Although we probably think “Eastern,” or “Greek,” or maybe even “Russian” when we see the word “Orthodox,” it doesn’t really mean that. Just as not all Catholic is Roman, so also is it true that not all Orthodox is Eastern. Orthodox comes to us from the Greek, and it means “right” or “correct praise.” So to say that we practice Orthodox Worship is to say that we worship according to the guidelines that have been handed down to us from the earliest times.
Worship is not a rock concert, a sentimental outpouring, or an extemporaneous exposition, although worship can–and does–involve music, emotion, and of course words. The key is that we don’t just “make stuff up,” we follow the tradition that Christians have followed since the New Testament. (As a matter of fact, our worship has its roots in the Jewish synagogue worship of our Lord’s day…for example, did you know that psalm 95 has been prayed in the morning prayer service since about the eighth century B.C.? We still do it nowadays.)
Bottom line, Orthodox worship means “doing it right.” That’s why we have been gradually polishing our worship to do things “by the book.” After all, we want to do things right, right?
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