That is great to hear, anything in particular that finally pushed you there?

Get a star so you can bug k2 with PMs like I did.

And never stop emulating Christians who are more advanced in spirituality and humility. Derm has had several points to argue with Orthodox posters on here over the past couple of months but still shows up to blue star you. That is someone to emulate.

Good luck and may God bless your journey.

Good advice. I knew for more than a year that I would become Orthodox at some point, but just hadn't taken the steps to make that happen. Then I moved where there was no parish. This spring I'm googling for parishes in my area and stumbled on a mission that had been recently started here so I decided it was time. Not really any major encounter or argument or shift. I suppose I worked all those things out over the last couple years. Just needed to do it.

americathegreat1492 said:

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In the Eastern Orthodox church. It is a very small mission parish, but we are blessed to have a (full time) priest that truly knows what it means to love. This journey, which is far from it's end, wouldn't be possible without each of the characters that I've encountered here over the years. God bless.

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Praise God. Really cool post.

Awesome! Congrats!

Is a catechumen some kind of pokemon? Clue us non-Orthodox in on what this means.

Grimey said:

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Is a catechumen some kind of pokemon? Clue us non-Orthodox in on what this means.

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A catechumen is someone who receives instruction on the Church's teachings in preparation for joining the Church.

The instruction begins around the start of the Church calendar (September 1st) and culminates in joining the Church just before Pascha/Easter.

k2 can fill in more historical details, but I believe that the Didache was used as instruction for catechumens in the first couple of centuries in the Church.

As heresies multiplied the need for more formal instruction arose, so for about 1700 years now you've had more detailed instruction than what is provided in the Didache.

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Luke 14:28

You're probably familiar with the word that is the counterpart to catechumen - catechism. Catechesis literally is sound + down, passing down instruction. So catechumens are just folks who are under instruction in preparation for baptism. The length of time varied in history from days to three years! In times of persecution it was typically on the longer end...they didn't want people being baptized then apostatizing under persecution, and they wanted people to be serious for their own sake.

Becoming a catechumen is a formal announcement of your intention to be baptized, and you receive a blessing when you start. If, God forbid, a catechumen is killed before baptism, they receive a Christian burial.

Didn't know that about the didache, though it does give some specific instructions for those preparing for baptism. There are a lot of catechetical lecture series and homilies from way back, like St Cyril of Jerusalem's or works by St Augustine etc.

Congrats. Greatest step you have ever taken.

k2aggie07 said:

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You're probably familiar with the word that is the counterpart to catechumen - catechism. Catechesis literally is sound + down, passing down instruction. So catechumens are just folks who are under instruction in preparation for baptism. The length of time varied in history from days to three years! In times of persecution it was typically on the longer end...they didn't want people being baptized then apostatizing under persecution, and they wanted people to be serious for their own sake.

Becoming a catechumen is a formal announcement of your intention to be baptized, and you receive a blessing when you start. If, God forbid, a catechumen is killed before baptism, they receive a Christian burial.

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I thought you didn't get baptized again if you've already been baptized in, say, the Catholic Church

Grimey said:

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Is a catechumen some kind of pokemon? Clue us non-Orthodox in on what this means.

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Catechumen is like a student, catechism is the subject and instruction

WAAAAY over simplistic, but that's basically it

Why would you ask if it's a "pokemon"?

Varies. Generally the church accepts baptism if you were baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in water, asking usually for some kind of record showing it. In that case you can be received by chrismation. But lately it's becoming more frequent to simply baptize people... maybe a kind of increasing view of dubiousness to the small-o orthodoxy belief/practice of others.

k2aggie07 said:

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Varies. Generally the church accepts baptism if you were baptized in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in water, asking usually for some kind of record showing it. In that case you can be received by chrismation. But lately it's becoming more frequent to simply baptize people... maybe a kind of increasing view of dubiousness to the small-o orthodoxy belief/practice of others.

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Awesome.

If anyone is curious what the catechumens material might be, the Priest that taught my class (and was my sponsor), Fr. Symeon Kees, created a website with his material that you can read through in bite sized chunks. They are blog-like posts and relatively short lessons, starting with Lesson 1. He was a Methodist Pastor before he converted to Orthodoxy and attended an Orthodox seminary.

https://orthodoxtao.com/

(His wife is Chinese so I recall he created it originally with the intent to interest Chinese and likens Christ to the Tao concept that the Chinese understand.)

Thanks friend.