Welcome to Saint John Chrysostom Orthodox Church!  This mission was established in 1997 as a mission church of the Diocese of the South of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). We are here to share the Good Word of Jesus Christ to all people in this area. We welcome everyone, from the cradle Orthodox to the inquirer, who wishes to learn more about God's plan for living a holy and sanctified life, worshipping the Holy Trinity in a community dedicated to the spiritual fullness of the Orthodox Church.

The Orthodox Church, unfamiliar to many Americans, embodies and expresses today the worship, doctrine, and values of the New Testament Church. Orthodoxy is a way of life in which we, as God's creation, are invited to participate in the Holy Trinity's life-giving communion of love. By participating in the Liturgy, the sacraments, and the life of the Church, Orthodox believers join with the communion of saints in a life of praise, adoration, and worship.

The Orthodox Church in America is one of a number of canonical jurisdictions of the Orthodox Church represented in the United States today. A successor to the first Russian Orthodox mission to North America in the late 1700s, the OCA was granted self-governing status in 1970 by Patriarch Alexis of the Russian Orthodox Church. As a canonical jurisdiction, the OCA is in full communion with the Greek, Russian, Antiochian, and other Orthodox Churches in this country and abroad.

Reflecting the world-wide Orthodox church, our mission is multi-ethnic and multicultural. All services are in English. We meet each Sunday at 10AM at 1051 US Hwy 27 in Cataula, just five miles north of Columbus on Veteran's Parkway.  Please see our calendar for all service times.

WHY IS THE OLDEST CHURCH IN CHRISTENDOM SUDDENLY THE NEWEST THING IN CHRISTIANITY?

Although most converts to Orthodoxy had never heard of the Orthodox Church before they first encountered it, their explanations for becoming Orthodox Christians are remarkably similar. They saw in the practice and worship of Orthodoxy the church of the New Testament. Protestants found it genuinely "Bible-based" and Roman Catholics genuinely "Catholic." Its teachings seemed to them the closest to "Truth" as they understood it. Above all, they discerned in the beauty and majesty of Orthodox worship a vision of Holiness such as they had never before encountered. It was, said one, as though he had found in the Orthodox Liturgy a faint but unmistakable experience of the Kingdom of God itself.

As Steve Robinson has said: "The Orthodox Church is evangelical, but not Protestant. It is orthodox, but not Jewish. It is catholic, but not Roman. It isn't non-denominational - it is pre-denominational. It has believed, taught, preserved, defended, and died for the Faith of the Apostles since the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago."

"COME AND SEE."

You may find that a visit to St John Chrysostom Church is different from any church service you have experienced.

The sight of candles and the altar, the smell of incense burning, the sound of chanting, the touch of the Sign of the Cross, and the taste of the Eucharist are some of the ways Orthodox Christians celebrate their faith. Using one of the earliest Christians liturgies, our services are meditative and spiritually nourishing. There is deep peace in worshipping as the earliest Christians worshipped.

The Orthodox Church is, simply put, the most ancient expression of Christianity, kept alive to the present. St John Chrysostom Church is a unique and intimate church with true spiritual depth and ties to early Christianity.

Orthodoxy is not some antiquated belief system that is no longer relevant to today; nor is it a fly-by-night organization based on someone's new interpretation of Scripture. It is neither Catholic nor Protestant; neither "conservative" nor "liberal." Orthdoxy doesn't seek to force God into a narrow theological box; neither does it claim there is no absolute truth. Instead, Orthodoxy recognizes the limitations of humankind's understanding of the divine, but provides a path to the grace of God.

For the Orthodox, salvation is not a one-time event but a lifetime process of developing one's faith and becoming closer to God. We do this in an environment of historical continuity to the Early Church, ever mindful of the deeper truths of Scripture set forth by the Church Fathers.

Because Orthodoxy affirms not only the imperfection but also the essential goodness of humankind and of all Creation, St John Chrysostom is a place where we celebrate the love of God for all people, and we recognize God in all things that are good. We do not turn away from the world; rather, we seek to "bring light into the dark places." We hope you will join us.

Material from Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Mission, Madison, WI