Places of worship - The Orthodox Church

Standing before Christ’s icon the worshipper is brought face to face with Christ himself. The door in the iconostasis symbolises Christ ending the separation between God and people. When this door is closed God has taken gifts away. When praying Orthodox Christians direct their attention to the iconostasis. They believe that if prayers don’t direct God they will pray through the saints in the icons. Orthodox churches call the service the Divine Liturgy because it has a set order established by God. Orthodox Christians believe that when the priest consecrates the bread and wine they spiritually become the body and blood of Christ. The bread and wine are blessed to make them holy on the Holy Throne. Orthodox Christians use the term altar (Holy Throne) because Christ’s death was an innocent sacrifice for our sins. An altar is the traditional place for sacrifices to take place and so that is why the term is used. Christians in the Orthodox Church think of parts of their liturgy as mysteries that should be hidden from ordinary people. The worship in the Orthodox Church is liturgical and the importance of symbolic actions stands out. Orthodox Christians have a high regard for the sacraments. The main sacrament is the Eucharist; others include baptism, normally by immersion; confirmation, which follows baptism immediately; penance, marriage and anointment of the sick. Methodist churches call their service The Lords Supper and use the communion table to recall the fellowship between Jesus and the disciples at the Last Supper. The worship is non liturgical as services are simple with little ritual. The emphasis is put more on practices. Although the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion may still be used the main emphasis is on the spoken and written message of Christianity. The main difference in the Methodist church is that instead of an iconostasis being the focal point the pulpit is the dominant feature. This signifies the most important difference between these two churches – the pulpit is used for preaching the word of God and the iconostasis is used to symbolise the separation of heaven and earth. Methodists do not believe in Consubstantiation and they think that the bread and wine are merely symbolic rather than spiritually becoming the body and blood of Jesus. The Communion Table itself has some decoration on it, but it is still very plain. The carving often says “To the glory of God”. There is also no need for a Tabernacle. This is because as Transubstantiation is not supported Methodists do not need to lock away the leftover bread after it has been consecrated.