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Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Christian Church

Warrenville, IL

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Our Parish

Our Parish

Welcome to our community.  We welcome all visitors, Orthodox and non-Orthodox alike, who desire to know the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  We also welcome you to join us in our services and events, or we would love to help you with any questions about our faith or inquiries about visiting.

Father Wilbur David Ellsworth in his study
         Father Wilbur David Ellsworth in his study

Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church in Warrenville, IL is a parish that takes the word “transfiguration” from the Apostle Paul as the entire foundation of our ministry. The transfiguration of fallen man is the entire mission of the Orthodox Christian Church: that “we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18; see also Romans 12:2).  In the midst of a broken world, this is the only reality which reveals Eternal Life here and now as the destiny of man in Jesus Christ.

Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church is a multi-generational parish that is growing in the experience of the transforming grace of what the New Testament Scriptures call the Mystery of Christ. This Mystery has been at the heart of the Orthodox Church throughout its nearly two thousand years of history.

Though we have come from various backgrounds–Anglican, Roman Catholic, Evangelical Protestant, Greek Orthodox, and non-religious–we have found a greater communion with God and with one another in this warm and loving community.

As Orthodox Christians, we recognize we have been given a great treasure in what is commonly called Holy Tradition. This does not mean we are merely committed to a past belief that cannot speak to the needs of the twenty-first century, but rather that God has graciously preserved in the Church the living truth through the faithful and godly teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, explained in Holy Scripture by the Apostles and maintained in the teaching of the Church Fathers throughout the centuries.

Rather than viewing Scripture and Tradition as competing authorities, we have experienced the fullness of the vision of Christ in all the Scripture, especially in the hidden but pervasive light of Christ in the Old Testament, an apostolic vision that transformed the imagination of first century Christians and forms the saving message of the Gospel of Christ.

This Gospel, rooted in Scripture, is taught and celebrated throughout our Church life in the richness of the biblical and historic patterns of the Divine Liturgy, where the preaching of the Word of Christ and the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist provide the light and energy for our life in Christ.

We experience this Mystery of Christ in the blessing St. Paul expressed in 2 Corinthians 13:14,

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God (the Father) and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ” – that is, the healing and life-giving power of salvation through the Son of God who took human flesh, lived in perfect faithfulness and true humanity, died for our sins, and rose again on the third day, all in accordance with the Old Testament Scriptures. This is the entry point for faith.

This faith in Christ opens us to “the love of God the Father,” the Fountain of all being, truth, and goodness. The Father sent His Only Begotten Son into the world both to reveal His love and to accomplish the work of His love in the salvation of sinful humanity, and ultimately the full restoration of all Creation.

The wonder of this Divine Mystery is beyond human understanding and can never be fully explained or proved. However, in the midst of Mystery the Church stands as a humble servant to celebrate in worship, to teach what has been revealed in Scripture, and to offer humble service to those around us who are in need, both physically and spiritually. The Church draws us into a closer relationship with God. This is what St Paul calls “the communion of the Holy Spirit,” a great mystery which culminates in the Holy Eucharist.

See more about Our Faith.


We are part of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and we are currently the only Orthodox Church in Warrenville, IL

Parish photo

Our Bishop +ANTHONY and our Patriarch +JOHN

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