Russian Orthodox Church, Kenai, Alaska

Jerry became so interested in this Church that she wanted me to do a Blog on it.

The Orthodox Church is Evangelical, but not Protestant. She is Orthodox, but not Jewish, She is Catholic but not Roman, She isn't inter-denominational, She is pre-denominational. She has believed, taught, preserved. defended and died for the Faith of The Apostles since the Day of Pentecost 2000 years ago.

The Three Bar Cross. This cross existed very early in Byzantium, but was adopted by the Russian Orthodox Church and especially in the Slavic countries. The upper bar represents the superscription, "Jesus Of Nazareth, The King Of The Jews" (John 19:19). The slanting bar represents His footrest, for those who do not believe in the humanity of our Lord, in his extreme pain twisted the footrest. Two thieves were crucified with Him . The upward slant represents the repentance of the Good Thief who said, "Lord remember me when you come into Your Kingdom" (Luke 23:42). The downward slant represents the thief on the left who mocked Him saying, "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us", Luke 23-39.

The Domes on the roof of the Orthodox Churches are usually onion-shaped. In the early history of the Russian Church, especially in Kiev, Ukraine the domes of the churches followed the typical Byzantine rounded style. Later, especially after the Mongol period Russian churches tended toward the onion domes which, in many places became quite stylized.

Where do people sit? In order to express to God our reverence before Him and our worship of Him, during prayer we stand and do not sit; only the sick and elderly are allowed to pray sitting down. Standing while at prayer is an ancient and God-ordained tradition. Therefore Christians, according to apostolic teachings, stand through the Divine Services, where it is often proclaimed, "Let us stand aright" or "Let us attend".

The present Church structure was built in 1895 to replace the first one which had fallen into disrepair. A $400 grant from the Holy Synod in St. Petersburg, Russia provided the funds for building materials. This Church has remained an active Church since then with Vesper services every Saturday night at 6:00 and Diving Liturgy (Mass) on Sunday mornings at 9:00. There are a couple of dozen who attend on average each Sunday.

Father Thomas Andrew, Resident Priest told us a lot about the Church and it's history. This is a place to visit if you come to Kenai, Alaska.