You can now listen to the Podcast version of this experience, and the interview with Father Harry, at Episode 06.

Basic Info

Orthodox Church of Dover
3820 Moores Lake Road
Dover FL 33527

Orthodox Church of Dover
3820 Moores Lake Road
Dover FL 33527

Contact: Father Harry (Haralampij) Linsinbigler

Book Recommendation: The Orthodox Church: New Edition by Timothy Ware

Religion: Christian
Denomination: Orthodox (otherwise known as Greek or Eastern Orthodox).

The History

Whenever I heard Church History - and I should mention "Church History from the Mormon point of view", goes something like this:

Once upon a time, there was the Catholics. Then Martin Luther got upset at something things he didn't like, so then there were Lutherans. Then came the Anglicans, and - uh, everybody else. But it all started with the Catholics.

So when I started reading The Orthodox Church in preparation for my visit to the Orthodox Church of Dover, I discovered a whole section of history that I hadn't learned about.

Basically, the Orthodox view goes like this: originally, there were 5 main churches, of which Rome was "first among equals." But, then the Catholic church decided that they - and they alone - spoke for the entire early Christian church. Whatever the Pope said was automatically doctrine for the entire religion.

For the other 4 churches, there was a collective "Whaaat? No, the way it works is that all of the churches get together, hold a Council, and then decide upon what the official doctrine of the Church is."

In the end, the two groups split - Rome became the Roman Catholic Church, while the remaining churches became the Orthodox church. There were some differences in religious beliefs such as about the nature of the Trinity, the point of icons and so on, but by the 1000's, it was pretty much over.

The Experience

When I drove to the Orthodox Church of Dover, I found a small but full chapel run by Rev. Fr. Harry Linsinbigler (or "Father Harry" for short). And I have to say - I ran into the most welcoming, giving people so far.

The actual experience was much like my experience attending Catholic Mass for the first time. There was much a lot of sitting down, then rising, then sitting, then rising, then sitting, kneeling, and standing again as Father Harry gave the liturgy.

What I found really interesting, however, was the way it was presented. Almost the entire service was sung. There was no organ or piano - just the voices of the priest and his congregation going through the service a Capella. Father Harry would sing the lines, and the congregation would respond. Father Harry would sing a blessing upon those in attendance, or those who were sick, and the congregation would sing back to him. One of the interesting parts was how some of the responses - when Father Harry asked for a blessing upon the members, they responded back "And upon your spirit." I'm not sure if that was significant, but I found that distinction interesting.

Midway through was the actual sermon, delivered specifically to the children about St. Zacchaeus, and how the man changed his life after meeting Jesus and gave restitution for his deeds. After the service came a blessing on the bread and wine. One by one, members would come up to partake, then returned again to be blessed.

One of the things that fascinated me was the various symbols in the service. For part of the service, Father Harry was in the front of the chapel, reading through the litergy before what I assume to be an alter. (I haven't had a chance to read through the book yet to see if that's the correct term, so if I'm wrong, someone please correct me!). Later on, as the Eucharist was brought into the room, there was a small procession. In front was a young man holding the symbol of the Cross at the end of a staff, followed by a gentleman holding a brazier with incense, then Father Harry with the gold-colored containers holding the Eucharist.

It was a fascinating service and I enjoyed hearing the voices of the congregation joined together in worship.

What I Found Beautiful

1. The Concept of Sin. It will come out in the interview, but when I asked Father Harry the question of "what is sin from the Orthodox perspective", I loved the response that sin was a "disease of the soul."

Rather than sin being "you've done something bad and God is angry with you - REPENT!", the Orthodox concept of sin is that it's something that you have done to "damage" your soul. Therefore, removing sin is the process of making yourself a better person. First by achieving forgiveness, then by making restitution and removing the habits that lead to the sin to the first place.

For example, a person who steals needs to get forgiveness from those they have wronged, then by restoring what was stolen (in some cases, fourfold). The issue is that the bad mindset, the habits, the desire that made one steal in the first place may still be there - so its important to try and make one's mind and heart more in line with "good" things.

This concept of sin leads right to the second thing I found beautiful about the Orthodox church.

2. The concept of Heaven. When I asked Father Harry about what the afterlife is, I was surprised to hear that really, Heaven and Hell is the same place. If I have it correct, the Orthodox belief is that Heaven and Hell aren't "places" that people go - but that all soul return to God.

Heaven and Hell, then, is simply the state of the soul and the feelings upon returning back to the "goodness" and "perfection" of God. So if you didn't make yourself as good as possible (by removing the disease of sin from your soul), then "Hell" is being in the presence of God and feeling that lack of goodness/perfection within oneself. Hell would be unable to fulfill the desires that were build in life - so if one didn't remove the passions of the flesh in life, then in the afterlife Hell would be being unable to have those needs fulfilled since once's spirit is now without a physical body to gratify those needs.

In that way, Heaven then is being a person who has purified their soul and attained that state of Grace so they can glory in the presence of God. I thought this was a lovely idea - that it wasn't that the "damned" spent eternity being punished, but instead Heaven and Hell was kind of a state of mind (or the soul) based on how one prepared themselves.

I'm sure there's bits I'm off about, but just the idea was an interesting one.

3. The people. The people at the Orthodox Church in Dover were incredibly kind, welcoming, and gracious people. Usually in a service I attempt to be very quiet and unnoticed (hasn't always worked), but here people were very quick to greet me, to invite me to their after-service lunch. At least three times people offered to make sure I had something to drink or to make sure I had a chance to have some of the "blessed bread", explaining what it was to me. I finally took some and ate so I didn't appear rude. On my way out, people clapped for me (which made me a little self conscious, as I hadn't done anything but partake in their hospitality, but it was a very generous gesture).

I think the only problem I had was being kissed by an elderly lady on my cheek on the way out. I had to confess to my wife I had been kissed by a lovely lady when I got home.

I very much enjoyed my time with the members of the Orthodox Church of Dover, and hopefully one day I can spend some more time asking about more details of the symbolism and meaning in the services. Oh, and I got a good recipe for pasta shells stuffed with cheese ;).

Big thanks to Father Harry and his flock, and I wish them the best of luck.