“The principal Tradition of the Orthodox Church is the living Christ – fully God, fully Man – entire in the Body of the Church of which He is the immortal, eternal Head. This is not merely the message, but the transcendent message of the holy apostles and the holy fathers. They know Christ crucified, Christ resurrected, Christ ascended. They all, by their integral lives and teachings, with a single soul and a single voice, confess that Christ is wholly in His Church, as in His Body.”
– St Justin Popovich
Welcome to
st. barnabas the Apostle orthodox church
in Sunbury, Ohio
The Lord Jesus Christ is transfigured within the Church, immersed in the prayerful, liturgical, and boundless sea of grace, wholly contained in the Eucharist, and wholly in the Orthodox Church – this is holy Tradition. By prayer and piety she is preserved from all humanism, and within her is preserved the entire Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the Lord Christ cannot have several bodies, so He cannot have several Churches. The Church is one, unique and indivisible, just as Christ is one, unique and indivisible, continuing through the ages and through all eternity.”
A PARISH OF THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ARCHDIOCESE OF NORTH AMERICA
By the grace of God, we are united with the Orthodox Church of Jesus Christ to “go…and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (St. Matthew 28:19,20).
a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith
Through the patronage of St. Barnabas, and directly associated with Antioch, we believe, in our time and place, that we ought to follow the examples given for us in the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Tradition of the Ancient Church. Therefore, we commit ourselves individually and corporately to become like St. Barnabas, “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith” (Acts 11:24).
THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
The attributes of the Orthodox Church are innumerable because her attributes are actually the attributes of the Lord Christ, fully God and fully Man, and, through Him, those of the Triune Godhead. However, the holy and divinely wise fathers of the Second Ecumenical Council, guided and instructed by the Holy Spirit, reduced them in the ninth article of the Symbol of Faith to four — I believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. These attributes — unity, holiness, boundlessness, and apostolicity — are derived from the very nature of the Church and of her purpose. They clearly and accurately define the character of the Orthodox Church whereby, as a theanthropic (divinity within humanity) community, she is distinguishable from any community of the human sort. This authentic good news, Christ fully present in His Church, is confessed by the holy fathers and the holy ecumenical councils of the early seven centuries.”
– St Justin Popovich
“Wherefore, brethren, let us plant ourselves upon the rock of faith and the Tradition of the Church, removing not the landmarks set by our holy fathers, nor giving room to those who are anxious to introduce novelties, and innovations, undermining the structure of God’s holy ecumenical and apostolic Church.”
– St John of Damascus
