THE EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH

personages: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They practice baptism by immersion and the laying on of hands to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Bread and water, the elements of communion or the Lord’s Supper, are blessed in a simple manner and all members partake. A unique belief of the Mormons is the doctrine of vicarious work for the dead, including the baptism of living proxies in behalf of the dead. They believe that people who are married in a Mormon temple are married for “Time and Eternity,” and that children of such marriages keep their position in the family through eternity. Persons not born of such marriages may be sealed into the family with living proxies for the dead. Mormon worship is prescribed and may be considered liturgical. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is evangelistic. Mormons are noted for their care of the poor. The church urges each family to keep extra supplies, and the church itself, through an extensive welfare program, produces and stores goods in a chain of farms, store- houses, groceries, and other facilities. The welfare program also includes an employment placement service. Mormon temples are devoted entirely to religious ceremonies and are closed to the general public. However, all meeting places, chapels, and recreation halls are open to visitors. Mormon churches contain facilities for worship, for instruction, and for recreation. They have several beautiful temples in the United States. Their headquarters is in Salt Lake City, Utah. The temple in Salt Lake City is a popular tourist attraction as is the tabernacle with its famous choir and organ. THE EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH.—The first Eastern Orthodox church in America was established in Kodiak, Alaska, following the arrival there of eight Russian Orthodox monks in the year 1792. Later, a chapel was built at a Russian trading post near present-day San Francisco. An episcopal see (a diocesan center) was established in San Francisco in 1872 and moved to New York City in 1905. The Russian Revolution of 1917, however, cut off the financial support that had come from the mother church in Russia, which was then fighting for its very existence under the new Bolshevik (communist-atheist) regime. At a Sobor (church assembly) in Detroit in 1924, the Russian Orthodox in America, while acknowledging their spiritual Russian heritage, asserted their administrative, legislative, and judicial independence of the Patriarch in Moscow. The Eastern Orthodox church represents one of the three major divisions within Christianity. In A.D. 1054 the Christian church divided into two separate groups—the Eastern Greek faction and the Western Latin faction. The Eastern Orthodox church was established by the Eastern faction. Government of the Eastern Orthodox church is episcopal. In the United States each Orthodox jurisdiction is incorporated, with a church assembly of bishops, clergy, and laity. The grades of deacon, priest, and bishop comprise the three orders in their ministry. The parish priests of the Orthodox churches may marry. The bishops, who may not marry, are chosen from among the monks. The Eastern Orthodox faith is based on the doctrinal decisions of the seven ecumenical councils. The last council was held in A.D. 787. They consider the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed as binding. They do not acknowledge the claim by the leader of Roman Catholicism (the pope) to 2-17