ROCKFORD (WREX) — Members of Rockford's Orthodox Christian community gathered at the Tinker Swiss Cottage on Sunday for a Blessing of Water service at Kent Creek.
There are many traditions within the Orthodox Church, some focused on spiritual guidance, others focused on growth.
"Bringing life to all life here through Christ," says Jeremiah Erber, Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church member.
"We're not giving up on this place, it's not a stepping stone for bigger and better cities," says Jonathan Bannon, Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church priest. "We're here where we are and it's a place to bloom."
The ceremony is a series of rituals and prayers church leaders perform on a body of water.
Members of the church say the blessing of water can lead to the blessing of all things.
"In the ancient world, it was believe that all of life had the element of water in it, some how, it's just something they believed," says Bannon. "When we go out and ask the lord to bless water, we are in fact asking him to bless all of creation; people of Rockford, everything."
Church leaders say they wanted to bless Kent Creek because they see a transformation happening in Rockford and they want to be a part of it.
"When I first arrived to Rockford," says Bannon, "it seemed like there was this beautiful movement of wanting to reach higher and go further."
Several congregations were represented in Sunday's service. One member says seeing other churches supporting the ceremony shows the importance of coming together when so many people are divided.
"It's a significant sign of unity that we from our various traditions and backgrounds come together and enter into this celebration together, " says Erber.
Orthodox leaders say the power of transformation is in all religious acts.
"There's something there to speak to the heart that's suffering. Human condition is broken and God fixed it, saved it transfigured it," says Bannon.
Sunday's Blessing of Water service was the seventh of it's kind in the Rockford area.
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January 20, 2020 at 09:11AM
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Rockford Orthodox Christian community gathers for traditional water blessing ceremony - WREX-TV
"traditional" - Google News
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