Welcome!

If you’ve never been to an Orthodox church before, please browse around. We hope you’ll find enough information here to make you feel right at home!

If you have any questions, please contact either Father Mark or send us a general message and we’ll get back to you.

Address

211 E Carlton Ave

Meridian, ID 83642

Email

web@holytransfiguration.church

Phone

208-375-9630

There are so many services!
Which one do I attend?

Our church calendar can be a little intimidating if you’ve never been to an Orthodox church before.

While the Divine Liturgy is the fullest “Orthodox experience”, a smaller service might be more suitable depending on your comfort level.

Orthros

This service is somber, in preparation for the Divine Liturgy. We keep the lights off during this service. You’ll hear the 6 Psalms, the Gospel, and the Synaxarion (commemoration of the saints)

Vespers

Our liturgical day begins with the setting of the sun and Vespers begins the cycle. It takes us from creation to sin to salvation and helps us meditate on God’s love for man.

Divine Liturgy

The Divine Liturgy transcends time and space, where we worship with all saints, past and present. You’ll hear the New Testament reading, the Gospel, a homily, as well as partake in the Eucharist (Orthodox only).

Festal Services

The festal services take the form of the base service (Orthros, Vespers or Liturgy), but you’ll hear hymns and commemorations specific to the feast or fast being celebrated. Liturgies held on days other than Sunday will generally not have a homily.

Your First Visit

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You are welcome here. We are always honored to have visitors join us for prayer and worship.

All of our services are in English.

You won’t be asked to do anything which would make you uncomfortable.

We don’t expect visitors to contribute anything to the financial support of our parish or our programs.

We expect Christian children to be raised in the Church and to do that, they have to be in the Church and worship with us. If you have young children, they are welcome here, too. If you need to step to the back of the Church with your child for any reason, you are not disturbing us.

If you need any assistance at all, please let us know. We are here to be of service to you. There are usually greeters just inside the front door or you can always ask one of the parishioners.


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There is usually a lot of commotion during the early part of the service, with people walking up to the front to kiss the icons, light candles, pray, etc. Even though you may be “on time”, this is perfectly normal. Our services run together – there is no break between Orthros and the Divine Liturgy. So there is an almost continuous flow of activity, unlike arriving on time to sit in a pew.

Traditionally, we stand for the entire service, but there are chairs around the walls for those who are unable to do so. Because our children are in the service with us, you’ll often find them sitting on the floor at their parents feet.

We make the sign of the cross frequently. Sometimes we add a metania (bow) to the sign. We make the sign using our right hands, going from right to left (pushing across ourselves). Whenever we make the sign of the cross, we reinforce our faith. It holds a great deal of symbolism for us.

We kiss stuff. A lot. When we come into the church, we kiss the icons. Some parishioners will kiss the chalice when receiving the Eucharist; we kiss the cross during the blessing at the end of the liturgy and some will kiss the priest’s vestments during the Great Entrance. If you are not comfortable being greeted with a kiss before we partake of the Eucharist, feel free to extend your hand in greeting. Waving hello works too!

About seventy-five percent of our service is congregational singing, with no instruments. Don’t feel bad if you simply stand by and take in the beautiful music. It can take quite a while before learning all the words and tunes.

Orthodox worship is laden with adjectives, extended clauses, and is generally not quick and concise. When the priest (or deacon) sings “Let us complete our prayer to the Lord” you can expect to still be standing there 15-20 minutes later. The original liturgies were over five hours long. Our current liturgy runs about two hours (not including Orthros).

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