Welcome

Our Church Message

Welcome to The St. Demetrius Orthodox Church website. We are excited to share our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ with you. We pray that you will be a part of our spiritual family in love and support.

We are a liturgical community. The word Liturgy is defined as "the work of the people of God," and the Divine Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Orthodox Church. The Eucharist, which is a word taken from the Greek word meaning "thanksgiving," is the central act of worship of the Orthodox Christian in worship. Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of Communion at the Last Supper when He gave thanks, blessed the bread and wine, and ordered His disciples to eat and drink it as His own Body and Blood. The Liturgy and the partaking of Holy Communion are the central actions of the Orthodox Christian's life and the mystical experience of the Risen Christ in our midst.

The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom (349-407 A.D. - Archbishop of Constantinople) is celebrated during our usual Sunday services. It is one of many worship services of the Church.

Our basic beliefs are summarized in the Nicene Creed, formulated by the Ecumenical Councils at Nicea and Constantinople. At every Divine Liturgy the Creed is declared as the symbol of faith by all who gather together as the Church.

The Gospels, both Old and New Testaments, are at the heart of Orthodox worship and doctrine. Apostolic teachings (both Written and Oral Tradition), liturgical prayer, and the Eucharist (as described in Holy Scripture that was present at the very beginning of the Church), are also central to our faith and doctrine. The Orthodox Church traces it’s spiritual history in unbroken continuity back to Jesus Christ and the Apostles, striving and thriving to carry on today the same Christ-centered faith and way of life as the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of the First Century.

For the first thousand years of Christian history, the Church embraced and defended the Apostolic doctrine and Holy Tradition called "the Orthodox Faith." It remained fundamentally united as "one" Church in practice and theology until the Great Schism of 1054, when a number of complex issues and doctrinal disputes between the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western Roman Catholic Church caused a split. Subsequently, Protestantism evolved as a further fragmentation of Roman Catholicism.

Orthodox Christians throughout the world worship in different languages and rites, but are united as One in the sacramental life of the Church. Orthodoxy in America was established in America initially by pious immigrants and missionaries, beginning two hundred years ago. St. Demetrius Orthodox Church is deeply committed to the continuation of the missionary evangelization of America. Here at St. Demetrius, we stand to witness the True Faith in Jesus Christ, embracing Christians of diverse backgrounds, united in Holy Orthodoxy.

The Lord calls each of His faithful to continue to proclaim the Truth of the Gospel, following the unbroken line from Apostolic times of the First Century. The Orthodox Church as exemplified here at St. Demetrius challenges and compels each person who attends to "LIVE THE SPIRITUAL LIFE" becoming "Partakers of the Divine Nature" (2 PETER). Here at St. Demetrius we continue to discover, cherish, nurture and defend our Holy Inheritance and make it relevant for our mission to transform the Jackson Community and Mid-Michigan.

We at St. Demetrius Orthodox Church in Jackson, strive to deepen in our discipleship to Christ and to grow in our spiritual life. We take our faith seriously, enjoy each other’s fellowship in Christ, and pray unceasingly that Our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ who is "the same, yesterday, today, and forever," continues to bless our mission to the world.

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