On the Difficulties of Adapting Newcomers in the Old Orthodox Pomorian Church
“Whoever is persuaded and believes that our teaching and words are true, and promises that he can live in accordance with them, is taught to pray and fast, asking God for the forgiveness of former sins, and we pray and fast together with him. Then we lead him to where there is water, and he is reborn… just as we ourselves were reborn, that is, he is washed with water in the Name of God the Father and Lord of all, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Saint Justin the Philosopher (2nd century), teacher of Christian doctrine in a school for catechumens
“Therefore, he who is to be catechized in the word of piety, before baptism, shall first be instructed in the knowledge of the Unbegotten One, in the knowledge of the Only-begotten Son, in the assurance concerning the Holy Spirit. Let him study the order of the various creations, the ways of providence, the judgments of various legislations. Let him learn why the world was created and why man was appointed lord of the world. Let him study his own nature and what it is. Let him learn how God punished the wicked with water and fire, yet glorified the saints in every age – I mean Seth, Enos, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and his descendants, Melchizedek, Job, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Caleb, Phinehas the priest, and all the faithful of every age. Let him also learn how the providential God never turned away from the human race, but at various times called it from error and vanity to the knowledge of the truth, leading it from slavery and impiety to freedom and piety, from unrighteousness to righteousness, from eternal death to eternal life. Let him study these things and whatever accords with them during the time of catechumenate.”
From the Apostolic Constitutions (4th century)
Every year the number of so-called “hereditary” Old Believers in the Old Orthodox Pomorian Church continues to decline, while the number of newcomers steadily grows. From generation to generation, hereditary Old Believers have zealously preserved the truth of Orthodoxy of their own free will, passing it on not only to their children and grandchildren but also to new people who come to Christ’s Church. For hereditary Old Believers, faith is a conscious choice and a vital necessity.
The difficulties that arise when newcomers adapt to the faith – their full churching, the nurturing of a Christian spirit and awareness – are a problem common to all Old Believer accords. A shortage of competent mentors and the frequently inadequate attitude of hereditary parishioners toward newcomers often hinder a person’s full integration into church life. Misunderstanding between hereditary members and neophytes is not uncommon. Such tension arises when the status of hereditary Old Believers in a community is determined not by faith, knowledge, Christian life, and deeds, but solely by blood kinship.
In turn, hereditary Old Believers do not consider the short period since a convert’s baptism sufficient time to shed the spiritual burden of their past life. For them, a convert must be tested by time. This attitude is rooted in historical experience – in the ancient Church, in post-schism Russia, and in all subsequent eras – when “outsiders” sometimes betrayed their faith and their Church, handing their fellow believers over to persecutors. It is a gene of fear, not only for the purity and steadfast preservation of the faith, but also for one’s own life and the lives of future generations in Christ’s true Church.
Yet difficulties also face new Christians: they enter an unfamiliar spiritual world that must be accepted not merely as letter, but as spirit. Sometimes, not fully understanding Orthodox church tradition, converts arrive with their own theoretical notions of Christian life and faith. They then attempt with all their might to reform the Church, to “save” it and steer it into a channel that, in their view, would make it open to the world, salvific, and correct. Some fight in this way against their former confession (e.g., coming to Old Belief as “anti-Nikonians”), others against supposed canonical violations, and still others, imagining themselves no less than Avvakum, denounce the “impiety” of parishioners and even the mentor. Only much later comes the realization that today’s Old Believers simply live according to the patristic tradition and act in everything in accordance with Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. One must never forget the Christian principle of the Church’s closed and mysterious nature (Acts 5:13), which has helped preserve Old Belief in its steadfastness and immutability.
The sacrament of baptism will remain fruitless for an unbeliever until he believes with his whole soul and unites with the Church. One cannot accept Old Belief with the mind alone. Whoever accepts Old Belief only intellectually will later find another religion more congenial, and whether to accept it or not will become merely a matter of personal preference. For hereditary Old Believers, such a choice is unthinkable. This difference in the state of the spirit is precisely what distinguishes a hereditary Old Believer from a convert.
The problem also faces hereditary Old Believers, who must competently pass on the very essence of Old Belief to newcomers. Churching is not limited to the performance of the sacrament alone – ongoing educational oversight by the community and mentor over the spiritual growth of the newcomer is essential.
The process of churching depends greatly on the community into which the convert arrives. If the community has a wise mentor who helps the newcomer feel the Old Believer spirit and way of life not only with the mind but with the heart, then, by God’s grace, the newcomer quickly embraces the true spirit of Old Belief and becomes a Christian. In the Old Orthodox Pomorian Church (hereafter OPC) there are many examples of newcomers who not only became followers of the Old Faith but rose to become readers, mentors, and monastics.
Thus, in the last remaining monastic community of the OPC in the city of Ridder in eastern Kazakhstan – founded in its time by survivors of the famous Pokrovsky Ubinsky (Altai) monastery known throughout Russia – both the recently reposed nun Maria and the monk Alexander were not hereditary Old Believers. In earlier times, many monks and nuns were likewise converts.
Both those who call themselves Christians—whether hereditary Old Believers or newly converted—must never forget what this name truly means. St. Gregory of Nyssa, in his letter to Harmonius, reflects on who may rightly call himself a true Christian and offers the following edifying story about a monkey:
In Alexandria, a certain showman trained a monkey to imitate a dancing girl with great skill, putting a mask and dancer’s costume on her. The audience in the theater praised the monkey that danced in perfect time to the music. While the spectators were engrossed in the spectacle and applauding the animal’s dexterity, one man present decided to show the enthralled crowd that it was, after all, only a monkey. He threw almonds and figs onto the stage. The monkey instantly forgot the dance, the applause, and the fine costume; she rushed forward and began greedily gathering the treats with both hands. So that the mask would not hinder her mouth, she tried to tear it off, clawing apart the deceptive image she had assumed, “so that instead of praise and admiration she suddenly provoked laughter among the spectators when, through the shreds of the mask, her ugly and ridiculous appearance was revealed.”
“Therefore,” writes St. Gregory of Nyssa, “just as the false outward appearance was not enough for the monkey to be taken for a human being, and her craving for sweets exposed her true nature, so too those who have not truly formed their nature by faith are easily unmasked by the sweets offered by the devil as something quite different from what they pretend to be. For in place of figs and almonds—vainglory, ambition, avarice, pleasure-seeking, and other such evil provisions of the devil—when offered to human greed, quickly expose monkey-like souls that have only put on an outward show of Christianity through imitation. And in the hour of passion they throw off the mask of chastity, meekness, or any other virtue.”
Therefore the name “Christian” demands of a person a perfect Christian life:
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5:48).
Teaching the Christian faith, imparting the fundamental doctrines to one who wishes to receive baptism—this catechumenate—is a direct command of God:
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Matt. 28:19–20),
says the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples.
Before a person receives holy baptism and becomes a true Christian, he first becomes a “catechumen”—one who has not yet been baptized but is already being instructed in the foundations of the faith. The necessity of catechumenate is stated in Rule 46 of the Council of Laodicea and Rule 78 of the Sixth Ecumenical Council.
The catechumenate arose in the very first days of the Church’s existence. After the sermon of the Apostle Peter in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, about three thousand people accepted Christianity (Acts 2:14–41). Later Peter instructed the Roman centurion Cornelius and his household in the faith and then permitted them to be baptized (Acts 10:24–48). The Apostles Paul (Acts 16:13–15), Philip (Acts 8:35–38), and others acted in the same way.
The firmness of the decision to accept the new faith was tested. During the persecutions there were cases of apostasy, so throughout the period of instruction the Church carefully watched the catechumens to ensure that there were no traitors or people who had received holy baptism insincerely. If such were discovered, they were immediately expelled from the assembly of catechumens. The catechumenate lasted a long time—from three months to three years—and was divided into several stages; the catechumens themselves were divided into different classes. We still possess the catechetical lectures of St. John Chrysostom, Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose of Milan, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Augustine.
Modern mentors still turn to the experience of that era, which testifies to the exceptionally high level of those sermons, for in them the catechumens received thorough theoretical knowledge of the Christian faith.
From the very first days of preparation for baptism, catechumens received both theoretical instruction and, up to a certain point, took part in divine services. In the church they stood at the back—in the narthex.
Catechumens were also obliged to learn prayer outside the walls of the temple. St. Cyril of Jerusalem writes: “Pray often, that God may count you worthy of the heavenly and immortal Mysteries.” In addition, catechumens were required to lead a Christian life: to fast, keep the Commandments, struggle against sin, repent of sins before God and men, and correct their spiritual defects. “Those who are about to be baptized must prepare themselves with frequent prayers, fasts, genuflections, vigils, and confession of all their past sins…” writes Tertullian to catechumens.
If, however, catechumens did not abandon their sinful life and did not repent of it, they were moved back to the previous class of catechumens, as it were one step lower, and an additional period of penance was appointed for them.
Thus the history of the origin and development of the catechumenate shows how seriously the ancient Church took future Christians. It was an entire institute of catechumens, with a clearly worked-out program and strict discipline. All of this provided high-quality knowledge of the Christian faith, warned of the dangers on the Christian path, and taught people to live as Christians even before baptism.
The Old Orthodox Pomorian Church still adheres to a similar program for catechumens today. This makes it possible not only to simply test the desire of catechumens to accept the new faith and grow accustomed to Christian life, but also to sift out those who are not yet ready for Christianity.
Jesus Christ demanded that those who undertake to baptize someone first teach him (Matt. 28:19), and the Pomorian Church approaches the acceptance of new members with full responsibility and reverent care for the very mystery of baptism itself.
As in former centuries, the Church conducts catechetical conversations with everyone who wishes to receive holy baptism.
The catechumenate is necessary for testing one’s faithfulness to Christ, for repentance, for a complete reordering of priorities, values, worldview, and behavior. It is precisely from this that every Christian must begin his or her church life.
Those who come to a Pomorian church for the first time and wish to be baptized first have an interview with the spiritual mentor. They tell about themselves and the reasons for their decision. The mentor preaches to them about the Christian faith, about what Christian life is, how Christianity differs from other religions, and how a Christian should live.
After this comes the formal enrollment among the catechumens, when the catechumen makes the “beginning bow of reconciliation.” In the Pomorian Church, the moment of becoming a person becoming a catechumen is considered to be the laying of the entrance (or beginning) bow in the mentor’s cell at the church. The mentor explains and demonstrates how to make the sign of the cross and how to bow correctly.
Then an approximate date for baptism is set, a specific penance (zapoved’) is given, godparents are chosen, and the catechumen receives a written “Memorandum on Baptism.” The requirements for godparents are stricter than for adult candidates. Godparents must belong to the Church not only formally (i.e., be baptized) but in reality—they must regularly confess, attend communal services, and be able to teach their godchildren Christian life not only by word but above all by personal example.
Some time later comes the confessional conversation. Before baptism the catechumen must recall all his or her grave sins. It is ascertained whether there are any impediments, the chief of which are drunkenness, tobacco smoking, drug addiction, and many others.
In 2008 the Council of Spiritual Mentors of the Old Orthodox Pomorian Church, having examined the canonical foundations and practical order of performing the sacraments, services, and rites in OPC communities, established the period of preparation for holy baptism (catechumenate) in accordance with ancient Christian custom—40 days. The exact length, however, may be shortened or extended by the spiritual mentor depending on the readiness of the candidate and other circumstances. The regimen of preparation (fasting, prayer, fulfillment of the penance) is also determined by the mentor.
A newly converted Christian begins everything from zero, striving to absorb as much knowledge about the faith as possible. For this he must be guided step by step, for, as the Apostle Paul teaches, one who strives on his own receives no fruit:
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully (2 Tim. 2:5).
Baptisms in the Pomorian Church are not numerous; they do not baptize just anyone. A person goes through the catechumenate, prays, fasts, fulfills the penance, and is thereby considered to have entered the Christian path. But if a catechumen has still not freed himself from grave sins and has not shown good fruits of spiritual labor by his whole life, he may remain among the catechumens for years. Whoever, on the other hand, already demonstrates by his deeds that he has truly set out on the path—such a one fasts for 40 days, prays, fulfills the penance, confesses, and only then receives holy baptism.
In every Pomorian community there is a person appointed to greet newcomers in the church who wish to learn more about Pomorian belief. They are told about the Christian faith and the history of the accord, and all their questions are answered. If a service is in progress, they are quietly told how to behave at that moment in the church—what is permitted and what is not—and all further questions will be answered after the service ends.
In the communities a full Christian life has been established, with spiritual upbringing, continuity, and responsibility that guards both hereditary Old Believers against pride and arrogance and newcomers against distorted Christian self-awareness and improper behavior. A certain wariness toward new people is always present for a time—yet the same wariness is shown even toward hereditary Old Believers who have been out of communion with the Church. After some time this wariness disappears.
How, in the Church, can we overcome or prevent possible difficulties in the adaptation of newcomers? Above all, by Christian love and patience. Love is the highest commandment of Christianity, given by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. A person without love cannot be a true Christian. Judas, having no love, betrayed the Lord to the Jews.
But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes (1 John 2:11).
The adaptation of newcomers into the Church is always a difficult task, yet if the Christian life of the community is founded on patience and love—according to the Apostle’s words—“Let all your things be done with charity” (1 Cor. 16:14)—then all these difficulties can be overcome with ease. The practice of such activity in the Pomorian Church, together with an active Christian life that bears visible spiritual fruit, proves the correctness of the path that has been chosen.
Author: Nina Lukyanova