The church I recently started attending has no priest, so the services I've gone to have been Vespers readings led by an acolyte.  They've been great, and the people are loving, very helpful, and extremely patient dealing  with my barrage of questions. The traditions I have been exposed to up until tonight have been a little intimidating due to nervousness, but it's gotten easier after 4 or 5 sessions. Priests from other churches in the diocese do occasionally make guest appearances, which none had made since I began attending, until tonight.

Tonight's Great Vespers service upped the game, big time. Truly mind blowing. I feel like I was lost, now found and in a new home with so much to learn. Still trying to process what happened.

Excuse me while I weep

Read or chanted?

Mostly chanting.

Awesome!

The Vespers readings by the acolyte had been chanted as well. There were 4 readers at those services who took turns chanting while the others were making monk type hums.

It is amazing! There's a connection to the ancient. The priest walked around a couple times with the censer and hit us all with incense. Everyone stands through the entire service.

I hear you but what actually happened?

In what way?

Too proud to kneel?











Just yanking your chain. You don't need to answer that.  You all have a specific reason for the standing.

That is awesome. While I know you won’t agree it’s the same, you touched on why I do what I do. That feeling you express through that experience is exactly what I work toward experiencing in my everyday life. I love to see others have glimpses of it as you have. It’s a beautiful experience no matter what avenue we find it. I hope that sense of the ancient continues to grow for you and you begin to see it all around you in your everyday life.

I've tried Taoism, Native American, and Buddhism. The sifu I studied wing chun under was a little chinaman taoist so I studied It a bit. Nothing there for me. Did some reading on Buddhism, and went to a Korean Buddhist temple, which was quite a beautiful experience but something was lacking. Of course I did some meditating along the way, but like my sifu told us, you can meditate too much and lose touch with the real world. I do like meditating, though. I have to admit, my Native American experience was awesome. I really liked it, but there was still a missing element.

All along the way I had kept a Bible on hand, and actually read it. Over the years I wanted to live life my way, and becoming a practicing Christian would upset my little apple cart of sins.

The little apple cart eventually became a big and heavy apple cart. My sins and I crashed hard at the bottom of a steep hill. As a last resort, I turned to Jesus. *That* is what I was looking for. He was right in front of me the whole time.

The Son of Man died to save my life. I entered into a personal relationship with Him, and Our Father approves with a greater love than I have ever imagined.

The Christians I've met along the way in my recovery have gone out of their way to help, the people I've been meeting in church are wonderful, and the group worship experience is other worldly.

Everyone has the freedom to choose how they run their life, but if you want to be forever with The LORD, our Creator, there is only one way.

I know it's all in good fun.

Speaking of which....

So, here we are at the end of the service, and the priest asks if we all want to venerate the cross. Everybody says yeah, sure. I'm thinking on no, something new and serious. I turn to a guy who has been helping me and ask what this is all about. He goes on front of me. I watch everybody, and watch him. I step in front of the priest and all of a sudden I'm a deer in the headlights.

I'm wearing my work clothes which includes a polo shirt with a NAPA logo over the breast pocket.

So, I'm frozen and staring at this guy right in front of me who's wearing a long black robe and holding a cross.

I've seen The Exorcist, I know how this ends!

Then I mutter, "I've never done this before". Without skipping a beat, he says, "We kiss it. it's a Cross, not a wrench. "

Then I forgot to kiss his hand.

As far as the kneeling goes, there is a lot of signing the cross, then bowing deep and touching the floor. Probably a couple hundred times in an hour. I read that some people will kneel, and others go prostrate. Sounds like a boot camp workout could be integrated with worship.

I can respect that. You were always found wanting when exploring other avenues. You found that which was lacking. In that is the beautiful part. To me it doesn’t matter where you end up, it’s the journey of self discover and that feeling of finding what’s lacking that matters most. You’ve found it, grab it and hold on and wring every ounce out of it. I find the moment people have the experiences you are, in finding that thing that is lacking, the most beautiful. No
matter how they find it. Again Congratulations.

Thank you.

Where is this in the book of Acts?  I know the Bible was read aloud, but the rest of this is to me.

Where in the Book of Acts it says the service has to be an exact copy of...the Book of Acts?

If it's not there, which it isn't, then I would like to know why you have decided to place your conditions of worship on God's service. If you feel the right to define what constitutes a legitimate worship service, by what authority are you claiming allows for this?

i know you didnt wanna turn this into a C vs P debate, buuuuut,

i am sure happy you have found something that fits ya.  for me, its just simple, mainline Protestantism.... so simple to just pray and read bible, listen to preacher..... all hte extra pomp and circumstance just seem too over the top...  thats just me like i said, and glad God gave you enough time to find Him!!!!!  the macro-control of fine tuning the whole univere just blows my mind.  i see it in action when i buy or sell something ftf.... they need hte tiny pennnies im giving for their item, i need to keep some pennies but have traction in my life, so the proverb that says "dont give me too little i steal, or too much i forget you " is kinda my main proof of God, presently.  thats how i  see Him working most anyways....  so interesting....

and amazing! literally the grace of God, he coulda said, nah, youve had your chance, 3 strikes yore outta here!  but instead......!

I spent a bunch of time looking into RC/EO vs P before choosing. I was leaning heavy P prior to research. I'm not going to bash P or RC.