This may seem like an elementary question, but how does one feel unwelcome at a church? I\'ve heard several times the case of people calling up the parish only to hear the question \\"Are you [fill in the ethnic blank]?\\" When you go to the church, do the parishoners sneer at you? Do the babushka\'s trip you on your way out? Or is it that you don\'t feel comfortable in the environment (the Old Slavonic or other church language, the ethnic flavor and identity, etc.)?
At all the \\"ethnic\\" Orthodox (and Eastern Catholic) parishes I\'ve attended, I\'ve been warmly received: OCA, Romanian, Antiochian, Ruthenian, Moscow Patriarchate, Ukrainian, Melkite, Maronite, etc. Haven\'t been to a Greek Divine Liturgy yet, but I know of people my age who were warmly received into a Greek church. The first Orthodox church I set foot in was an \\"ethnic\\" parish in the rust belt. The parishoners gave my friend and I antidoron, said they were glad we came, and the priest gave us a special welcome at the end of the liturgy. :) When I stayed overnight at the Ukrainian Catholic seminary for the March for Life, the Ukrainian seminarians cleaned my car of snow, and the Ukrainian bishop invited us into the photo shoot at the end of hierarchical Divine Liturgy. :)
Some of the ethnic churches I attended I didn\'t feel comfortable, but it wasn\'t because of the people; I just couldn\'t identify with the particular customs. Other places I\'m like, yeah that\'s me!
I\'ve found the people at ethnic churches to be warm at heart. And I think it good humor when the priest jests about \\"the Greeks,\\" \\"the Serbians,\\" or any other Orthodox group. I think it\'s great people have heritage.
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