I was reading a thread in which someone wished to convert to Judaism and that the process can take a couple of years and one has to be accepted into the religion. This got me wondering...
How difficult is it for someone of another religion or faith or someone of no religion to convert to your religion? What does it take to be officially recognized as a (insert name of your religion here)?
For Christians coming from other denominations, it can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to become an Orthodox Christian. For people coming from other religions entirely, I have no idea since I haven't spoken with anyone who's converted to Orthodoxy from another religion about this particular subject, but I'd imagine it'd be more on the side of a year or more. In my case, I was coming from Roman Catholicism, but I took 8 years to fully decide to join because I wanted to be sure that Orthodoxy would remain home for me (which my priests were all perfectly cool with). The length of time depends on a lot of individual factors--familiarity with Orthodoxy, any areas where the inquirer has some problems with Orthodox teaching, feeling of readiness to commit oneself fully to the Orthodox Church, etc.
During this time, inquirers into Orthodoxy should get in the habit of going to Divine Liturgy every Sunday. Getting in touch with a priest to learn more about the Faith is essential. The priest will instruct the inquirer, either in more formal-style classes if there are many converts, or it may just be you and the priest sitting down with a couple books after Liturgy during coffee hour. At least in the English-speaking world, the go-to catechetical materials are generally Metropolitan Kallistos Ware's
The Orthodox Church and
The Orthodox Way. We also make use of Fr. Thomas Hopko's
The Orthodox Faith series of books. Other books can be thrown in from there as each individual priest sees fit, and depending on what the particular inquirer wants to/needs to learn more about.
Once the inquirer feels confident enough and the priest thinks the inquirer is ready, the inquirer is made into a catechumen. In some parishes, this is an official mini-ceremony. In other parishes like mine, the priest just pretty much says "K sweet you're a catechumen now". A date for the individual's baptism or chrismation is then set. This can be 40 days out, a few months out, or it can be a full year out, it depends on an individual basis. Many converts are received on Lazarus Saturday (the week before Pascha), on Pascha (Orthodox Easter) or on Christmas (in my case, I was received on the Sunday before Christmas). During the period of the catechumenate, it's standard practice during the Liturgy to pray the Litany of the Catechumens, where the catechumen is called forth before the Royal Doors and the priest intones a litany of prayers for the catechumens. Depending on the age of the catechumen, godparents or sponsors may be assigned at this point as well. The priest will advise the catechumen on how much they should worry about participating in the fasts of the Orthodox Church (generally they're told to not worry about it or are only given a very light fasting rule).
From here, the track deviates a bit. For those who have been baptized in some other Christian denomination in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, generally a baptism is not recognized as necessary, though there are some Orthodox jurisdictions which baptize all incoming converts, regardless of their former religious tradition. Previously baptized Christians will go to confession shortly before their reception into the Church and make a lifetime confession to Christ, confessing every sin they can recall ever having committed in their lives (some priests just have you confess all your sins since your baptism or since your last confession as a Catholic) though the priest does not yet pronounce Christ's absolution of your sins.
Now as far as the actual manner in which converts are received, that's up to the discretion of each individual Orthodox bishop, though everybody recognizes how everybody else receives converts as being valid, so there's no awkwardness for people who are actually received into the Church. The main practice for receiving previously baptized converts to the Orthodox Church is by chrismation, or anointing with oil on the forehead, hands, ears, chest, feet, and I think some other places I'm forgetting about. If the convert is a former Roman Catholic, it's often the case that only chrismation on the forehead happens (as was my case). The priest and the congregation pray for the catechumen, the catechumen says the Creed, the priest pronounces absolution of the catechumen's sins, and then the catechumen is chrismated. As the priest anoints each spot, he says "The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit", sealing the newly-illumined Orthodox Christian with the Holy Spirit. Then the Divine Liturgy starts up, with some bits changed to reflect the festal nature of the occasion. When it comes time for communion, the newly-received Orthodox Christian is the first to go up and receive the Eucharist. And that's it.
For people who weren't previously baptized or lack a valid baptism, there is no lifetime confession since they're being baptized anyway, but first the baptism ceremony happens in which they are exorcised, renounce Satan and all his works, give their lives to Christ, say the Creed, get baptized by immersion in water three times in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, then they are robed in white, and then they receive the full chrismation, and then they receive the Eucharist. Families being received into the Church also have their children baptized and chrismated, and the children (including infants) receive the Eucharist.
