If you would like to join the Orthodox Church, which is called becoming a catechumen (kat-uh-que-men), please read below.

The period of the catechumenate typically lasts a year or more. The importance of this period is the formation of more than information. This formation comes through participation in prayer, fasting, worship, fellowship, and study.

Those interested in becoming Orthodox should contact the priest to ask about current catechism class offerings.

How to Become a Catechumen

Those interested in becoming a catechumen at St. Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church should attend vespers and liturgy for 1-2 months. During this period, they should also watch all 7 videos of “Finding the Church that Jesus Built Version 2.0” by Dn. Ezra Ham (from St.  Elijah Church in Oklahoma City). Videos are available on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbDsxw-e0m3mNYL-Dy7VJZLHgv3EO8m-w

A companion study guide for this series is available here via Amazon Publishing.

After completing the video series and discussing any questions with the priest, if they still want to join the Orthodox Church, they should request enrollment as a catechumen.

The Work of Catechumens

Catechumens need to attend services and catechism classes, prepare their life confession, which is to be done before baptism or chrismation, pray and read the scriptures daily, and work through the media plan below.

Catechumen Expectations can be found here and below.

The resources below are not exhaustive but are valuable for inquirers and catechumens seeking to adopt an Orthodox ethos.

Life Confession

All catechumens are expected to give a life confession to the priest before being received. To prepare for the life confession, please read this: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LSS_9BY6GWTbwmeS3uxjA4_0UO41BV5NwXSj_tsxJh0/edit?usp=sharing

If you have questions, let the priest know. Please schedule your life confession about a week or two before you are received into the church.

Books to read before baptism/chrismation

1. The St. Gregory Pocket Prayer Book by St. Athanasius College Press
2. Journey to Reality by Zachary Porcu
3. Ask for the Ancient Paths by Fr. James Gurgis
4. Beginnings of a Life of Prayer by Bishop Irenei Steenberg
5. Acquiring the Mind of Christ by Fr. Sergius Bowyer
6. Mary the Birthgiver of God by St. John of San Francisco
7. A Christian Ending by J. Mark and Elizabeth Barna (or you can also listen to the podcast of the same name on Ancient Faith Radio)
8. The Orthodox West website articles and blog posts, or order With What Zeal by Fr. John Fenton.

Books to read before or soon after baptism/chrismation

• On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius the Great
• Everyday Saints and Other Stories by Tikhon Shevkunov
• Family Based Youth Ministry by Mark Devries
• The Feasts of the Lord by Hierotheos Vlachos

Recommended but not required reading

• Religion of the Apostles by Fr. Stephen DeYoung
• Great Lent by Alexander Schmemann
• Fr. Arseny: Priest, Prisoner and Spiritual Father (SVS Press)
• Everyday Wonders by Fr. Michael Oleksa
• Mission in Christ’s Way by Archbishop Anastasios of Albania
• Offering The Lamb by Fr. Michael Keiser
• The Way of the Pilgrim  by Helen Bacovcin

Daily Devotions (St. Gregory Pocket Prayer Book OR Monastic Diurnal)

• Say morning prayers
• Say Evening Prayers
• Read the Bible every day using the Bible Reading Plan (see https://orthodoxkaty.com/bible-reading-plan/)

Corporate Worship

• Recommended weekly schedule: mass + two other services (Lauds/Vespers) + feast days
  • Minimum: Attend Vespers on Saturday twice a month
  • Minimum: Lauds on Sunday twice a month
  • Minimum: Mass on Sunday thrice a month
• Attend coffee hour and get to know folks in the parish
• Lenten Services:
  • Attend Ash Wednesday
  • Attend two of each kind of midweek Lenten service during the Lenten season: Monday Vespers, Wednesday Mass, Stations of the Cross
  • Attend Holy Week Services at the very least in the evening
  • Attend Holy Saturday evening and Pascha Sunday
  • Please do everything you can to get the day off for Holy Friday (you won’t regret it). This is the only day of the year the church asks people to take off work.
• Attend midweek special commemorations. These feasts/commemorations make up the rhythm of the yearly Orthodox calendar, and the dates are also at the bottom of the church emails in bold.
  • December 8: Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary
  • December 25: Nativity of Our Lord
  • January 1: Circumcision of Our Lord
  • January 6: Epiphany
  • January 25: Conversion of St. Paul (our patronal feast)
  • February 2: Purification of Blessed Virgin Mary
  • Ash Wednesday: the first day of Lent
  • March 25: Annunciation
  • Palm Sunday: the week before Pascha
  • Holy Week (evening services)
  • Ascension: 40 days after Pascha
  • Pentecost: 50 days after Pascha
  • August 6: Transfiguration
  • August 15: Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary
  • September 8: Nativity of Blessed Virgin Mary
  • September 14: Exaltation of the Cross
  • November 21: Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Podcasts worth listening to on a regular basis:

• The Whole Counsel of God by Fr. Stephen De Young (Ancient Faith Radio)
• A Word from the Holy Fathers by Bishop Irenei Steenberg (Patristic Nectar Publications website)
• New To Orthodoxy? https://www.ancientfaith.com/topics/new-to-orthodoxy/

Blogs worth subscribing to:

• Subscribe to Fr. Stephen Freeman’s Blog, “Glory to God for All Things”  https://glory2godforallthings.com/

Other things to do before baptism/chrismation

• Spend as much time praying as you do consuming online media, whether YouTube or podcasts, to maintain Orthodox discernment on the material
• Attend adult education/catechism classes
• Listen to Fr. Sergius Bowyer on https://sainthermanwasilla.org/sermons/parish-retreat-acquiring-the-mind-of-christ-part-1/
• Listen to “Lectures on Simplicity” by Bishop IRENEI Steenberg (found at https://patristicnectar.org/bookstore_170829_1)
• Visit at least two other Orthodox churches in the area
• Read the church emails
• Set up recurring tithe at orthodoxkaty.com, or recurring bill pay through your bank

****Find a ministry to participate in to serve the parish regularly (ask for more information on these)****

• Church cleaning
• Building/property maintenance
• Lawn mowing
• Bread making
• Sewing
• Christian education (i.e., adult reading groups or teaching Sunday school)
• Mission trip liaison/coordinator
• Pilgrimage liaison/coordinator
• Singing in the choir
• Serving at the altar
• Greeting/ushering
• Do church secretarial work
• Organize the library
• Learn church bookkeeping
• Join the Financial Advisory Committee
• Computer networking stuff/tech support
• Send cards for the sunshine committee
• Men’s fellowship
• Women’s fellowship
• Burial society
• Something not on this list? Whatever your talents are, put your ministry purpose to work!

Recommended before or after baptism:

• Visit Ladyminster monastery in Colorado: https://www.ladyminster.com/
• Go on a pilgrimage
• Continue learning. Find a course to audit at St. Athanasius College (stacollege.org)
• Good people to read/watch/listen to: Bishop Irenei Steenberg; Fr. Maximos Constas; Anything from the Orthodox Monastery in Essex, England (Elder Zacharias, St. Sophrony, et al.); Fr. Stephen DeYoung; Fr. Stephen Freeman; Patristic Nectar Publications; Abbot Sergius Bowyer from St. Tikhon Monastery
• Stay away from the following people/sites while a catechumen and immediately after chrismation. This is a time of important formation with the foundations and baseline of the Orthodox faith, nothing else. All that is mentioned here is not helpful during these early years: IOTA (International Orthodox Theological Association); Dr. George E. Demacopoulos and Aristotle Papanikolaou, professors from Fordham University; websites “Orthodoxy in Dialogue”, “The Wheel”; “Public Orthodoxy.”