THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9605020418
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BETSY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 111 lines
With 60,000 people coming for dinner, what do you make?
Just for starters, try 18,500 twisted butter cookies (koulourakia), 12,000 plate dinners of barbecue lamb, 4,560 servings of moussaka, 8,088 helpings of spinach and feta cheese casserole (spanakopita) and 350 pounds of hand-mixed, hand-ground Greek sausage.
And did anyone mention the Greek beer yet?
The 10th annual Greek Festival, sponsored by Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral at 7220 Granby Street in Norfolk, begins today and runs through Sunday. The festival typically raises about $100,000 for the parish, with most of the money donated to Orthodox Church charities and local charities like the Salvation Army and the Food Bank of Virginia.
The festival is known in the region for its food, food and more food. That focus on earthly delights, however, often obscures another aspect of the festival: religion.
The Eastern Orthodox Church, say believers, is one of the best-kept secrets of the Christian faith. It is the umbrella for 15 national churches, including the Greek Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church.
Worldwide, there are 250 million members. In the United States, 10 national churches represent almost five million members, with approximately 4,000 of the faith in Hampton Roads.
``This ethnicity does not divide us,'' said Father Constantinos P. Rogakos, leader of the 1,000-member Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral. ``It is an enhancement to our faith, because everyone is free to worship in his own culture and his own language.''
``Orthodox'' means ``true belief,'' from the Greek words orthe and doxa. Historically, the Orthodox Church arose after the Day of Pentecost when the original apostles, or disciples, of Jesus Christ set out to preach the Gospel message to humankind.
That original Christian Church spread throughout the Roman Empire and was called ``Catholic,'' meaning ``universal,'' Rogakos said. It was also called the Orthodox Church to distinguish it from what believers viewed as heresies that sprang up at different times.
From the beginning, Christianity had to deal with such heresies, or so-called false teachings, so early church leaders began meeting to settle the disputes. The first such meeting is described in the New Testament in Acts, Chapter 15. From A.D. 325 to 787, a series of ecumenical councils met to determine true Christian doctrine.
Gradually, the church that had been a single body for almost 1,000 years began to split.
The greatest divisive issue was the Roman church's claim that its leader should be the leader of Christianity. The Eastern churches rejected this claim, believing there should be no single head of the church. This and other doctrinal debates led to the Great Schism of 1054. The Christian churches of the West became the Roman Catholic Church and the churches of the East became the Eastern Orthodox Church.
For Eastern Orthodox believers, all questions of Christian faith were settled by 787.
For them, dogma is not a dirty word, but a blessing. This uncompromising stance helped the faith endure hundreds of years of Muslim domination and decades of communist rule. It has also kept the faith pure in a free country like America, with its knack for assimilation.
Two major issues that rock the Roman Catholic Church today have been resolved in Orthodoxy.
Marriage for priests? ``A married man may become a priest,'' Rogakos said, ``but once a man is ordained, he cannot marry.'' Bishops cannot be married and are chosen from the pool of never-married priests and widowers.
Birth control? ``This is something to be discussed between the priest and the couple,'' Rogakos said. ``We don't think for them. We want them to think for themselves. We trust they have the sense and the fear of God to know what to do.''
Like his fellow Orthodox believers, Rogakos is proud his faith's adherence to Christianity's most ancient doctrines. He is unapologetic about its dogma.
``We have kept the primitive church,'' he said. ``That's the truth.''
NORFOLK - With 60,000 people coming for dinner, what do you make? MEMO: Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral is one of four Orthodox
churches in Hampton Roads. Church tours will be held during the Greek
Festival this weekend. Regular worship services are held Sundays, Matins
at 9 a.m. and Holy Eucharist at 10 a.m. For information call the
cathedral office, 440-0500.
FESTIVAL EVENTS
A schedule of activities at the 10th annual Greek Festival, held at
the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral at 7220 Granby Street in
Norfolk:
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Today, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
CHURCH TOURS:
Today through Saturday, 1:30, 3 and 6:30 p.m.
CHOIR CONCERT:
Sunday, 2:30 p.m.
COOKING SCHOOL:
Saturday, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. The barbecue lamb feast will be sold
Friday and Saturday from noon to 9 p.m. for $8.95 a plate.
Music and dance presentations will be held throughout the four-day
festival. Featured performers are the Annunciation Dancers; the
``Levendia'' dance troupe of Tarpon Springs, Fla.; the Hellenic Youth
Dancers of Newport News; the Pan Cretan ``Sfakia'' Dancers; and the
Greek band ``Pegasus.''
ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BILL TIERNAN, The Virginian-Pilot
Father Constantinos P. Rogakos of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox
Cathedral.
by CNB