Well - where to start!

Our main church is in Wallasey.  Feel free to just come along.  If you are visiting our chapel in Birkenhead, just ring the doorbell and somebody will let you in.

Our Liturgy manages to be splendid and dignified while at the same time being very homely. Don't be surprised if somebody comes up to you during the psalms at the beginning and welcomes you. We're friendly like that. You'll probably be lent a prayer book and be well taken care of, so don't worry - just go with it.

You will find candles near the entrance to the chapel.  Please feel free to light candles before the icons.  There is no charge for the candles but donations to help defray costs are welcomed.  30p is about right for each candle but please do not feel that you can't use them if you are unable to give.  Nobody will mind, or even notice.  The icons are images of Christ and the Saints which we venerate, usually by kissing them on the hands and feet.  We usually do not wear lipstick so as not to damage them.  You will also find some sheets of paper for lists of names near the entrance to church.  You may write the names of any people, living and departed, for whom you wish prayers to be offered and hand the list to the priest before the Liturgy. Please list names of Orthodox and non-Orthodox people separately as different prayers are used. If you are listing Orthodox people, you may also hand in one of the small loaves near the sheets of paper.  You get this back after the Liturgy, along with your list, and consume it reverently, (the bread, that is; not the list), in memory of those for whom prayers have been offered.

Much of the Liturgy is made up of litanies, as prayer is the bedrock of a stable faith. You will hear, time and time again, 'Again and again in peace let us pray to the Lord'. You'll soon get into the swing of things. If you get lost in the prayer book, just sing 'Lord, have mercy', and chances are that you'll have got it right.

Occasionally, some of the litanies will be sung in Church Slavonic or perhaps Greek. The responses then change to 'Gospodi pomilui' and 'Kyrie Eleison', respectively. Kyrie eleison literally means Lord, bless us, or Lord, show us your favour, and is an expression of faith in the endless mercy, grace and bounties of the Lord, of which we sing with great joy in Psalm 102 at the beginning of nearly every celebration of the Divine Liturgy.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, according to thy great mercy; we pray Thee, hearken and have mercy!

There is no special "dress code" for Orthodox worship. Our guiding principles are simply these:

• We come to church to worship God.  Our clothing, therefore, ought to be presentable and clean as far as is within our ability.
  
• With the first point in mind, God will not despise a humble and contrite heart, and calls each and every one of us into his Presence, regardless of our lot and portion in life. We would have failed our calling to live according to God's will if anybody were to feel he couldn't come because of his clothing.
  
• We try not to draw attention to ourselves in the way we dress, so we do not wear clothing that is revealing to the point of being a source of temptation to others or that, through embarrassment, prevents us from taking part in the physical elements of worship, such as bows and prostrations.
• It is the general practice at our parish to follow the guidance of the Holy Apostle Paul that men remove any head coverings to pray and that women cover their heads.  This may seem to first-time visitors as being outmoded and a hangover from a bygone age.  It may seem to require more of women than men, especially as social convention means that fewer and fewer men wear hats these days.  However, it is worth bearing in mind that these concerns are not of God but of secular society.  In Orthodoxy, we simply try to practise that which we have received, believing it to be guided by the Holy Spirit.  If this means that at times the world finds us a little unusual, then we must humbly accept that and respond to criticism graciously and without smug pride.  An Orthodox lady had this to say when asked about head coverings:

I cover my head in church. Usually, I wear a hat. Occasionally it's a headscarf, (particularly at presanctified liturgies during Great Lent - scarves stay in place better than hats when you're doing lots of prostrations).

I do it because St Paul seemed to think that the angels would prefer that I do. I don't know why angels care, but since St Paul may have met some angels, (presuming he was the man caught up into the heavens), and I haven't, I'm willing to take his word for it. It seems a very small thing to do for them. And if it turns out they don't care after all, it has done me no harm.

We usually stand for our services, as this is the ancient posture for Christian prayer.
 
Throughout the service, we repeatedly hear the deacon's words, 'Upright!' and 'Let us attend', calling us to stand and to be attentive to the worship of God. We believe that concerns such as the time, the Sunday dinner in the oven, the rumbling tummy, &c. should all fall into insignificance when we come before God our Maker in worship, and so we do not time our services, but rather, we just get on with the worship and it takes as long as it takes.

However, our worship is not intended as a physical endurance test and we understand that many people, whether due to infirmity, having to hold young babies, or not being accustomed to standing for such long periods, may not be able to stand throughout. We have some pews and stools around the perimeter of the church. Please feel free to take a seat. Nobody will be offended or judgemental.

For Orthodox Christians

Orthodox Christians are encouraged to be strengthened by the grace that God imparts in our life in Christ by frequently receiving his Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. Being always mindful of St Paul's caution against receiving the Body and Blood of Christ unworthily, Orthodox Christians are to ensure that they have properly prepared themselves by prayer and by fasting from midnight, or as they are able. They are also encouraged to live in love and charity with their neighbours, and to practise a pattern of frequent Confession in order to be reconciled to God and his Church, from which we are separated by sin. If you wish to receive Communion, please make yourself known to Father Paul before the Liturgy.

For Other Followers of Christ

We welcome to the Divine Liturgy those who are not in full communion with us. It is a consequence of the sad divisions among those who strive to follow Christ that we cannot extend a general invitation to all visitors to receive Holy Communion. However, the Eucharist is an action of the Church, expressing our unity of faith, life, and worship in the Church. Reception of the Eucharist by those not so united with us would be a misuse of the Holy Mysteries to imply a unity which does not actually exist, but for which we must all pray.  Some people can become offended at not being able to share in the Eucharist.  We can only offer our love, and our assurance that offence is not our intention.  For those who wish to explore further, there is a little more about this here.

At the end of the Liturgy, we venerate the Cross of Christ and then partake of the antidoron, which is bread that has been blessed, but is not consecrated as the Body of Christ. We invite you to share this with us as a sign of friendship and mutual desire for the fullness of life in Christ. We kiss the feet of Christ on the Cross, then the priest's right hand, and then we take some of the antidoron.

For those not Receiving Communion

Those not receiving sacramental Communion are encouraged to express in their hearts a prayerful desire for unity with God and with each other. Those of other Christian traditions are welcome to share in the antidoron at the end of the Liturgy.

For Non-Christians

We also welcome to observe our worship those who do not share our Faith in the Trinity. While we cannot extend to you an invitation to receive Communion, we do invite you to allow yourself to be immersed in the beauty and reverence of the Orthodox worship of God.

Generalising, there are two usual forms that Christian worship can take: linear and layered.

Linear worship usually achieves a sense of corporate worship by everybody focussing on the same action at the same time, and so everybody says the same prayer together, sings the same hymn together, and so forth.

This approach, however, is foreign to Orthodoxy. Orthodox worship, while following a set structure, is much more layered than this. The elements of corporate worship are much more fluid, so it is perfectly possible for different groups of people to be doing different things at the same time, according to their order within the Church's life, all playing their part in the great offering of worship and prayer to God.  The people my be singing or bowing while the deacon is censing, and the priest is offering a prayer.  This can be confusing to people who have not experienced it before and may perhaps seem a little chaotic at first.  However, hear the words of St Ignatius the God-Bearer:

"Be eager to do everything in God's harmony, with the Bishop presiding in the place of God, and the Presbytery in the place of the council of the Apostles, and the Deacons, most sweet to me, entrusted with the service of Jesus Christ." "Each of you must be part of this chorus so that, being harmonious in unity, receiving God's pitch in unison, you may sing with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father."

Movement, colour, taste, smell, and music all come together to join the words, which is why it may perhaps be better for first-time visitors not to tie themselves to a prayer book, but rather to allow themselves to be immersed in the fullness of what is happening.  Still, for those who would feel lost without one, there are prayer books available.