Moderator: Mark Templet
Today I went to St Markella's GOC Cathedral in Astoria, NY for Compline. I rather enjoyed it as the Church was beautiful and it had a very prayerful atmosphere. Unfortunately, it did have pew-like chairs (i.e. the kind that are wooden and fit together in rows) and some electric lighting. But I am not a stickler for such things. I almost got to meet the bishop but I had to leave before he arrived.
anastasios
Disclaimer: Many older posts were made before my baptism and thus may not reflect an Orthodox point of view.
Please do not message me with questions about the forum or moderation requests. Jonathan Gress (jgress) will be able to assist you.
Please note that I do not subscribe to "Old Calendar Ecumenism" and believe that only the Synod of Archbishop Kallinikos is the canonical GOC of Greece. I do believe, however, that we can break down barriers and misunderstandings through prayer and discussion on forums such as this one.
anastasios wrote:Today I went to St Markella's GOC Cathedral in Astoria, NY for Compline. I rather enjoyed it as the Church was beautiful and it had a very prayerful atmosphere. Unfortunately, it did have pew-like chairs (i.e. the kind that are wooden and fit together in rows) and some electric lighting. But I am not a stickler for such things. I almost got to meet the bishop but I had to leave before he arrived.
anastasios
Anastasios,
I used to go there from time to time too. If you go on Thursday evenings they have talks and discussion for the youth of the neighborhood on Orthodoxy after compline right there on the street, usually given by Father Nektarios and Bishop Christodulos. You can meet the Bishop then if you so desire. He is a really nice guy who is hard not to like and does a lot of good (except when he is in a bad mood). Once he went on a rave about ROCOR (my church) and all of it's ''mistakes'', (Fr. Seraphim Rose, receiving Monophysites by economia, etc..) which kind of turned my off at the time. But he is a wonderful man I think nonetheless.
However, if you really want to go to a beautiful Old Calendar Greek service in Astoria, you should check out Fr. Anthony Gavalas' Protection of the Theotokos parish (26-37 12th St). I think the services there are probably the most beautiful I have been to in my life. I used to go there a lot when I was young and they were in still in ROCOR. Now they are Mattewites. However, I still consider much of the parish and priest like family, having known them since I was basically born. In fact, my cousins all still go to that parish and I will probably visit from time to time in the future.
By the way, the last time I was in St. Markella’s one of the alter servers told me that all those hand carved chairs cost over 1,000 a piece! :shock: He also said that they were a great means of winning parishioners from over all the other Greek Churches in the neighborhood as the chairs are more comfortable and beautiful than any of the other churches have. I thought that was an interesting statement. 
Nick (savva)
anastasios wrote:Unfortunately, it did have ... some electric lighting.
Oh, boy. Am I supposed to understand that electric lighting indicates infidelity to tradition?
хорист wrote:anastasios wrote:Unfortunately, it did have ... some electric lighting.
Oh, boy. Am I supposed to understand that electric lighting indicates infidelity to tradition?
No, the issue is not ceiling lighting, which is fine, but what I am saying is that some of the candles are not really candles but are bulbs with electricity shaped like candles. I personally don't care (except that I think they look tacky), but the Old Calendarists are generally against having such fake-candles.
anastasios
Disclaimer: Many older posts were made before my baptism and thus may not reflect an Orthodox point of view.
Please do not message me with questions about the forum or moderation requests. Jonathan Gress (jgress) will be able to assist you.
Please note that I do not subscribe to "Old Calendar Ecumenism" and believe that only the Synod of Archbishop Kallinikos is the canonical GOC of Greece. I do believe, however, that we can break down barriers and misunderstandings through prayer and discussion on forums such as this one.