I felt then. I fell prostrate on the ground ... a great light was shining on me. It seized hold of my whole mind and soul. I was struck with amazement at the unexpected marvel. I was in ecstasy ... The light scattered whatever mist there was in my soul, and cast out every earthly care. It drove out from me all physical denscness and bodily heaviness ... A great spiritual joy was poured into my soul, in an indescribable f jshion ... a sweetness surpassing every taste of visible objects ... so all of my mind and my soul was concentrated on the ineffable joy of that light." (St. Symcon the New Theologian describing mystical prayer,) "I am very well. Very happy. 1 live in a large cell, alone, in a place like Paradise ... a village near the sea. The Fathers live in small communities of two, or three, or alone. They make incense or prayer ropes, carve crosses, paint icons or go fishing in their boats. I have been here two years, and they have been the happiest years of my life. An old Father taught me how to make wine. You will try it when you come." (From an account by a modern hermit living on Mount Athos in Greece.)

"Therefore, brethren, standfast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle." (2 Thessulonians 2:15)

            Anonymus writer