The Church is the Body of Christ. Not a metaphor. Not an organization of like-minded believers. The actual, living Body of Christ on earth, animated by the Holy Spirit, continuing His presence in the world.
This is where we start to sound strange to most folks in Southeast Texas. You grew up hearing about “my church” and “your church,” about finding a church home that fits your worship style, about the universal invisible church of all true believers. We believe something different. We believe the Church is one, visible, historical reality, the same Church the apostles founded on Pentecost, with the same faith, the same sacraments, the same unbroken line of bishops stretching back to the Twelve.
When we say the Creed each Sunday, we confess belief in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.” Those four words aren’t just nice adjectives. They’re identifying marks.
One means there’s only one Church, not many. Christ has one Body, not a collection of denominations that agree to disagree on the important stuff. We’re united in faith, doctrine, worship, and apostolic succession. Yes, there are different Orthodox jurisdictions (Greek, Antiochian, Russian, OCA), but that’s administrative, not theological. We share the same faith.
Holy doesn’t mean we’re better than anyone else. Walk into St. Michael’s on any Sunday and you’ll find sinners. Lots of them. I’m one. But the Church is holy because Christ is holy, because the Holy Spirit dwells in her, because she’s the hospital where sinners come to be healed. The saints prove that holiness is real and possible, but they got there by showing up to the hospital, not by checking themselves into some private spiritual clinic.
Catholic means whole, complete, universal. The Church has the fullness of truth. Nothing’s missing. Nothing needs to be added or subtracted. She’s for all people, all times, all places. This isn’t the same as Roman Catholicism, we’re using the word in its original sense.
Apostolic means we’ve kept what the apostles taught, handed down through an unbroken chain of bishops. Your priest was ordained by a bishop, who was ordained by a bishop, who was ordained by a bishop, all the way back. And it’s not just the laying on of hands. It’s the faith itself, unchanged.
Here’s where it gets uncomfortable for some people. We believe the Orthodox Church is the Church. The one Christ founded. Not a branch of the true church or the best option among many valid choices. This sounds arrogant until you realize we’re not claiming we’re special, we’re claiming Christ kept His promise. He said the gates of hell wouldn’t prevail against His Church, and we believe Him. The Church has been here for two thousand years, believing and teaching the same things, because the Holy Spirit has preserved her.
What about other Christians? We recognize that many people outside Orthodoxy love Jesus, read Scripture, and live faithful lives. God’s grace isn’t confined to our buildings. But we also believe that the fullness of the Christian faith, the fullness of sacramental life, the fullness of union with Christ exists in the Orthodox Church. It’s not that God can’t work outside the Church. It’s that He established the Church as the normal means of salvation, the place where we’re united to Him.
St. Cyprian of Carthage said it bluntly in the third century: outside the Church there’s no salvation. That’s not meant to be a threat. It’s a description of reality. The Church isn’t a club you join to get benefits. It’s the Body of Christ. You can’t be united to Christ while remaining outside His Body. Salvation isn’t a transaction where you accept Jesus and then go about your business. It’s a process of healing, of transformation, of becoming united to God. We call it theosis or deification. And that happens in the Church, through the Church’s life.
The sacraments matter because they’re how Christ acts. When we baptize, the Holy Spirit really does something. When we celebrate the Eucharist, we really do receive Christ’s Body and Blood. When we confess, we’re really forgiven. These aren’t symbols or memory aids. They’re medicine. Fr. Thomas Hopko used to say the Church is where Christ is present to transform and heal when we gather. That’s why we can’t just have a private relationship with Jesus and skip corporate worship. Christianity isn’t individualistic. It’s communal. You’re joined to a Body.
The Scriptures call the Church the Bride of Christ, a building with Christ as the cornerstone, a temple of the Holy Spirit. But Body of Christ is the image that shows up most. St. Paul keeps coming back to it. We’re members of one another. When one suffers, all suffer. When one rejoices, all rejoice. The Church includes not just the people in the pews on Sunday but the saints who’ve gone before us, the angels, the whole company of heaven. We’re surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and they’re not just watching. They’re praying with us, for us.
Does this mean the Church is perfect? Walk into any parish council meeting and you’ll get your answer. We’ve got politics, personality conflicts, and people who can’t agree on whether to buy new coffee pots. The Church is full of sinners because it’s a hospital, not a museum for saints. But Christ promised to be with us until the end of the age, and He is. In the Eucharist, in the sacraments, in the gathered assembly, Christ is present. That’s what makes the Church the Church.
If you’re visiting St. Michael’s and this sounds overwhelming, that’s normal. Most of us didn’t grow up with this understanding of the Church. But once you see it, you can’t unsee it. The Church isn’t an organization we created to worship God. It’s the gift God gave us so we could be united to Him. Come to Liturgy. Receive the sacraments. Join the Body. That’s how this works.
