No, you don’t have to attend every single service the church offers. But you’re expected to be at Divine Liturgy on Sundays, and your priest will have specific expectations about other services too.
Here’s the reality. You’re preparing to become Orthodox, which means you’re learning a new way of life. You can’t learn that from a book or a class alone. You learn it by showing up, standing in the nave, singing the responses (or trying to), smelling the incense, watching how people venerate icons, and letting the rhythm of the church year get into your bones. That takes time and consistency.
Most Antiochian parishes expect catechumens to attend Sunday Divine Liturgy every week unless there’s a serious reason you can’t. Work schedules matter here in Southeast Texas. If you’re on a rotating shift at the refinery or offshore, talk to your priest. He’s not going to tell you to quit your job, but he will want to know you’re committed to being there when you can be.
Beyond Sunday mornings, there’s more. Many parishes ask catechumens to come to Saturday evening Vespers when possible. During Lent, you’ll probably be expected at Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday evenings. Some parishes track attendance at major feast days and won’t let you be received at Pascha unless you’ve been to a certain number of them. This isn’t legalism. It’s formation.
Your priest is watching to see if you’re serious. He’s not counting absences to punish you, but he does need to know you understand what you’re asking for. Becoming Orthodox isn’t like joining a gym where you pay dues and show up when it’s convenient. It’s joining a family, and families show up for each other.
At St. Seraphim Cathedral in Santa Rosa, catechumens are required to attend Saturday classes and if they miss one, they have to listen to a recording and take a quiz. Other parishes have similar structures. The point isn’t busywork. The point is that this matters enough to prioritize it.
But life happens. Kids get sick. Your mother-in-law who goes to First Baptist needs help moving. The hurricane’s coming and you’re boarding up windows. Your priest gets this. What he can’t work with is someone who treats the catechumenate like an elective course they can drop in and out of whenever they feel like it.
Some parishes are more structured than others. You might have a catechumen coordinator who keeps a checklist and reports to the priest. You might just have informal conversations with your priest every few weeks. Either way, there’s an expectation that you’re becoming part of the community, not just completing a program.
And here’s something people don’t always tell you upfront: during the catechumen litany at Liturgy, you’ll be dismissed before the faithful receive communion. You’ll go to another room for instruction or just wait in the parish hall. This can feel awkward at first, especially if you’re used to Baptist churches where everyone’s welcome at the table. But it’s ancient practice. You’re being prepared for something, not excluded from it.
The catechumenate usually lasts at least a year, sometimes longer. That’s not arbitrary. It takes that long to experience a full cycle of the church year, to go through Great Lent and Holy Week and Pascha, to see how Theophany and the Dormition and the Elevation of the Cross fit together. You can’t cram that into three months of Wednesday night classes.
Talk to your priest early about what he expects. Ask him specifically about your work schedule, your family situation, whatever might make regular attendance complicated. He’d rather know now than find out six months in that you’ve been missing Vespers because you thought it was optional and he thought you just weren’t interested.
The goal isn’t perfect attendance. The goal is showing that you’re willing to reorder your life around the Church rather than trying to fit the Church into whatever space is left over. That’s a hard thing for Americans to hear, but it’s what we’re asking.
Come as often as you can. Miss when you must. Talk to your priest about both.
