English. Most Antiochian Orthodox parishes in North America worship entirely in English, and that’s been the norm for decades.
This wasn’t always the case. The Antiochian Archdiocese originally served Arab immigrants who came to places like New York, Boston, and Pittsburgh in the early twentieth century. Those early parishes used Arabic because that’s what people spoke. But as children grew up speaking English and as the Church began receiving converts from other backgrounds, the language shifted. By the time Metropolitan Philip Saliba became the ruling bishop in 1966, he pushed hard for English to become the standard liturgical language across the Archdiocese. He understood that if Orthodoxy was going to take root in America, it had to be accessible to Americans.
“We feel that the sooner all the Orthodox churches in America start using English, the better our chances of achieving administrative unity will be,” Metropolitan Philip said in 1999. He wasn’t just talking about practicality. He believed English services opened the doors to converts and helped the Church grow beyond ethnic boundaries.
Some parishes still use a bit of Arabic, especially if they have older members who grew up with it or recent immigrants from the Middle East. You’ll occasionally hear the Trisagion in Arabic or a few responses sung in both languages. But walk into St. Michael’s or most other Antiochian parishes in Texas, California, or anywhere else in North America, and you’re going to hear the Divine Liturgy in English from start to finish.
The Antiochian Archdiocese doesn’t just tolerate English. It’s embraced it as the language of mission here. All the official liturgical texts on antiochian.org are in English. The seminaries teach in English. The clergy serve in English. When the Evangelical Orthodox Church (a group of former Campus Crusade staff and Protestant pastors) joined the Antiochian Archdiocese in 1987, they didn’t have to learn Arabic. They learned the services in English, and the Archdiocese received them warmly.
This matters if you’re coming from a Baptist or Methodist background here in Southeast Texas. You don’t need to learn a foreign language to become Orthodox. You can hear the prayers, understand the Scripture readings, and follow the liturgy without translation. The theological content is the same whether it’s chanted in Greek, Arabic, Slavonic, or English. What matters is that we’re praying the ancient services of the Church, not which language we’re using.
Some people assume Orthodoxy requires exotic languages or that “real” Orthodox worship has to sound foreign. That’s not true. The Orthodox Church has always translated the services into local languages. Saints Cyril and Methodius created an entire alphabet so Slavic peoples could worship in their own tongue. Antiochian missionaries brought the faith to places like India and used local languages there too. English isn’t a compromise or a watering-down. It’s just the latest chapter in a very old pattern.
If you visit on a Sunday morning, you won’t feel lost because of language barriers. You’ll hear English. Clear, prayerful, beautiful English. And you’ll be able to focus on what really matters: encountering Christ in the worship of His Church.
