As seen on Greensboro Daily Photo yesterday, The Greek Festival is still going strong at the Dormition of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church. We wanted to take you inside and show where church services are held. This is a partial view of the iconostasis. The iconostasis is a wall of religious paintings that separates the sancuary from the nave (the place where worshipers stand). To the non-orthodox, this iconostasis looks very elaborate. However, it is really somewhat humble when one considers some of the elaborate, multiple-tiered iconostases in Europe (see here).

Icons date back to the early years of Christianity. The placement of the paintings and their subjects tell the story of Christianity and reveal saints and events important to the given church. This visual storytelling was especially important in earlier centuries when many people could not read. Above, the icon to the right of the holy doors is Christ the Pantokrator and represents his second coming. The icon on the left is Theotokos, or the Virgin Mary, symbolizing Christ’s entrance into the world. Therefore, the Holy Doors in between, leading into the sanctuary, represent everything that is taking place between Christ’s first and second coming.

This small photo, combined with our previous “Sacred Sunday” entries is an example of the religious diversity in Greensboro.