Sunday Divine Liturgy:

A Glimpse into Orthodox Christianity in America

Senior Joseph Sills discusses his experiences at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church.

What better way to start a Sunday morning than a two-hour standing service at a Russian Orthodox Church? I guess that’s what our trip leaders thought, so that’s what we did.

In fact, St. Nicholas began as a Russian Orthodox Church before joining the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) in 1970 to reach an ever growing English speaking congregation. The church, however, still shows signs of its roots. Many of the members are still Russian, and many of the icons in the church bear Russian writing as opposed to the Greek more common in OCA churches.

Upon entering, the burning incense, chanting choir, and colorful icons engaged our senses; this promised to be an interactive service. In fact, as the service progressed I felt prompted to participate, so I began forming the sign of the cross every time the priest spoke “in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”, I bowed as he sent out incense to the congregation, and I sang the best I could. You see, Orthodox Christianity is not new to me. Many of my family members who have grown up Protestant have become Orthodox in their adulthood, and I have attended many of their services. But at St. Nicholas, something caught my attention—the atmosphere of the service reignited my curiosity in this ancient expression of Christian faith.

Afterwards, we spoke with the priest, Father Maximus, about some of the Orthodox rituals. As he explained several practices such as iconography and praying to saints, Father Maximus interwove stories of his own experience as his adolescence as a nominal Catholic, young adulthood as a Protestant evangelist, and ultimately his ordination as an Orthodox priest. At first I was struck with the breadth of the religious tradition he had traversed, and then I wondered how hard it must have been to be uprooted twice out of comfort and placed in a new and terrifying religious context. Father Maximus’ life reminded us all that the pursuit for excellence and truth never really ends and that as life progresses one’s faith path can take unexpected and even unasked for turns. Nevertheless, the joy in the man’s face revealed a faith not in himself, but in a Power who would accompany him through whatever life might bring next.

Thus in one of the world’s most ancient and firmly rooted Christian faith traditions, I felt affirmation to pursue my faith journey with all its twists and turns, ready to allow flexibility and vitality to take me somewhere I would not have dreamed.

Interfaith in Action

  Serving our Homeless Neighbors

Imagine how it feels to not have a home to go to at night, to not have a bed to call your own, and to not have a place to store your belongings. Imagine long nights on the street, in the rain and in the cold. Imagine not having enough money in your pocket to buy something to eat and not being able to secure a job.

We have a tendency to think that homelessness only happens to other people, to alcoholics, to drug addicts, to the disabled. Homelessness can happen to anyone, even people with a college degree or with a family. We have a tendency to look away when the homeless ask us for money, but they are people just like us, and they deserve to be acknowledged, even if you have nothing to give.

In Mecklenburg County we have over 5,000 homeless neighbors on any given night. Throughout the spring semester, Davidson College’s Better Together campaign volunteered at Room in the Inn—a temporary shelter organized at Davidson College Presbyterian Church every Friday during the winter months. One Friday a month, Better Together volunteers had the chance to meet some of our neighbors face-to-face, and get to know them over shared meals. One Better Together volunteer reflected:

Their journeys left an imprint upon my heart…I don’t view the weekends with the neighbors as merely a service activity any longer, but as an act of worship in which I am constantly learning new ways to find beauty and contentment in the world, especially when people live in such difficult times.

Better Together volunteers not only formed meaningful relationships with our homeless neighbors, but they also got to know one another better as we worked together to set up the beds for the shelter.

Better Together volunteers set up beds at Room in the Inn

Our commitment to take a break from daily activities at Davidson and serve the local homeless population yielded deeper dialogue. Each time we began the weekend with a written reflection on what from our faith calls us to serve. We concluded the weekend by sharing our how our initial motivations transformed throughout our experience together.

Better Together volunteers reflect on how their faith inspires their service

As the temperature warmed and Room in the Inn came to a close for the season, Better Together wanted to find another way to help our homeless neighbors. Urban Ministry Center is an interfaith homeless services center in Charlotte, and Artworks 945 is an art studio and gallery at Urban Ministry Center for artists in Charlotte struggling with poverty and homelessness. Artworks 945 provides art materials and helps neighbors sell their art in the community.     

Paintings made by our homeless neighbors through Artworks 945

Following an Artworks 945 exhibition at Davidson and a joint-talent show between Davidson students and homeless neighbors, Better Together organized Artstock, a benefit concert for Artworks 945 with student musicians and spoken word about poverty and homelessness. Through a bake sale at the event, involving multiple religious organizations on campus, Better Together raised $200 for the Artworks 945 program.

You and Your Effects plays at Artstock

 

In addition to Artworks 945, Urban Ministry Center houses St. Peter’s Soup Kitchen, which requires 800 sandwiches a day to feed our homeless neighbors. In honor of National Volunteer Week, and in coordination with Davidson’s annual Celebration of Service, Better Together mobilized over 50 students from various faiths and traditions to participate in Operation Sandwich, the making of 800 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the student union during our common hour. All of the materials were donated by Davidson’s Auxiliary Services Department. The energy at the event was contagious. We had more volunteers than we had space at the tables. Next year, Better Together hopes to solicit even more donations and work with multiple soup kitchens in the area.

Better Together hosts Operation Sandwich in the student union

Volunteers make 800 sandwiches for St. Peter's Soup Kitchen

The Better Together Steering Committee was thrilled to support our homeless neighbors in so many ways this semester. While Room in the Inn allowed for deep, meaningful relationship-building across lines of difference, Artstock and Operation Sandwich allowed Better Together to expand its reach on campus and provide a direct contribution to our homeless neighbors benefitting from services at Urban Ministry Center. Throughout these events, Better Together helped students from different faiths and traditions reflect on our common values, which encourage us to serve side-by-side in an effort to address some of the needs of our local homeless population.

The Better Together Steering Committee, Spring 2011

This year at Davidson there has been a lot of debate about the way the college approaches issues of religious diversity. I challenge the Davidson community to respond to this debate by participating in interfaith service opportunities, which allow us to connect across our differences, and build more trusting and respectful relationships while serving our local community.

Working with our Hands

Davidson junior, Lindsay Beck, reflects on how her faith inspires her service.

One of the things I appreciated most about the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) service project in South Carolina was the ability to simply disengage my mind and work with my hands. I was reminded of the fact that in Genesis 2, God gives man two jobs: to name the animals and “to work [the land] and take care of it” (v. 15). As humans, we are not called just to do intellectual “heavy lifting,” but also to use our bodies and their power for God’s glory. Being a Davidson student–often so consumed in my work that I might not budge from my desk for several hours–my humanity can become completely wrapped up in and defined by my mind, my brain, and my intellect. No matter how hard physically I found yanking disobedient, rusty nails out of old wood or mixing cement, these tasks felt innately right for my body, and brought rest for my mind.

Reflecting now on our trip, I am also struck by the difference between what God originally instructed Adam to do in the Garden of Eden with what we were doing on Johns Island. After Adam and Eve sinned, God punished them; cursing the ground and proclaiming that humankind would thereafter have to work against it for their living (Genesis 3:17-19). Where Adam and Eve might have had a comparatively easier or more enjoyable time working the land, we now have to effectively wage war against it. Though it “feels right,” as I said previously, to use our physical strength to accomplish tasks, it is also difficult and never produces perfect results.

We currently inhabit a “waiting period” between Jesus’ first coming, which began God’s work of redemption on earth, and his second, which will bring it to completion. During this interim period, as the apostle Paul described, “The creation waits in eager expectation . . . [hoping] that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:19, 21a). It is no secret, especially in light of the recent natural disasters in Japan and manmade crises in Libya, that the world is decaying. As Paul goes on to say, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (v. 23).

While nothing will bring an end to this decay and pain except for the complete renewal and rebirth of the earth when Jesus returns, that does not mean we should throw our hands up and despair. As Christians, we are called to be the hands and feet of Christ, to work towards redemption for all of creation. During the RUF trip, I got to witness and participate in this work of redemption: bringing good out of a bad situation, beauty out of ugliness. Mrs. Gathers’ previous house had been demolished because it was no longer safe to inhabit (the project supervisor told me that it was so rotten from the inside that heavy winds could have eventually caused its collapse), and Rural Missions had built her a new one. We constructed for her a new screened-in porch, shed, and step, and each accomplished task brought with it the feeling that we were restoring some order to this individual’s life.

Finally, I am reminded of the privilege it is that God desires us to carry forward his mission of redemption until he comes again—or “Kingdom Work,” as I have heard some people refer to it. Though God, as sovereign creator, could easily and quickly set things right himself, he calls Christians to demonstrate the grace and love that has been extended to us through Christ, and to in turn extend that to others. To quote 1 John 4:19, “we love because he first loved us.” Service comes from the overflow of the love that we have been bestowed; it is “faith with deeds” to accompany (James 2:14-26).

Words of Wisdom

Davidson senior, Jonathan Koch, shares the wisdom of Dr. Sam Wells, dean of Duke University Chapel and research professor of Christian ethics at Duke Divinity School. Dr. Wells gave the annual Staley Lecture on “Places of Encounter: Hanging Out Where God Shows Up,” exploring how we can live in a college setting in ways that are at once faithful and critically engaged.

It was 7:20 PM and the 900 room was already abuzz. White-haired residents of the Pines, local clergymen and campus ministers, and surprisingly some Davidson students—you know that we rarely arrive at lectures and events on time, much less early. By 7:30 PM all the chairs were filled, and students swarmed the second-level floor, poking their heads and legs out from between the railings. Then a man with a bald spot, dressed in an unassuming, brown corduroy suit took the podium.

Dr. Wells was at Davidson for just over twenty-four hours, but by the time of his 2011 Staley Lecture, word had spread about him. Throughout his day full of lectures, forums, and meals with students, he had been unafraid to challenge Davidson about how we think of service, leadership, and relationships.

A few moments from his day exemplify the man and his message:

• At lunch with students, he challenged Davidson’s concept of service. Service, he said, is not about working for some cause, it is about working with somebody. We can learn about ourselves, form lasting relationships, and most importantly encounter God by spending time with the so-called “poor of the world.” Dr. Wells loved Davidson’s idyllic campus, but questioned our commitment to welcoming the marginalized—socially, economically, racially, religiously—people of the world. It is with these people that Jesus spent his time, and it is in these people that we most vividly see God.

• In his lecture, Dr. Wells outlined how a typical pastoral visit works. While only a sliver of Davidson students will become pastors, the depth of listening, understanding, and loving that characterizes the pastoral visit can be translated into all professions and every interaction. As the title of the lecture (Places of Encounter: Hanging out Where God Shows up) suggests, it is in such encounters that God shows up.

• Perhaps the most applicable message for Davidson was one that Dr. Wells repeated throughout the day: the need to turn experiences into wisdom. For our whole lives we’ve been taught to quantify experiences: how many service trips you take, how many clubs you are in, how many books you read, how many leadership roles you are in, the list goes on. It’s the resume packing with which we are so familiar at Davidson. Dr. Wells challenged us to process these experiences: to stop and grapple with what the experience has taught us, to write the 15-20 page reflection on our service trip to Haiti, to meditate on the reading you did for class or the conversation you had with a professor, to allow all the things we do to percolate in our minds and turn into wisdom. Are we paying Davidson $40,000 a year for a really great list of experiences? Or are we seeking after wisdom in all that we do?