After two years of reader services, the Eastern Orthodox Christians of Poplar Bluff will have the opportunity to partake in their first Divine Liturgy in the city at 9 a.m. this Saturday at 502 Vine Street.
Local resident Travis Crihfield has been slowly growing the presence of the Eastern Orthodox Church in Poplar Bluff for the past two years. He stated he found Eastern Orthodoxy through a years-long course of self-study. Starting with six members, the congregation will sometimes see 15-20 in attendance with visitors.
“We started as kind of a home church,” Crihfield said.
Outgrowing the space in his living room, the owners of 502 Vine offered the basement for services. In the absence of a priest, he reads passages from the Bible for a reader service.
Crihfield explained the Poplar Bluff parishioners have to travel to Jackson, Missouri to participate in the Divine Liturgy. The priest conducting the service in Jackson travels from St. Louis.
He noted the Divine Liturgy is roughly equivalent to Mass in the Catholic Church. Without a priest, the parishoners are limited to reader services.
After steadily attracting more regular attendees, Crihfield said the Poplar Bluff parish has grown enough for the priest to perform the Divine Liturgy in the city. The priest will perform rites first officialized by John Chrysostom in the 5th century. The service will be in English with some Greek and Aramaic sections promptly translated afterward.
“I don’t know if this will be regular,” he said, but expressed excitement over the opportunity.
Crihfield also runs a Facebook page for those interested in Orthodox Christianity in the region. According to the page, he hopes to establish a full mission like Jackson’s in the city.
“Lots of visitors are younger men in their 20s and 30s,” Crihfield elaborated.
Attendees can also expect a free lunch and refreshments after the service.