BECOMING PART OF BELIEVERS EASTERN CHURCH
01 How do I find the nearest Believers Eastern Church parish?
Go to our contact page to connect with your local archdiocese. If there is not an archdiocese or diocese of Believers Eastern Church in your area, there are many other denominations around the world that are biblically Orthodox, and we recommend you join one of them.
02 How can I join Believers Eastern Church?
To join Believers Eastern Church, you will need to talk with the parish priest at the Believers Eastern Church in your area about becoming a member. If there are no parishes near you, please feel free to utilize one or more of our free books from our resource section in order to deepen your faith..
03 How do I become a Believers Eastern Church priest?
The clergy of Believers Eastern Church have undergone rigorous theological and missional training in one of our seminaries and have demonstrated faithfulness under the direction of one of our dioceses. This is a difficult process that takes years. If you are discerning God’s call on your life to ordained ministry, contact the diocese or archdiocese in your area. If you live outside of a diocese, please contact our Synod Secretariat for more information.
04 I am already ordained in another denomination. Is it possible for me to serve in Believers Eastern Church?
We strongly advise against ordained clergy switching denominations. However, if you still believe that God is leading you to serve in Believers Eastern Church, we suggest that you join a parish and serve as a lay person for a year. After that, if you still believe God is calling you to serve as a minister in Believers Eastern Church, consult your parish priest. If you live outside of a diocese, please contact our Synod Secretariat for more information.
05 How does my church affiliate with Believers Eastern Church?
We discourage parishes from other denominations from leaving the authority of the church in which God has placed them. However, if you are not under the authority of a larger church or find that your parish can no longer continue in your church because it is not biblically Orthodox in its faith and traditions, please visit our affiliation page for more information.
WHAT IS BELIEVERS EASTERN CHURCH
06 Why do you use the term "Eastern" in the name of your church?
From the ancient Church, two primary Christian traditions arose: the Eastern and the Western. The eastern Church adopted the term “Orthodox” to describe itself and the western adopted the term “Catholic.” Both were intended to indicate their faithfulness to the true Christian faith.
Believers Eastern Church identifies itself with the Eastern stream of Christianity. When you look at our pattern of worship, ceremonies, rituals, traditions, theology and eastern garb, it is clear that we are Orthodox in faith and practice.
Our Synod Secretariat in southern India is located less than 30 minutes from one of the seven churches started by St. Thomas the Apostle in 52 A.D.
Believers Eastern Church uses the term “Eastern” to demonstrate its connection to the ancient orthodox faith, which continued unbroken in the East.
We also changed the name of our church from its original title of “Believers Church” because that name was in common usage, and we wanted to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the independent churches that use that name and are not part of the Orthodox faith.
Download the book Believers Eastern Church for more information
07 What do you mean by "adheres to the Orthodox faith and worship?"
Prior to the canonization of Scripture in the late fourth century, the early Church established two terms to describe the one Church and the true faith: Orthodox and Catholic. The term “orthodox” emphasized the adherence to the doctrines and traditions passed down by the Apostles. Since the canon of Scripture had not yet been established, what we would think of as biblical faith was referred to as the Apostolic faith. The term “catholic” emphasized the body of believers who carried on the orthodox faith unbroken from the Apostles.
As the early Church spread throughout the world, the languages spoken by believers multiplied. However, the two primary languages used were Greek and Latin. Eventually, the Church developed along the Greek and Latin divide. The Greek-speaking world, predominantly in the east, became the Eastern Church and adopted the term “Orthodox” to distinguish its church. The Latin-speaking world to the west, became the Western Church and adopted the term “catholic.”
As the church divided in the 11th century, the Western Church officially formed as a denomination known as the Roman Catholic Church, and the Eastern Church officially formed as the Eastern Orthodox Church. Believers Eastern Church is orthodox in its faith because we adhere to the Orthodox faith that predates it and is common to Orthodox churches at large.
Orthodoxy is a biblically faithful way of following Jesus as part of the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic faith.” Contrary to common evangelicalism, however, we do not believe that the individual believer, priest or parish is to determine what the true faith is, but it has already been codified by the historic and Apostolic Church. Yet, as part of the universal priesthood, every Christian may be inspired by the Holy Spirit through God’s Word, supernaturally instructing them in things pertaining to life and godliness.
We see ourselves as conservative, adhering to the infallibility and inerrancy of the Word of God. At the same time, we embrace the timeless ancient worship patterns of the early Church, and we are fervent in our call to take the gGspel to the end of the world.
08 Are you Roman Catholic?
Believers Eastern Church is not Roman Catholic. This question is often asked because of people’s lack of familiarity with Orthodoxy. Because the Roman Catholic Church originated from the ancient, Orthodox Church, it shares many common practices with all biblically Orthodox denominations.
There are differences between the doctrines Believers Eastern Church subscribes to and many of the doctrines that characterize the Roman Catholic Church. We are also not under the leadership of the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church.
Download the book Believers Eastern Church for more information
09 Are you Evangelical or Protestant? What is the difference between evangelicalism and Orthodoxy?
Believers Eastern Church holds the Church as “the pillar and ground of truth” (1 Timothy 3:15) and the authority for all things in faith and life, with the Gospel of Jesus Christ being central to its teaching. We share this in common with Bible-believing churches at large. The concept of holding the teachings of the Apostles as authoritative has always been part of the Church, and was originally referred to as orthodoxy instead of evangelicalism.
TOrthodoxy holds that there is one common faith that was established by the ancient Church and defined in the ancient creeds. The beliefs and traditions of the ancient Church are the foundation for interpreting the Scripture according to Orthodoxy, while modern independent churches typically leave the interpretation of the Scripture and the defining of the Christian faith to denominations, individual churches, leaders and individuals.
We are not Protestants because Protestantism holds Roman Catholicism of the 16th century as its starting point. They sought to form churches based on reforming the Roman Catholic practices, often seeking to get back to the Orthodoxy that predated Catholicism. Believers Eastern Church traces its roots through the ancient faith of the Holy Church.
Download the book Believers Eastern Church for more information
10 Are you Reformed?
The Reformation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was largely in response to Roman Catholic doctrines and practices that had drifted from the biblically Orthodox teachings of the ancient faith. Reformers such as Luther, Calvin and Cranmer wanted to guide the Church back to its Orthodox roots.
The church of the East never had a reformation because it did not hold the same teachings of the Roman Catholic Church but held to the Orthodox faith. The split between the Eastern and Western Church during the eleventh century occurred primarily because the Roman Catholic Church adopted different beliefs and practices than what had been laid out by the ancient councils. Many of the issues that caused the Eastern Church to disagree with the Roman Catholic Church were the same as those of the Protestant Reformers.
Believers Eastern Church identifies with the Eastern Church, tracing its roots back to St. Thomas, the Apostle. Because no reformation was needed in the East to bring its doctrines and practices back in line with ancient Orthodox Church, we do not consider ourselves as part of the reformed independent denominations that embrace the ultra-Calvinistic doctrines.
Download the book Believers Eastern Church for more information
11 What is Believers Eastern Church's relationship with other denominations?
Believers Eastern Church has historically enjoyed friendly relations with denominations in the regions where we work. Our leaders regularly interact with other leaders, and both leaders and priests participate in cross-denominational discourses and activities. It is also common for leaders from other churches to take part in our events.
12 Do you preach the Gospel?
We believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that He gave Himself as the atoning sacrifice for our sins and that whoever puts their faith in Him for salvation will be saved from their sins. This is the cornerstone of the work of the Church, it is central to the Christian faith, and sharing this Good News is the joy and duty of all believers.
CHURCH LEADERSHIP
01 Who is the Metropolitan? Is he similar to the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church?
The Metropolitan of Believers Eastern Church is the spiritual leader of the church. He is the President of the Conference of Episcopas/Bishops. Metropolitan is a common eastern term. The western Church would generally equate the Metropolitan with a spiritual head, Archbishop, though the terms are not a perfect equivalent.
From the time of the New Testament Church, the historic principle regarding leadership is “first among equals.” This means that the leader of governing bodies within the church is equal with the others but is given the final say on important decisions. The Metropolitan is considered the first among equals with the other episcopas, but is deferred the final say by the other episcopas.
This is different from the Roman Catholic Church who holds the Pope above the bishops, not considered one of them and equal to them, as the Metropolitan is. This difference is one of the main reasons for the split between the eastern and western Church in the eleventh century.
Download the book Believers Eastern Church for more information
02 Why do you have episcopas and priests?
The two primary terms used in Scripture for the leaders of the church are episcopa and elder. The term ‘priest’ is derived from the Greek word for elder (presbyteros) used in the New Testament and it holds the same connotation. And the word ‘bishop’ in English is translated from ‘episcopa’ in the Greek language. The use of these two terms for church leadership has been a common practice in both eastern and western churches since the time of the ancient Church.
Episcopas within Believers Eastern Church oversee a grouping of churches, known as a diocese, and the priests lead the local gatherings of believers, known as parishes.
Download Believers Eastern Church for more information
03 Why do your episcopas and priests wear different clothes?
It has always been normal for people in positions of authority to wear uniforms. Police, doctors, soldiers, judges, and such others wear uniforms to help people understand that they are acting on behalf of an authority greater than themselves.
In the same way, episcopas and priests are spiritual leaders who act, though not in any authority inherent to them as individual believers, no matter how gifted or anointed. Their authority is from Christ and the Church alone. They are not more special than the other members of the universal priesthood of believers. They wear uniforms to signify that they have been approved by the Church to act with its authorities in spiritual and physical (temporal) matters of the church.
The particular uniform worn by our leaders is referred to as a cassock, and typically makes them immediately recognizable as a Christian leader.
04 Why do you call your priest "Father" when Jesus said not to call anyone "Father?"
In St. Matthew 23, when Jesus admonishes His disciples to avoid the use of the term “father,” His main emphasis was against people who would seek to take God’s place in other people’s lives in any way. No person is to take the place of God as our Father or Teacher. He is our ultimate source for all things.
However, the Scripture upholds the principle of spiritual fathers (Isaiah 51:2, 1 Corinthians 4:15–17, 1 Thessalonians 2:11), that elder men and women of the Church should bear a sense of responsibility for the spiritual well-being of those who are less mature. Scripture also upholds spiritual authority in the Church and Church structure; Jesus Himself gives this admonition (St. Matthew 23:2–3).
Therefore, we use the historical title “Father” for our priests, not that anyone should look at them instead of God for anything, but to acknowledge the responsibility they have not just to teach, but to tend God’s sheep as a father with his children (1 Corinthians 4:15).
Download the free book Call No Man Father for more information
PRACTICES OF BELIEVERS EASTERN CHURCH
05 Why does Believers Eastern Church have such a strong emphasis on helping the poor?
The bulk of what was recorded about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ was helping the poor, preaching and teaching. Jesus loved and served, and He always responded with compassion to those who were suffering around Him. The emphasis on loving and helping the poor is not only continued in the rest of the New Testament writings but is also a theme throughout the Old Testament. He did not help people to try to convert them; He helped them simply because He loved them and wanted to see them being relieved of their suffering.
06 You use the term "Sacrament;" what does this mean?
Sacrament refers to those practices handed down to us in the Scripture and by the Fathers of the Church.
Orthodox teaching upholds that God imparts grace to us by faith when we participate in a sacrament. The word “sacrament” derives from the Latin translation of the Greek word translated in the New Testament as “mystery.” In the East, the sacraments have always been referred to and are still often referred to as the mysteries.
The term “mystery” in the New Testament means something that was hidden which has now been revealed. In sacraments, there is physical interaction with visible elements, such as immersion in water, anointment with oil, partaking of bread and wine. These actions are not works that produce merits, but by faith in the promises of God in Scripture, we trust that when we do the visible actions that God commands us, He will work in our lives in the invisible. For example, in Baptism, we die with Christ and rise with Him.
07 Do you believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit?
Believers Eastern Church believes the Word of God is timeless and infallible in its authority and applies equally to every generation. The book of Acts is our blueprint for what the Church should be and do. The Holy Scripture holds the gifts of the Spirit as an essential part of church life and the inheritance of every believer.
Throughout the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit works through believers supernaturally to minister unto people. Therefore, we believe that being filled with the Holy Spirit is essential for all believers to live their faith in the fullness that God intended, and they should believe God moves in supernatural ways as a result of their faith and prayers.
08 You use the term "Kyrie eleison." Why? What does that mean? Why do you use terms from different languages?
Kyrie eleison is Greek for “Lord have mercy.” We also use the Syriac version of the same word in our liturgies. The use of ancient languages in our liturgy is to bring to life our living connection to the communion of saints and the Church Triumphant. The liturgies we use have the same elements that were used by the ancient Church, some going back to the very first century and the liturgy of St. James.
The use of a few words like “Kyrie eleison” in ancient language reminds us that we are not beginning or ending the worship when we come together. We are only joining in the continuous worship around the throne of God with saints and angels, just as we see in Isaiah chapter 6 and Revelation chapter 7.
We favor using the ancient Syriac language because it reflects an important stream of our historic tradition and is derived from the Aramaic language that Jesus Christ Himself spoke while on earth.