We worship with voices alone because that’s how the Church has always done it. No organs, no pianos, no guitars. Just human voices singing the liturgy from start to finish.
This isn’t some quirk or preference. It goes back to the beginning. The Apostles worshiped in synagogues where everything was sung without instruments, and they carried that practice into the Church they founded. For the first thousand years of Christianity, you wouldn’t have found an organ anywhere near the liturgy. The Western church started adding them around 1100 AD, but the Orthodox Church kept doing what it had always done.
The Voice Is the Instrument
There’s theology behind this. Your voice comes from inside you, from your lungs, your throat, your whole body. When you sing, you’re offering something that’s actually part of you. St. Clement and St. Athanasius both wrote about this. They said the Christian’s mouth and voice are the true instruments of thanksgiving. Not something external you play with your hands.
An organ sits outside you. You control it mechanically. But your voice is different. It’s connected to your heart, your spirit, your physical body. When the priest sings the Gospel or the consecration prayers at the altar, he’s using the same body that will handle the holy gifts. Everything’s integrated. The whole person is involved in worship.
And here’s something most folks coming from Baptist or non-denominational backgrounds don’t expect: we believe the Holy Spirit lives inside each believer. Our worship rises from that indwelling presence. We don’t need external instruments to create the right atmosphere or emotional response. The Spirit does that work from within.
What the Early Church Thought
The Church Fathers were actually pretty clear about not wanting instruments in worship. They associated them with Old Testament temple sacrifices and pagan revelry. Those things were done away with in Christ. The early Christians saw themselves as the living temple, and their voices as the new sacrifice of praise.
During the persecutions, the Church had to simplify things out of necessity. But when persecution ended, they restored the full sung liturgy, still without instruments. If instruments had been part of apostolic worship, that would’ve been the time to bring them back. They didn’t.
How It Works in Practice
Walk into St. Michael’s on a Sunday morning and you’ll hear the choir singing Byzantine chant. Some Antiochian parishes use Russian or Slavic tones. Some sing in Arabic. But none use instruments. The human voice carries everything, the hymns, the responses, the Gospel, the prayers.
It’s quieter than what most people around here are used to. First Baptist downtown has a full band. Abundant Life has a worship team with drums and electric guitars. That’s fine for them. But we’re doing something different, something older.
The silence between the sung parts matters too. You’re not being entertained. You’re being drawn into participation, even if you’re just standing there listening. The simplicity tunes you to what’s happening at the altar and to the people around you. You start to hear things differently after a while.
Is This Universal?
Yes, across all Eastern Orthodox churches. Greek, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Antiochian, OCA, we all worship a cappella. It’s not ethnic custom. It’s how the Orthodox Church worships.
There are a couple of exceptions in some Oriental Orthodox churches (which are separate from us, though close in theology). A few Syriac Orthodox parishes started using organs in the 1930s. But that’s not our tradition, and it’s not the norm even for them.
Why It Matters Now
If you’re visiting Orthodox worship for the first time, the lack of instruments might feel stark. Maybe even uncomfortable. You’re used to music that moves you emotionally, that builds to a crescendo, that signals when to feel something.
We’re not trying to manipulate your emotions. We’re offering something steadier. The chant doesn’t change much week to week. It’s supposed to be familiar, almost like breathing. You’ll find yourself humming it during the week if you come long enough.
Your voice matters here. Even if you can’t carry a tune, even if you just mouth the words at first. You’re part of the body, and the body sings. That’s what we’ve always done, and it’s what we’ll keep doing until Christ returns.
