Church Search? Going Swimmingly...

Some of you are probably wondering how our church searching is going. Well, we have the puzzling but delightful problem of having two parishes we really like... both for different reasons. One is Holy Transfiguration, the OCA parish in Morrisville. The other is All Saints, the Antiochian parish in Raleigh. Both churches are in free-standing church buildings, both are full of nice people, both are decidedly Orthodox, both do all services entirely in English and both have Harley-riding priests... but that is about where the similarities end. We haven't visited the local Greek parish, but we were delighted to find that both the Greeks and the OCA had invited the local Antiochian parishioners, who are without a priest for a few weeks, to join them for services for the feast of the Transfiguration. The Deacon at All Saints freely encouraged attendance at either parish, while reminding the faithful that celebrating the feast with the church for whom it was the patronal feast would be wonderful.

The OCA parish is smaller, with about 90 people who attend sometimes, and about half that number who are very dedicated. The attendance numbers on the average Sunday during the summer are around 50, from the looks of things. The priest who serves there, Father Edward, is a lovely, gentle man who loves to teach and clearly takes his role as priest very much to heart. His wife leads the choir (which is large enough to have all parts represented and small enough to appreciate drop-in singers who can sight-read), and they sing the liturgy with Russian musical settings that are quite beautiful if a bit less familiar. Father and his wife are both converts. They converted to Orthodoxy after returning from missionary work in Germany and finding, to their dismay, that much of what passed for worship of God in the churches they attended had become very "me" centered. The church is a small and tightly-knit family of people of all ages, with the oldest member turning 100 just a week or so ago. One gets the feeling that everyone attending there is needed in some profound way. While there is not a whole lot of pressure to jump right in, we've been invited to sing in the choir when we are present.

The Antiochian parish is considerably larger. They probably have about 250 people coming from time to time, including 150 children under 18. Well over 100 people attend on any given Sunday. The parish is largely younger, which makes it quite vibrant and noisy. There is always some joyful noise from the kids during services, and dozens of children running around and playing together during coffee hour. It's also quite diverse. Their choir is on break for the summer, but the congregational singing makes it quite clear that they have the voices for a truly beautiful choir. Their liturgical settings are very familiar, since they use much of the same music as we did at St. John. Father Nicholas is personable and kind. He's on a well-deserved vacation at the moment, but before he left he took the time to talk to us at some length. We really liked his down-to-earth approach, familiar philosophy and easy manner. He and his wife are also converts. The parish feels larger, but there seems to be a lot they do to connect with one another. It's large enough that one can attend without having to take on extra responsibilities, but small enough that if one wants to help with music or other church ministries, one can.

We went to a swim party, vespers and potluck event at the home of one of the parishioners of Holy Transfiguration on Saturday. It was quite a lot of fun and it allowed us to get to know some of the people at the core of that parish. Vespers was sung outdoors against a backdrop of North Carolina forest. It was hotter than blazes, but the service was very moving. I was the only person present who could sing alto, and Dan was the only one who could sing tenor, so we sight-read the whole thing when asked to help the tiny choir.

We remain at a loss. We think it is important to settle down somewhere before too long, but the choice is not easy. The plan at present is to alternate weeks until we stop alternating naturally or force ourselves to make a choice. I think we will eventually just find that we are drawn in one direction or the other. It's a very nice dilemma to have.