St. Stephens is not the perfect parish, but we are the perfect Church. When most people think of church, they think of a man-made organization of people who claim to follow the teachings of Jesus. But the Church much more than this.

The Church is the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13) and the bride of Christ (Eph. 5:22-33). Ephesians 5:27 says, “That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish” – the perfect Church. This is not referring to some pie-in-the-sky vision of something future. The perfect Church is the Orthodox Church. How can we make such a bold claim? How is the Orthodox Church the perfect Church? It is perfect because it is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.

One: The Church of Christ is not divided into 30,000 different denominations. The Church is One. This oneness is not only spiritual. St. Paul says, “there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6One God and Father of all.” Christ’s body is not divided. The Church is one just as Christ is one.

Holy: Christ instructed his followers to “be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48) Since the time of Christ, the Orthodox way of life has been producing holy people. Everything in the Church, the prayers, the Divine services, the art and music, and the spiritual disciplines exist to make human beings holy. 40 million members of the Orthodox Church were martyred for their faith in the 20th century.

Catholic: This means that the Church is whole and complete. Nothing is lacking. There might be many edifying teachings concerning God outside of the Orthodox Church, but everything required for salvation is contained in Orthodoxy. While other Christian groups and denominations have changed their teachings over the years, the Orthodox Church has kept the faith pure.

Apostolic: The Orthodox Church is the Church that Christ founded. It is the Church the Apostles preached. The Orthodox Church knows the names and history of the woman at the well and the seventy apostles because it was there then and it is still here today. The Orthodox Church gave us the Bible.

We invite you to come and experience the perfect Church on Sunday mornings at 9:30AM. The sermon might not be perfect. The music might not perfect. But the grace of God is perfect and available to all.