Becoming Orthodox is not a formality but a journey. It usually begins with attendance at the services of a local parish and conversation with its priest. The inquirer then becomes a catechumen: a period of instruction in the faith, of prayer and of growing participation in the life of the parish, which concludes with the profession of the Creed.<\/p>\n
Those who come to the Orthodox Church come from many backgrounds. From the earliest centuries, the Church has received converts in one of three ways: by holy Baptism; by Chrismation with a profession of faith; or by profession of faith with the renunciation of errors. The choice depends on how close a person’s former faith and baptism are to the Orthodox faith, and the judgment in each case belongs to the bishop, who acts through the parish priest. Whatever the way, the confession is the same: “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph 4:5).<\/p>\n
The first step is simple: to visit an Orthodox parish, to stand at the Divine Liturgy, and to speak with the priest afterward. The directory of churches on this site can help to find the nearest parish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By a period of instruction as a catechumen, under the guidance of a priest, followed by reception into the Church by Baptism, by Chrismation, or by profession of faith, according to the bishop’s judgment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","audience":[],"liturgical_season":[],"topic":[],"class_list":["post-1396","question","type-question","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/question\/1396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/question"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/question"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/question\/1396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1404,"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/question\/1396\/revisions\/1404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"audience","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/audience?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"liturgical_season","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/liturgical_season?post=1396"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodox.faith\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=1396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}