The Orthodox Church is the collection of independent churches that practice Orthodox Christianity. You have probably heard of the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches, but there are other churches included as well. St. Nicholas Orthodox Church is a parish that belongs to the Antiochian Orthodox Church.

Each parish in the Orthodox Church is led by a priest, the head pastor, sometimes with other priests and deacons. A group of parishes in a region (for example, North America) is called a diocese, which is led by a bishop. The bishop leads all priests under him, and is the highest rank in the Orthodox Church. Technically, all bishops are equal; however, some bishops are given special honors for leading historical dioceses, such as those of Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Antioch. There is no bishop above other bishops in the Orthodox Church.

As Orthodox Christians, we believe that God is a Holy Trinity--Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--three persons in one nature. We believe that the Son of God became incarnate, taking on human nature by being born as a man by the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit. This man's name is Jesus, whom we call both Christ ("anointed one" or "Messiah") and Lord.

We believe that this same Jesus--fully God and fully man--suffered, died, and resurrected for our salvation. Salvation means that we are both saved from sin and death, and saved for union with God through Christ. The eternal process by which we become more like God, by grace, is called theosis (or "deification"). We participate in God's salvation for us by living a holy life in imitation of Jesus, and by partaking of the sacraments--such as Baptism and Communion. We believe we are saved by “faith working through love” (Gal 5:6). A true faith is inseparable from "good works," but we are saved entirely through faith and by the grace of God.

We follow the Holy Bible, a collection of 76 books (49 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament) that we believe to be inspired by the Holy Spirit, Who guides us in truth. You might notice we have more books in our Old Testament than other groups do. This is because the Orthodox Old Testament follows the Greek Septuagint, a translation from the third century B.C. which contains more books than the Hebrew Masoretic Text that other groups use. There books are sometimes called the "Apocrypha" or "Deuterocanon," and include the Wisdom of Sirach, 1-3 Maccabees, and more.

We consider the Holy Bible to be a part of the "Holy Tradition," which includes other sources that we follow so that we can better understand and experience the faith revealed in the Holy Bible. These other sources include sacred hymns, writings by saints, and icons. You will probably notice the icons as soon as you walk into an Orthodox church. Because Jesus became incarnate and visible to the human eye, we believe that He and His followers can be depicted in sacred artwork. Orthodox Christians sometimes, kiss or bow to icons, asking saints to pray for them. None of these practices are the same as worship, which belongs to the Holy Trinity alone.