The Orthodox Church was founded by Christ Himself with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in 33 AD. It lays claim to being the first and true Church, which Christ built upon the Apostles (Matt 16:18). The Orthodox Christian Church is the ultimate continuation and fulfillment of the promise that God made to Abraham and all the patriarchs (Gen 12:1-3). It was spoken of by the prophets (Isa 2:2-4), sung of in the Psalms (Ps 83 LXX), and prefigured throughout the Old Testament (Gen 6:14-22).

The Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ was for all the turning point in human history. For “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). During His Incarnation, He did the works of the Father, teaching truth in grace and healing in soul and body to those who sought Him.

It was Christ’s disciples who later became the Apostles, meaning “those who are sent”. These Apostles became the pillars of the Church throughout the world after the Lord exhorted them to “make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19). These godly pillars would, through Apostolic Succession, appoint worthy successors to continue leading the flock as overseers, evidenced in 1 Timothy. The original five patriarchal sees were Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Alexandria and Constantinople; since then, Orthodox Christianity continued to spread exponentially.

Of these pillars, the Patriarchate of Antioch has the Apostles Peter and Paul as its founders and patrons in Christ, as witnessed in the book of Acts. In fact, it was in Syrian Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). To this day, the Antiochian Orthodox Patriarchate has worshipping communities all over the world, even as far as Dandenong, Australia.

It is this same Church that is alive and well today by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through Apostolic Succession since Pentecost in 33 AD. Fulfilling the Lord’s command to baptise the nations, the Orthodox Church has laboured to preach Christ crucified, love unconditionally, and exist as the full image of Christ’s body.

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