The Orthodox Church is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, professed in the universal standard of faith all Christians agreed to at the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople. The Orthodox Church guards 'the faith which has been once and for all entrusted to God's holy people' (Jude 3). We are the Church by God's decision, not by our own triumph or merit. We only seek to go out to all in the world and share the fullness of the Good News of Jesus, the world's Saviour, with all who will hear it.
The Orthodox Church is not all about rules. In its best form, it is not a legalistic church. But it is about true living, true behaving, true believing, and true worshipping. The greatest change Jesus brought about to religious understanding, was to insist that our prime duty is to love God with all our heart, with all soul, with all our mind, with all our strength. And to love all people around us in the same way.
We aim to do that, which is why we call ourselves True Believers, or 'Orthodox' in Greek, the old common church language of the ancient Roman Empire.
To understand the Orthodox Church, reading certainly helps. But for most of its history, most Christians could not read, and relied on visual images, especially icons, and practical examples, living icons. If you can read the Scriptures, do that. If you can understand the Scriptures on your own, do that. But if you need divine guidance, or practical experience and wisdom, search out a worthy exemplar, or a faithful prayer group, in an Orthodox community.
Orthodox Christianity, the religion of the True Believers, the True Practitioners, of the God of Love, is a social religion. The Greatest Commandment requires us to go out and love all people. It is not a passive religion where we sit by, and learn, and do nothing. The Greatest Commandment requires us to love God and all people. Love is active. It cannot be theoretical. Knowledge is good, undertanding is better, wisdom is even better, but right action is best. The Evangelical Commandment requires us to go out and teach all people. It is an action command. We have to move, and we have to reach out to all people.
We aim to be active in our love, and to teach others by word and example, how to go out in love themselves, spreading the good news of God's love for all people, so they in turn may spread God's love, throughout the whole world.
For background information on True Living Christianity, do read some of the many excellent books available from libraries and Orthodox bookstores. Do surf the net and see what you can find. We have some excellent resource sites listed on the Links page of our website. And when you are ready, come and see. Visit a number of different Orthodox communities, until you find one you are most comfortable with, and which will assist you to go out yourself, and love as God commands.
You are welcome at all our services and functions. Some focus on specific groups within the wider community. Some may be more suitable for you than others. Shop around. If we do not have a community near you, look in our Links page for Church Websites, to see what other varieties of True Believing Christians are near you.
Most of our parishes have at least one church service every Sunday. This is usually Holy and Divine Liturgy. Roman Catholics call their similar celebration Mass. Anglicans call their similar celebration Eucharist. Other varieties of Christians have a variety of names, for the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and the sharing of His presence among us.
Again, Archbishop Paul welcomes all people of good will into all Orthodox Church in the Philippines' services, groups, and functions. You do not have to be Christian to attend. We do ask you to be respectful of our worship service, and to try and fit in with our usual practices and procedures.
Communion is only available to those True Believing Christians, who have properly prepared themselves before attending Divine Liturgy.
Please ask questions before and after Liturgy. Not everyone will be able to answer all questions, but most will be friendly and helpful, and will introduce you after Liturgy, to people who can meet your needs. Some communities are more friendly than others. That is human nature. If you have a bad experience with one person or with one community, please do not give up. We are all human, though we try to be more God-like. Some of us have a long way further to travel in this life-long journey, towards being more God-like than others. Please be patient with our failings, and we ask your forgiveness in advance, if we are not as helpful as you might need.
Some of our services are directed more towards particular groups with different needs than others. We have a wide variety of ethnic origins in our Orthodox Church. We have a wide variety of educational levels and streams in our Church. We have a wide variety of age groups in our Church. We cater for all at gatherings of all, but we also cater for specific groups at specific gatherings.
True-acting Christianity should not be about receiving, but about giving. Certainly we benefit from any help we receive, in developing our God-given gifts. But we do that, not for our own status, or self-satisfaction, or glory, but so we may better give them to others around us.
We have a number of courses in different places, to better enable us to assist all people around us. But there is always room for improvement, and people with special gifts of the Holy Spirit, are always encouraged to utilise their gifts, for the benefit of God's people, including full members and potential members.
True worship of the One God, is bound up in the culture of the worshippers. Our forms of worship have come down to us from the time of Jesus Himself, but with variations and additions over the thousands of years since then. Some variations and additions have been strengthened over time, some have been discarded over time. The essential forms have been maintained. But these forms may seem strange, to people brought up in the usual non-religious or anti-religious societies, which prevail in so much of the world today.
The sights, sounds, scents, feel, and flavour, of the True-Believing Christians, can be quite different from what we have experienced before. The vocabulary can be quite different, as well as the thoughts, concepts, actions, and practices. But we are about true worship of God, and love of all God's creation. And if you haven't worshipped God properly before, you should expect differences when you visit us. When you come across these differences, please ask about them. We are delighted to talk about them. It is part of our compliance with the Evangelical Commandment, to go out and teach all people!
In the Orthodox Church, you will find a lot of variety. There is a great variety of people among God's chosen. In the peripheral and cultural matters, variety is to be encouraged. In the essential matters, unity is maintained. Of course, we will often discuss whether something is more peripheral, or more essential. We will even have disagreements, sometimes even strong disagreements. But in all things, True-Believing Christians remember the Greatest Commandment, is to love. In everything we do, we must remember Love.
Questions can be directed to your nearest community of true believers, or if you prefer, please email genuine inquiries to
If we cannot answer your question, we most probably know where to look for an appropriate response.
Becoming Orthodox 
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