BECOMING ORTHODOX:

To become Orthodox is itself a lifelong journey.  However, it begins with entry into the Orthodox Church.

Each person's path will be different according to their unique needs, backgrounds, and questions.  However, the general route taken into Orthodoxy looks a little bit like this:

Become an enquirer.

We recommend spending some time - weeks or months - attending Orthodox services and speaking with Orthodox people to see whether what you think Orthodox life is and what it actually is are one and the same.  You might find new and exciting layers of beauty and depth to explore.  At the same time, you might have experiences that challenge any romantic ideas that you might hold about what Orthodox Christianity is.

Become a catechumen. 

If you decide that you wish to enter the Orthodox Church, you can request to be made a catechumen.  The catechumenate is a period of learning under the guidance of a priest or deacon, adapting to an Orthodox way of life, internalising its teachings and practices, and growing into closer union with the Holy Trinity through participation in prayer, the services, the church feasts and fasts, and in embedding the good that stems from this into your everyday life.

Be united to the Church. 

When the time is right, you will be received into the Church as a new Orthodox Christian and be part of the family of God around the world and throughout the ages.  The usual method of being received into the Church is by the three Holy Sacraments (sometimes called Mysteries) of Baptism, Chrismation, and the Eucharist.  However, this can vary depending on your background and how close your previous home has been to the Orthodox Church.  This will be discussed during your catechumenate.

The Orthodox-Catholic Faith

It has at various times been a cause for rejoicing, an inspiration to love, and a life of joyful sacrifice.  It has enabled the humble poor to lead millions to salvation and lowered mighty rulers from their worldly power.  It proclaims to the peoples of the world the news of the God Who is shrouded in mystery, and it is something to which its adherents have clung so dearly that they have often endured persecution, torture, and even death.

So what exactly is the Orthodox Christian Faith?

Well, first and foremost, it is a way of life in Jesus Christ.  It is something that can only truly be grasped through the experience of living it.  Yet each of us has to begin somewhere, and if you have come as far as this page, we hope that these resources, which have been hand-picked by us, will give you some glimpse into the life that the first Christians called simply "The Way", for to them, there was no other.