For Complete Beginners

'I think I might believe in something - maybe a higher power - but I'm not sure I can call it God, and I'm completely new to all of this.  Is there anything to help me?'

Are you curious about church and what Orthodox Christians believe?  Do you believe in a higher power but aren't sure how to express that in your life?  Maybe you belong to a faith tradition that is something other than Christianity.  Or perhaps you have no faith background and you're not sure what you believe.

Then you're not alone.  In fact, you're in the company of hundreds of thousands of people in Britain today, and maybe even more.  A large number of people have something of God in their hearts or an idea of God in their minds and just don't know how to develop it.  Many people today were not raised with a background in a community of faith so don't necessarily have the tools to explore their beliefs or the language to express them.  Yet this doesn't mean that they don't want to.

So what is there for you?
While we can't claim that we have read everything that is available, we think that these resources listed below don't rely too heavily on jargon, and stand out as ones that you might just find useful.

• The Gospel According to St Mark - This is the earliest account of the life and public actions of Jesus Christ found in the Bible.  It is very accessible in its style and not too long for a beginner.  We plan to produce our own booklet with this text soon.  For now, you can follow the link to chapter 1, then click the button at the bottom for the next chapter until you reach the end.
• Orthodox Basics (9781916514010) - A beginner's introduction to Orthodox concepts of faith by Fr Jacob Siemens, ideal for individual reading or group discussion.
• An Introduction to God (ISBN 9781936270996) - An exploration of Who God is, what faith in God means, and why any of it matters, by Fr Andrew Stephen Damick.  A preview may be viewed here.
• The Orthodox Way (ISBN 9780913836583) - A gentle introduction to the quest for faith, by Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia.
• Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy (ISBN 9781936270132) - A superb book by Fr Andrew Stephen Damick, in which he explains in a matter-of-fact but sober and respectful manner what makes the Orthodox Church distinct from other systems of belief.

Why not also take a look at the rest of the Our Faith section of our website, especially the Multimedia Resources page?