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Are modern churches missing the point? Fr. Seraphim Cardoza, an Eastern Orthodox priest, shares a heartfelt and eye-opening perspective on how today’s worship spaces have drifted from their sacred roots. From the removal of sacred icons to the increasing presence of entertainment elements and coffee bars, questions are being raised about what may be at risk for the spiritual depth of today’s churchgoers.
An honest and heartfelt conversation between Orthodox Priest Fr. Seraphim Cardoza and Evangelical Pastor Perry Atkinson. Rev. Archpriest Seraphim Cardoza was a former evangelical pastor of a hippie church who found his way to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. In 1995, he was ordained and assigned to minister to a small ROCOR congregation in Medford, Oregon, US. Fr. Seraphim Cardoza passed away in October 2023.
Video source: theDoveTV (April 15, 2014), watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/kYjsRxLKjpM
Fr. Seraphim:
The first thing you walked into church, instead of seeing a large icon, we say, or a large picture of Christ, high and lifted up, instead of seeing on the left a large icon, a picture, holy picture, if you will, of the Mother of God holding Christ, pointing to Christ, instead of looking on the right hand side where the men, instead of seeing all these men just like you and I, that died and gave their life for the faith, some were preachers, some weren’t. Well, when you walk into churches now, forgive me, I’m just saying what I’m seeing, you don’t see that, you look up there, you see instruments, you see piano, you see drums, you see what you see, theater cushion seats where you’re nice and cushy, you walk in you get all this coffee, you have your choice of 15 different kinds of coffee, how can you have reverence?
Soul, heart and body…
Okay… It’s foreign to you, I know, but I think I know your heart well enough. I think I do, that if Christ was to come here you would you would be at awe, you’d probably fall down on your face, you would forget everything else, who’s looking and who’s not looking, and so, in our worship, we do that, there’s a prayer, I say “Oh, Lord and Master of my life, the spirit of idleness, ambition, despondency and idle talking give me not.” And we do a prostation, we get down and we bow to Christ, our God, and then I stand up: “but rather, the spirit of chastity, humble-mindedness and patience bestow upon me, thy servant.”
And we do a bow, our body, our bodies, “Yea, O Lord, King, grant me to see my own failings and not condemn my brother for blessed art Thou to ages of ages, amen”. And our body worships, again, our body gets down, and so the object is not our soul, our body, our mind… The Church is our mother and she loves us, the Orthodox Church, the one I know about, it’s also a hospital, the Church, the Orthodox Church, the one I know about, and so when we come there it’s for healing, it’s not for entertainment… And yes, I want to be reminded that I’ve fallen down again and again and again and again. I want to be reminded that I’ve fallen down again and again and again and Sunday, when Christ has risen from the dead, I want to be reminded so am I.
