How Old Is Your Church?

Lutheran founded by Martin Luther, an ex-monk of the Catholic Church, in the year 1517.
Church of England founded by King Henry VIII in 1534 because the Pope would not grant him a divorce with the right to re-marry.
Presbyterian founded by John Knox in Scotland in 1560.
Congregationalist founded by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.
Protestant Episcopalian branch of the Church of England founded by Samuel Senbury in the American colonies in the 17th century.
Baptist founded by John Smyth in Amsterdam in 1606.
Dutch Reformed Church founded by Michelis Jones New York in 1628.
Methodist founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1774.
Mormon (Latter Day Saints) founded by Joseph Smith in Palmyra, New York, in 1829.
Salvation Army founded by William Booth in London in 1865.
Christian Scientist founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1879.
Nazarene, Pentecostal, Gospel Holiness Church, Jehovah's Witnesses, and hundreds of other new sects founded within the past hundred years.
Roman Catholic founded in 1054 when the Pope of Rome broke away from the other four Apostolic Patriarchates (which include Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), by tampering with the Original Creed of the Church, and considering himself to be infallible. Thus, Roman Catholic is 1,000 years old.
Orthodox Christian founded in the year 33 by Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It has not changed since that time. The Orthodox Church is now almost 2,000 years old. And it is for this reason, that Orthodoxy, the Church of the Apostles and the Fathers is considered the true "one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church."
[Notes edited from an article by Rev. Dr. Miltiades Efthimiou]

Are Orthodox Catholic?

The term "catholic" is an adjective as well as a noun. "Catholic" actually means "universal" and was used early in church history to refer to the church as a whole. "Catholic" is also a noun commonly used to refer to the western Roman church which split from the east in what has come to be called the Great Schism.

Orthodox are not Roman Catholics and Roman Catholics are not Orthodox. The Roman church in the west (Rome and beyond) has evolved since the schism while the Orthodox have remained virtualy unchanged. Roman Catholic doctrines and practices today more closely resemble Protestants.

Orthodoxy has never experienced events such as the Reformation or Counter Reformation, but has maintained the fullness of the Gospel message since long before the additions that crept into the Roman Communion, such as the doctrines of Papal Infallibility and the Immaculate Conception. The Protestant Reformation has also greatly erred by accepting many of Rome's practices, such as the filioque clause in the Creed, while jettisoning many of the hallmarks of what the Church really is, such as the Historic Episcopacy of the Bishops. Almost all Protestant denominations owe their origins to the Roman Church's evolution through the filter of the Reformation.

Orthodoxy means "Right Thinking, Right Belief, Right action". Orthodoxy is the original church with unbroken unity and succession. Within it is contained the Faith of our Fathers and the original teachings of the Apostles.

[* Journey To Orthodoxy NOTE: After further research, I have discovered that, although the definition "universal" in reference to "catholic" is commonly used, it was a later development and is not accurate. "Catholic" actually means "wholeness" or "fullness" and is more accurately used to infer a spiritual state rather than a geographical one. ( JTO 7/26/07)]

What Orthodox Believe-Short and Simple

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible:

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Only-begotten, Begotten of the Father before all ages, Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:

Who for us men and for our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became man;

And was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried;

And rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures;

And ascended into the heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father;

And shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and the dead, Whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets;

In One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I Confess one Baptism for the remission of sins.

I look for the Resurrection of the dead,

And the life of the age to come, Amen.