Occidental Orthodox

Who would think that, just off Mathis Ferry Road in a quiet Mount Pleasant neighborhood, there would be a newly built Orthodox church, and that it is home to a burgeoning Russian congregation? The Holy Ascension Orthodox Church is humble compared to its spectacular predecessors in eastern Europe and Russia. But once it is completed—with painted ornamental ceilings and walls—it will come close to conveying the same mystical ambiance.

Holy Ascension Orthodox Church

As you enter, several characteristic features stand out: the heavy wooden doors, the voluminous dome, the streaming natural light, and a lack of furniture. In the Orthodox church, of course, the congregation stands or kneels on the floor. There are no pews. And if it’s a busy service, you are huddled together, shoulder to shoulder. There is nothing elegant or private about the experience, which may also be why it feels so special. That and the scent of incense and candles.

I was only sorry to see that the floor is wooden rather than stone—even though wood floors are typical, for example, in small provincial Orthodox churches. It’s just that there is something about a steeple (or dome) accompanied by a stone floor that conveys a sense of earth and sky bound together.

Detail of columns

Nevertheless, a devoted congregation has obviously gone to great lengths to get this church built and operational. Even with its unfinished interior and landscaping, the building already has a definite charm of its own. Most importantly, it has a feeling of quiet stillness that helps transport you to the same within yourself—which is the essential value of any church experience.

It’s also easy to suppose that this church must be a comfort to its Orthodox members, especially those from eastern Europe and Russia for whom it provides the familiarity of architecture, icons, and mood.

Icon of Christ

Not coincidentally, Orthodox Christianity is on a dramatic rise in Russia, in terms of church goers as well as those interested in the priesthood. According to the April 2009 issue of National Geographic magazine, “millions of Russians have been baptized since the end of Soviet rule (in 1991) and nearly two-thirds of the population now identify themselves as Orthodox.” You can read the article online here. ¶

Learn more about the history of the Eastern Orthodox church.

Learn more about the history of the Russian Orthodox church.

Holy Ascension Orthodox Church
265 N. Shelmore • Mt. Pleasant
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