I am a graduate of a very conservative Bible college. I met my husband there and we were married after my graduation. My husband graduated a year later. Our journey was often frustrating . We tried many churches and some house group churches through the years. One thing became clear to us both after 30 some years of searching. Every group, every denomination claimed to have the whole truth about Christianity and the Bible. Now there are some 30,000 denominations. There can’t be that many interpretations.
So that is a short background.
Four years ago, I entered the university to gain a degree in piano. My youngest daughter who had been teaching in Ukraine as a missionary met a young man she decided to bring over to the USA with the intent of marrying him. He arrived around Thanksgiving time of my first semester. Immediately, they set out on a cross country trip , which we strongly argued with her about. She later married this young man. It turned out to be a sorrowful experience.
She moved back home with us. After months of struggling with her own faith , she remembered having learned a little bit about the Orthodox faith. She went to Ukraine with the purpose of teaching English and hopefully winning the Orthodox to Christianity. ( This is sad, because the Orthodox Church is the most ancient and pure form of Christianity.) In her search , she began studing and reading.
She became asking us to read certain books and listen to certain internet programs. We had gone through so much agony with our daughter and her broken marriage. My year of studying professional music was disrupted constantly with her struggles. When we saw that she was gaining purpose and joy in her life once again, we began to listen to some of the programs with her. It was the summer of 2005.
We listened to a podcast called, Our Life in Christ. We learned that the idea of Sola Scriptura was an idea of the reformation. The early church used oral tradition as much as anything to portray Christianity. Basically, our church history studies at the Bible college began with the Reformation. Nothing much was ever said about the years prior to the Reformation. I had heard of one church father, St. Augustine.
However, I knew nothing about the early church fathers. I began listening to these podcasts during the days while I was working through my day. I just couldn’t get enough information. My husband was using any free time he had to study also.
We took long walks discussing these new ideas and comparing our Evangelical journey with what we were learning. Finally, labor day of 2005 we visited an Orthodox church 100 miles from our home. (There are no Orthodox churches in our town or our part of the state) We knew we had come home. My husband broke down and cried for joy.
That was the beginning but to become Orthodox requires much more than just walking down an aisle and joining a church. It would be many months before we even became catechumens. In the days to come, I will give more details about those months and give some links to the podcasts we listened to.
Join me in my journey.
Part Two will be published tomorrow.
