African Orthodox Church of St. Simon the Cyrenian

Welcome to our website

“The Orthodox Church is evangelical, but not Protestant. It is Catholic, but not Roman. It isn’t non-denominational. It has believed, taught, preserved, defended and died for the Faith of the Apostles since the Day of Pentecost over 2,000 years ago,” Orthodox Christianity is “the Faith once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 3) The African Orthodox Church is Eastern Orthodox in doctrine and Western in tradition. We were organized in 1921 in New York City, N.Y., by Archbishop George Alexander McGuire and in East Africa by Archbishop Daniel William Alexander in 1926. We are the “autocephalous” Church completely self-governing. We the African Orthodox Church in America are one of five jurisdictions in America of the African Orthodox Church. Orthodox Christianity is the ancient Faith in the modern world. It is the continuation of the Body of Christ unbroken and undefeated for over 2000 years. Learn more about what we do, our goal is to gain everlasting life and take as many persons as we can with us.

Out of Darkness into Light.  Those who are learned will be as radiant as the sky in all its beauty; Those who instruct the people in goodness will shine like the stars for all eternity (alleluia)  (Our Church motto)

CHOOSE THE AFRICAN ORTHODOX CHURCH

One of the truly unusual things and perhaps one of the more frightening things about living in America, as an African American since the era of civil rights, is the wide degree of choices we possess in so many things.

We can choose our mates, our schools, our political party, our style of dress, our diet, our religion, and on and on.

We in America can choose our religion if you are raised in England, the chances are that you will be an Anglican, if in Germany, a Lutheran, if in Switzerland, a reformed churchman.

But in America, we are wonderfully free to choose, even if one is from infancy a Christian. It is still possible to be a Roman Catholic, an Orthodox Christian, a Methodist, a Pentecostal, a Baptist, or nothing in particular.

So why be African Orthodox certainly it is not particularly easy. It requires among other things preparation in order to be confirmed.

It requires the sacrifice of many conventional conveniences of the Christian life such as grand buildings, giant organs, beautiful stained glass, huge church schools, and the like, simply because the African Orthodox Church does not place its emphasis on such matters.

It demands time and commitment. It involves having to explain who you are to friends and neighbors, who have never heard of the African Orthodox Church. And yet, there are good reasons to choose it. Let us look at a few.

The Church has deep roots. Its present structure date from 1921, but its roots lie deep, its antecedents are the early Church and the Apostolic Fathers. It is self-consciously, a historic church. And that is good because nothing should be so distrusted as something "new" in orthodox Christianity.

Orthodox Christianity is a historic religion and a realization of this connection with the past is the ballast, which keeps the Church honest and truthful, and faithful.

When you row a boat you face the stern, you face where you come from. and to steer a true course, you maintain an alignment with landmarks in the past. This is no less true in the life of the church. Its present and its future are always true, always in alignment with its past, and that is the best assurance that what it teaches is, in fact, true-- as the truth was revealed in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Our Church is Orthodox. The African Orthodox Church does not owe its existence to the theological inspiration of any one individual. Its faith was formed in the Apostolic age and refined in the early centuries of the undivided Church.

Its theology is that of the first seven Ecumenical Councils and it holds this theology in common with the great Churches of Rome and the Orthodox East.

It has not chosen to emphasize one part of the faith over another, no matter how useful a single part may be.

It preaches an individual living faith in Jesus Christ, but it stresses a life lived out in the given of the real Church, the community of saints. It exalts the Lord Christ above all, yet it recognizes the proper honor paid to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos). It stresses a strict morality, yet it provides ready confession and absolution to the penitent sinner.

In short, it holds the whole faith, the faith once delivered to the saints, and it does not feel at liberty to improvise on that faith.

The Church is holy. The first mission of the Church is the worship of Almighty God. And it is in this context that the holiness of individual members is realized. Our worship is elegant, respectfully formal, and essentially timeless in its form and attitude.

That does not make it a historic relic or a sterile ritual. Rather it is structured worship that allows the individual mastery over its elements and the ability TO PRAY THE LITURGY, on a deeply personal basis. Yes, our prayers are largely written down.

So that we may use them as familiar and personal avenues to God. Nothing to our mind is more productive of passivity in worship than to have someone else pray for you in ways and words you are hearing for the first time and which cannot be your own (or with which you may, in fact, disagree!) Our liturgy provides the foundation for personal holiness, for the continuing process of each member to switch and reach and grow in God's grace.

The Church, our Church is Sacramental. It is often said that our society is too materialistic. Perhaps in many ways, this is true. But it also exhibits a profound disdain for the material. Think for a moment of all the things we use once and then throw away and you will be convinced that we do not value the material or especially respect it.

But the Catholic Church has always respected the material world as the loving creation of God Himself. It is through this material world that God reaches us with his love and power, for he has no other means. Thus we employ material elements (water, bread, wine, oil, married life)as channels of that love and power which He has ordained.

Weekly, if not more often we meet our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, where he allows us to feed on His Body and Blood, His real Presence, strengthening our souls and imparting eternal life. Many of our Churches are smaller than we would like! but the Orthodox ethos although productive of great cathedrals. focuses most consistently on the relatively small parish church, because this is the laboratory of love wherein people know and care for one another.

But is not necessarily better when it comes to the care of souls. By this time, you will have gathered that we are not interested in being blown by every wind of doctrine. Trees deeply rooted do not succumb to passing breezes.

We are profoundly unhappy that so many of our Christian brethren have decided to take as their examples of life the passing whims and fancies of the popular culture. We are not trendy. We believe in a historic faith, which is a still point in a changing world.

The Church is a rock, a sure foundation on which we can build our own lives and the lives of our children. The Church is friendly, Our Savior was the supreme example of God's eternal love for us and his particular commandment to us was to "love one another". We try to do this. Sometimes it’s hard of course, but we work at this business of loving?

We work at it hard, and we love you. Come and meet us, even before we've met you. And we want to share that love when you come to visit us. We hope you will choose to be a part of our growing Christian community. We think that you will find in the African Orthodox Church, that seriousness of purpose and joy in living that will best meet your deepest needs. We are certain that, among us, you can grow in grace and in the knowledge of ALMIGHTY GOD.