Okay, it’s time for a personal update. I wrote last year about my personal spiritual journey that led to my becoming a Roman Catholic. As my family came along and began Catechism Classes last fall, we ended up questioning some of the dogmas (things you’re really supposed to believe if you’re a Catholic). Part of the questioning and learning process meant dealing with this. We ended up looking into what the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church teaches. I wasn’t willing to look any further than that because I still felt strongly the need for a connection to the ancient apostolic Christian Church.

As I mentioned in my essay (see the link below), I was concerned about discovering the ancient Church that Jesus left us. It was just getting started in Bible times, as the apostles went out to all corners of the globe, following the Great Commission and spreading the news.

Both the Eastern Orthodox and the Western Roman Catholic Churches trace their heritage back to that time and document a succession of leaders from that time to this. Their differences developed over time and were aggravated by a few events in the history of the Church. I’ll blog about those at some point, I’m sure.

Anyway, after doing more reading and talking to people and visiting a local church, we’ve begun down the path of officially entering the Orthodox Christian Church. The one we’ve been attending is part of the Orthodox Church in America, which is an autocephalous church similar to the Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Greek, etc., Orthodox Churches, but is the North American version. These all are not in conflict with each other, but are actually in full communion with each other, making up various parts of the Orthodox Catholic Church, the “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” mentioned in the Nicene Creed.

I’ve updated my essay about my spiritual pilgrimage to reflect these recent events. You can find it online (with a printer-friendly PDF version) here: http://coffeeklatch.pfitzinger.net/essay/

I will occasionally try to blog about what I’ve been learning about this ancient form of Christianity, which, while being the second-largest single Christian “communion” in the world, is one of the least known and understood in North America. For now, please give my essay a read (or another read) or visit some of the Orthodox Links I’ve made available in the sidebar.

Thanks.