The Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church is the first Christian Church.  The Church was founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and described in the pages of the New Testament. Her history can be traced in unbroken continuity all the way back to Christ and His Twelve Apostles.

Incredible as it seems, for nineteen and a half centuries she has continued in her undiminished and unaltered faith and practice. Today, her apostolic doctrine, worship, and structure remain intact. The Orthodox Church maintains that the Church is the living Body of Jesus Christ.

Many of us are surprised to learn that for the first 1000 years of Christian history there was just one Church. It was in the eleventh Century that a disastrous split occurred, resulting in the Western Church, under the pope, separating itself from the Orthodox Church. The papacy sought to establish itself over all of Christendom and finally succeeded in the West. But the rest of the Church rejected this innovation, knowing no so-called "universal head" apart from Jesus Christ himself.

Orthodox Cross

Quick Facts about the Orthodox Church

The Orthodox Church is ...

  • The oldest Church in Christendom, although it is not familiar to many Americans.

  • The second largest body in Christendom with over 225 million people worldwide, less than 2 million of which are in North America.

  • One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic, having an unbroken tradition from Jesus Christ and the Apostles to today.

  • Often referred to as "the Church of the Martyrs". In the twentieth century alone, more than 20 million Orthodox Christians have given their life for their faith, primarily under communism.

  • The Church of some of history's greatest theologians, scholars and writers including John Chrysostom, Jerome, Basil the Great, John of Damascus, Dostoyesvky and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

  • Often referred to by any number of its "ethnic" titles such as Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Serbian, Syrian, Romanian, Bulgarian, etc. Orthodox literally means "true worship" or "true belief" and is a name that describes nearly all of Christianity in the first ten centuries of Church history.

  • We are Orthodox because we ascribe to the Orthodox teachings defined in the Bible, the Seven Ecumenical Councils, and the writings of the church fathers. The Nicene Creed and the Bible play a prominent role in our worship, beliefs, and piety.

Diocese of Worcester and New England
  • St. George Cathedral - Worcester

    30 Anna St., Worcester, MA 01604

  • St. John of Damascus - Dedham

    300West St., Dedham, MA 02026

  • St. George - Boston

    55 Emmonsdale Rd., West Roxbury, MA 02132

  • St. George - Norwood

     6 Atwood Ave.c Norwood, MA 02062

  • St. Mary - Cambridge

    8 Inman St., Cambridge, MA 02139

  • St. George - Lawrence

    8 Lowell St., Lawrence, MA 01840

  • St. George - Lowell

    44 Bowers St., Lowell, MA 01854

  • St. Mary - Pawtucket

    249 High St., Pawtucket, RI 02860

  • St. Michael - Cotuit

    62 Main St., Cotuit, MA 02635

  • St. Stephen - Springfield

    400 Wilbraham Rd., Springfield, MA 01109

  • Emmanuel Church

    25 Winthrop Terrace, Warren, Massachusetts 01083

  • Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

    358 Mountain Rd., Englewood, NJ 07631