Eastern Orthodox Churches

Absolutely central to Orthodox worship is its concern to remain faithful to apostolic Christianity and its worship. Consequently, renewal in Orthodox worship always seeks to incarnate the old into the new situation of history and culture. Some Orthodox churches incorporate praise-and-worship music during the reception of bread and wine. Within the past decade a great many things have been happening in the worship of the Eastern Orthodox church. The majority of these changes have been generated within the liturgical tradition, as a natural flowering or fulfillment of the church's experience of itself in the twentieth century, rather than resulting from external pressures or sources. It has been said that the Orthodox church only changes to remain the same, and while that may sound like a contradiction, it captures two fundamental truths. The first is an absolute commitment to remain true to that which has been taught from the beginning, that which constituted the faith and practice …