From Publishers Weekly
The homespun mingles with the majestic in this affectionate account of a family's romance with an ancient form of Christianity. The author, a columnist for the Religion News Service, was a lapsed Roman Catholic who tried Hinduism before becoming a charismatic Episcopalian; her husband, Fr. Gregory, pastor of the Holy Cross Mission in Baltimore, is a former Episcopal priest. Homeschoolers who believed the Episcopal Church was "repealing the creed and condoning immorality," the couple has joined a contingent of evangelical Christians who have, in recent years, been converting to Eastern Orthodoxy. Mathewes-Green offers an intimate glimpse of this piece of the contemporary American religious landscape. Writing with charm and humor and a convert's zeal, she weaves reflections on family life, friendship and personal spirituality with descriptions of Orthodox worship and fellowship. However, she glosses over Orthodoxy's theology and ecclesiastical structure, focusing mainly on externals. As a result, lifelong Orthodox may feel this chatty depiction trivializes their faith, while outsiders may be frustrated by the lack of explanatory content. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
In this enlightening work, the author (Real Choices, Questar, 1994), a syndicated columnist with the Religious News Service and an occasional commentator for National Public Radio, explores the forms of worship and devotion in Orthodoxy. She takes the reader through a year of liturgical worship and social activity in the small, highly motivated congregation of Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church in Catonsville, Maryland, where her husband, a former Episcopal priest, is the founding pastor. Holy Cross is not a typical Orthodox parish, for most of its members (like the pastor and his family) are converts from Protestantism. The author's spiritual inclination, as the reader quickly learns, is toward charismatic and spirit-filled devotion. Enthusiastic and fervent, she often concerns herself with justifying her choice of Orthodoxy, and its devotional practices (e.g., the reverencing of icons), to the Protestants who constitute her main audience. Accessible and informative for casual readers and beginning students in religion, this work is suitable for both public and academic libraries.?James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, Va.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
With both humor and depth, NPR commentator and syndicated columnist Mathewes-Green describes a year in the richly liturgical life of the Eastern Orthodox Church, as experienced in a small Maryland parish founded by a group of recent converts. North America is currently witnessing a remarkable growth in the Orthodox Church, a faith distinguished by its icons, mystical writings, and vibrant ancient traditions. Mathewes-Green tells us what it's like to enter this unfamiliar and at first sight daunting world. Raised a nominal Catholic, she became a skeptic as a student and then embraced Hinduism, before returning to Christianity with her husband, Gary, as a result of an unexpected religious experience during their honeymoon. In 1977 Gary was ordained an Episcopal priest, but 15 years later, frustration with doctrinal and moral confusion in the Anglican Church led him, and eventually his wife and three teenage children, to Orthodoxy. Mathewes-Green's narrative is a 12-month journal, in which we get to know the 30-odd pioneers of the new parish as they make their way through their Church's intriguing cycle of festivals and fasts. We meet Gary in his new role as an Orthodox priest; Basil, a larger-than-life Greek who has rediscovered his early faith; and the young couples who form the bulk of this lighthearted but fervent community. Mathewes-Green intersperses anecdotes about her friends and family with vivid descriptions of the services and their ancient texts. While she succeeds in writing about this traditional Eastern Christian faith from a contemporary, distinctively American perspective, she does not pursue her insight that Orthodoxy has a special appeal to men, and she tends to play down the role of the different ethnic jurisdictions in American Orthodoxy. A mine of information about the customs and spiritual life of the Orthodox Church, presented in a very human and accessible way. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Publishers Weekly
"An illuminating glimpse of this piece of the contemporary American religious landscape...Writing with charm and humor..."


Kirkus Reviews
"A mine of information about the customs and spiritual life of the Orthodox church..."


Book Description
"He was an Episcopal priest, but he was standing in an Orthodox church on this Saturday night and thinking about the Truth. At the altar a gold-robed priest strode back and forth swinging incense,...a small choir was singing in haunting harmony, voices twining in a capella simplicity...the ancient words of this vesperal service had been chanted for more than a millennium. Lex orandi, lex orandi; what people pray shapes what they believe...."She was his wife, and she was standing next to him thinking about her feet. They hurt"Frederica Mathewes-Green became an unexpected companion on her husband's pilgrimage into a faith that is as novel to us in the West as it is ancient in the East. Like many Americans seeking a deeper faith, Mathewes-Green and her family found in Eastern Orthodoxy a faith both demanding and offering more in true devotion and spirituality. In this luminous, affectionate, and deeply personal account of her pilgrimage, Mathewes-Green reveals a church strongly rooted in the teachings of its early fathers and a tradition of principle and great beauty that has endured throughout the centuries.Following the framework of the Orthodox calendar -- from Lent to Pascha to Nativity, from Vespers to feasts to fasts -- Mathewes-Green chronicles a year in the life of her small Orthodox mission church. Discovering the splendor and solemnity of Orthodox ritual, exploring the daunting majesty of Orthodox services and customs, and sharing their daily anxieties, disappointments, and delights, the Mathewes-Green family and the members of the Holy Cross Mission Church reveal both the intricacies of Orthodox belief and the deep joy they have found in their new faith. At once entertaining, hilarious, and reverent, Facing East is an unforgettable portrait of the human vitality and divine essence of Eastern Orthodoxy.


About the Author
Frederica Mathewes-Green is a regular commentator for National Public Radio's All Things Considered and a syndicated columnist for Religion News Services.

ANNOTATION

In the tradition of Kathleen Norris's The Cloister Walk, this luminous chronicle of one woman's encounter with the ancient faith of Eastern Orthodoxy lifts a veil to show its enduring grace and power. 224 pp.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Frederica Mathewes-Green became an unexpected companion on her husband's pilgrimage into a faith that is as novel to us in the West as it is ancient in the East. Like many Americans seeking a deeper faith, Mathewes-Green and her family found in Eastern Orthodoxy a faith both demanding and offering more in true devotion and spirituality. In this luminous, affectionate, and deeply personal account of her pilgrimage, Mathewes-Green reveals a church strongly rooted in the teachings of its early fathers and a tradition of principle and great beauty that has endured throughout the centuries. Following the framework of the Orthodox calendar - from Lent to Pascha to Nativity, from Vespers to feasts to fasts - Mathewes-Green chronicles a year in the life of her small Orthodox mission church. Discovering the splendor and solemnity of Orthodox ritual, exploring the daunting majesty of Orthodox services and customs, and sharing their daily anxieties, disappointments, and delights, the Mathewes-Green family and the members of the Holy Cross Mission Church reveal both the intricacies of Orthodox belief and the deep joy they have found in their new faith. At once entertaining, hilarious, and reverent, Facing East is an unforgettable portrait of the human vitality and divine essence of Eastern Orthodoxy.

FROM THE CRITICS

Kirkus Reviews

With both humor and depth, NPR commentator and syndicated columnist Mathewes-Green describes a year in the richly liturgical life of the Eastern Orthodox Church, as experienced in a small Maryland parish founded by a group of recent converts.

North America is currently witnessing a remarkable growth in the Orthodox Church, a faith distinguished by its icons, mystical writings, and vibrant ancient traditions. Mathewes-Green tells us what it's like to enter this unfamiliar and at first sight daunting world. Raised a nominal Catholic, she became a skeptic as a student and then embraced Hinduism, before returning to Christianity with her husband, Gary, as a result of an unexpected religious experience during their honeymoon. In 1977 Gary was ordained an Episcopal priest, but 15 years later, frustration with doctrinal and moral confusion in the Anglican Church led him, and eventually his wife and three teenage children, to Orthodoxy. Mathewes-Green's narrative is a 12-month journal, in which we get to know the 30-odd pioneers of the new parish as they make their way through their Church's intriguing cycle of festivals and fasts. We meet Gary in his new role as an Orthodox priest; Basil, a larger-than-life Greek who has rediscovered his early faith; and the young couples who form the bulk of this lighthearted but fervent community. Mathewes-Green intersperses anecdotes about her friends and family with vivid descriptions of the services and their ancient texts. While she succeeds in writing about this traditional Eastern Christian faith from a contemporary, distinctively American perspective, she does not pursue her insight that Orthodoxy has a special appeal to men, and she tends to play down the role of the different ethnic jurisdictions in American Orthodoxy.

A mine of information about the customs and spiritual life of the Orthodox Church, presented in a very human and accessible way.