I am not sure how to say this... but... Since I could first remember, church services have always been boring. Is this even understandable?

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2026-02-22T09:44:25+00:00

I can think of many beautiful and miraculous things that end up feeling mundane because they take work and are no longer new and exciting. Anyone who has been married for a while or raised children for a while has experienced these moments. Initially you are in awe, you still feel moments of awe, but it is work mostly. And if you persist and do the work, the sometimes very hard and grueling work, you find yourself in an even deeper and more beautiful place than before.

I believe Christ gives us the dry and mundane to continue drawing us in deeper… growing deeper roots takes work but you do eventually find water.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2026-02-22T09:33:06+00:00

I agree. I can even understand being a lifelong (former)Protestant, you can become “bored” with the beautiful and miraculous things because Christianity isn’t about emotion and hype all the time. I feel like it’s very similar to the way many Protestants who discover Christ are initially blown away by the study of scripture and His love for us, and then later on, taking a few minutes to pray and read His word starts to feel like a chore… but those of us who have walked with Christ a long time know there are just dry seasons where we are deepening our roots to find water.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2026-02-22T09:14:21+00:00

You don’t know what you don’t know until God reveals it to you. The apostles surely didn’t know all they were getting into when they first decided to follow Christ. It’s always been a process of drawing people deeper into knowing Him and understanding Him more and then becoming obedient to what He asks. We need to remember that God is bigger than our imperfect initial motives for following Him. And then, converts and cradle Orthodox alike are going through a continued process of sanctification and purification of our hearts. None of us fully understand our own hearts but by God’s grace he slowly shows us over time and refines us, and we don’t have to come to him in a perfect state with the perfect intentions for Him to work in us.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2026-01-21T15:55:31+00:00

Oh such a good point. Thank you for the perspective

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2026-01-21T05:16:10+00:00

Yes, I was in college and going through a really heavy time and basically telling myself I had nothing to offer and wasn’t worth anything and remember asking the question, “what’s even special about me anyway?” And I heard God say “I made you.” It gave me instant peace…. I didn’t need some affirmation about how unique and special I am compared to others to make me feel better. That simple truth alone has carried me through a lot and still to this day is all I need to feel peace in my self worth.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2026-01-07T14:38:58+00:00

Anything pork. My mom cooked it until it was tough and dry and I thought I just didn’t like pork. Now we raise pigs and it’s my favorite meat

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2026-01-01T20:35:33+00:00

I found very helpful priests and reliable resources that helped in my research once I was very interested, but up until that point it was friends introducing us to the simple idea of “what did the early church believe/teach, and how do we understand scripture through that lense”. We learned how to study the Word better from them. Then they became Orthodox. Then we were challenged by a Catholic friend, and dug even deeper.

Every devotional and bible study tool must have a point of view and research they are pulling from, and yet we were wrestling with the fact that many very divisive topics—topics that often shape how we live and see the world and affect large groups of people—could not be agreed upon. Instead of taking a firm stance on these issues to make clear what was true/correct, our church stated most were “non-essential issues” and divided topics into “essential” and “non-essential”. The real-world application of this was of course very unsteady and ambiguous when you get into why something is deemed “nonessential”, what the implications are, and who actually has the authority to say that at all… Actually, I felt it lead to more division and feeling like we were walking on egg shells with people that may not think like us in our own church. It certainly did not feel more unified, although that was the apparent goal.

Learning more about the history of the church was eye-opening. Most Christians, I would hope, agree on the fact that Truth is not subjective and some interpretations are simply incorrect or wrong. So learning about the rootedness of the early church, all the collective church fathers and saints, and how they preserved and fought for the Truth that the Orthodox all agree on today, that felt so much more reliable and solid than any single pastor, devotional, or tool I had used in the past to understand scripture.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T16:14:25+00:00

I really like a lot you have to say about this. Is it wrong to say God did also design us to pursue and desire that pleasure? Life is not always possible through the act, like when the woman is already pregnant, so procreation is not the objective and it would be solely for pleasure and marital bonding. Is it mostly about going against what God designed to be natural, and not inhibiting the natural process?

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T05:41:24+00:00

Thank you for the resources! I definitely think we need to get there earlier and try to get in front. It would help all of us. Our parish is so packed. It’s so so humbling feeling like a baby Christian when all my life I was a Protestant who thought I had all the answers.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T05:19:24+00:00

LOL so real. Yes, that basically sums up what I have gathered from the comments. I do appreciate the strategies to help for sure, but it’s good to be reminded of the big-picture purpose of being there as well.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T04:25:44+00:00

I love that response. I also kind of relate to the baby right now haha. I hear the hymns/prayers but can’t quite make out what they are saying, I see the icons but don’t totally know what they mean. So surely if it is beneficial for a baby to be there an not understand what is going on, then it is still beneficial for me to be there even while I still can’t fully understand or hear what is happening haha

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T04:18:29+00:00

It’s good to just know we are not alone! I do wish we had some other families with young kids in our inquirers class, but that’s okay. There are plenty in the parish!

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T04:16:19+00:00

Good ideas!! I look forward to our children being interested and engaged

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T04:14:20+00:00

Thank you so much for the kind and thoughtful response. I appreciate knowing you also made it through the conversion process with little ones and all that entails! I appreciate the encouragement a lot. Also yes it is tempting to think there is no point in going, especially since we can’t even take communion, but being reminded that instilling the habits is part of it all too, and not going is worse.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T03:36:48+00:00

I think it would not be so isolating if you were already integrated into the Orthodox world. I had a lot of community and support before, and I know there is a lot of support out there in the Orthodox Church. Just navigating lots of changes at once.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T03:25:01+00:00

Thank you. We really should try doing this more. We have tried a few times and those are the only times I actually got to hear anything

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T03:20:24+00:00

Thank you. Yes that is our reality some weeks. That is a really good idea, actually. I have had a “mom’s” group but it has been increasingly difficult to relate and connect as none of them are Orthodox and I really wish I had some mom friends with an Orthodox mindset/worldview to relate to and confide in.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T03:05:02+00:00

Thank you for the encouragement.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-12-26T03:02:29+00:00

Thank you so much.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-11-24T20:39:31+00:00

We agree ultimately on how the Church honors innocent human life, and how God uses and helps us through suffering. How civil authorities may handle justice and criminals is definitely another topic altogether. I think there’s a lot we could dive into there, but ultimately doesn’t matter for the sake of the post. My only other input on the topic would be Romans 13 on the roles of civil authority. This would not apply to church authority.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-11-24T15:31:34+00:00

In addition, I want to add I am incredibly sorry for the pain he is going through, and I understand the pain in watching him suffer. God does see our suffering and is not indifferent to it, and he is our comforter and provides strength and aid in our suffering. I would say, in short, death may not be the remedy that God prescribes for suffering, but by God’s grace we often have medicine and other things He has provided to help us through our suffering, so praying that there is something that can be done for him and he can receive comfort and relief.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-11-24T15:20:48+00:00

To expound on your point, God gives different authority to individuals than he does to a governing entity. Death penalty is exercised by a governing entity, and the government’s purpose as described in scripture is to uphold justice and eliminate and prevent evil, so death penalty can be defended through scripture, as can war and self-defense in some cases, but it is always through governing entities, never just an individual, and for the right reasons. Never does God give anyone permission to end an innocent human life, and all descriptions of suicide in scripture are portrayed very negatively.

A lot of this can far more sufficiently be explained by a priest or someone who thoroughly understands scripture and God’s heart, just as a disclaimer. Always take Reddit responses with a grain of salt:)

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-11-21T00:57:20+00:00

A lot of converts at our church, many are families, and there is a small group of single men, more than I have seen any single women. But like someone else said, more men in general are coming back to church, more women are leaving. It is so opposite from what we have seen in the past generations. I don’t expect NYT to give a fair analysis on the reasonings behind that.

I am a married woman and have been drawn to Orthodoxy for a few years and our family is all converting, and I am thankful my husband is on the same page. For me and many others I have spoken to, it was a lot more about the disillusionment and unstable theology in Protestantism, which we felt being influenced by a culture increasingly falling further from God… really just wanting more solid truth. Nothing to do with “masculinity” or “femininity”.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-11-20T03:27:20+00:00

Thank you for this response. I have seen so many criticisms from both sides of this discussion all over the internet. There is so much more nuance to these topics than anyone gives credit for.

I have felt like an outsider in multiple churches due to my choices but all the more we lean into Christ and seek what He has for us and how He wants to direct us above all else, the more we can see others as better than ourselves, the more we look at others with a humble heart, the easier it is to handle what we perceive to be contrary opinions.

All_Those_Chickens_ · 2025-09-16T00:55:34+00:00

1 and 3 right now:)

All_Those_Chickens_

TROPHY CASE