I walked into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church filled with excitement. My experience with the Orthodox tradition is limited and here I was meeting with a Church that could trace its roots back to the earliest Christians. Their history diverges from Roman Christian early enough that their Bible looks slightly different from ours, with several books that Churches which grew out of Roman Christianity don't use.
You may wonder what I mean by "Roman Christianity." I mean to say that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church split from other churches before Rome had completely fallen, long before the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox had split from one another. They split before the New Testament canon was completely closed - although they do have all 27 of our books.
I was also curious because the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was supposedly started by Ethiopian Jews. The Kingdom of Ethiopia had a relationship with Israel and Judaism from ancient times. The Ethiopians continue to claim that they hold the original Ark of the Covenant. The place they claim to keep it is well guarded. These claims are not without their critics. It is, nevertheless, clear that Ethiopia and Jerusalem had some kind of relationship that goes back further than historians can quite validate. It's does not seem impossible that their claims are true.
I had no idea what to expect at the service.
As I struggled to find a place to park, I noticed a number of people walking towards the building. A significant portion of them were wearing white, but not all of them. The women had the tops of their heads covered. I wonder if most Americans looking at them would have confused them for Muslims.
I walked into a small crowded foyer. I waited at the back for a moment. The service, according to the website, wasn't supposed to begin for another 15 minutes, but it had already begun. I guessed it had something to do with Lent.
After standing at the back of the foyer for a minute, I determined that it would be fine for me to work my way through the crowd, so I did. A kind woman asked me if I would like to head into the service. I answered in the affirmative and she found a young man to lead me into the service. Noticing that everyone in the service had taken their shoes off, I took mine off too.
The young man took me to the front of the auditorium where I sat shoulder to shoulder with the men sitting on either side of me. The men and women sat separately. The men sat in the aisle on the left. The women sat on the right.
So much of what I saw reflected Eastern Culture: covering the head, removing the shoes, separating men and women. It reminded me of the Mosque and of the Sikh Temple. I don't think most of the members there would have said that these things were necessary for salvation. The people I talked to seemed to understand the difference between culture and religion (to a degree that shocked me). Still, these are the ways that people from these cultures recognize sacred spaces and sacred moments. What do Westerners do to remind themselves that the time their spending is sacred? Do we value that? I suppose it varies from religion to religion and perhaps from person to person.
You may wonder what I mean by "Roman Christianity." I mean to say that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church split from other churches before Rome had completely fallen, long before the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox had split from one another. They split before the New Testament canon was completely closed - although they do have all 27 of our books.
I was also curious because the Ethiopian Orthodox Church was supposedly started by Ethiopian Jews. The Kingdom of Ethiopia had a relationship with Israel and Judaism from ancient times. The Ethiopians continue to claim that they hold the original Ark of the Covenant. The place they claim to keep it is well guarded. These claims are not without their critics. It is, nevertheless, clear that Ethiopia and Jerusalem had some kind of relationship that goes back further than historians can quite validate. It's does not seem impossible that their claims are true.
I had no idea what to expect at the service.
As I struggled to find a place to park, I noticed a number of people walking towards the building. A significant portion of them were wearing white, but not all of them. The women had the tops of their heads covered. I wonder if most Americans looking at them would have confused them for Muslims.
I walked into a small crowded foyer. I waited at the back for a moment. The service, according to the website, wasn't supposed to begin for another 15 minutes, but it had already begun. I guessed it had something to do with Lent.
After standing at the back of the foyer for a minute, I determined that it would be fine for me to work my way through the crowd, so I did. A kind woman asked me if I would like to head into the service. I answered in the affirmative and she found a young man to lead me into the service. Noticing that everyone in the service had taken their shoes off, I took mine off too.
The young man took me to the front of the auditorium where I sat shoulder to shoulder with the men sitting on either side of me. The men and women sat separately. The men sat in the aisle on the left. The women sat on the right.
So much of what I saw reflected Eastern Culture: covering the head, removing the shoes, separating men and women. It reminded me of the Mosque and of the Sikh Temple. I don't think most of the members there would have said that these things were necessary for salvation. The people I talked to seemed to understand the difference between culture and religion (to a degree that shocked me). Still, these are the ways that people from these cultures recognize sacred spaces and sacred moments. What do Westerners do to remind themselves that the time their spending is sacred? Do we value that? I suppose it varies from religion to religion and perhaps from person to person.
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