St Tikhon's Monestary 08/24/25 - PA state police officer in uniform at the Divine Liturgy?

Edit: After reviewing the video again, he can be seen receiving communion at 1:33:19. That makes me feel a little better that he wasn't there in an official capacity. I really don't like seeing that uniform in the church during services.

I was watching the Divine Liturgy at St Tikhons this morning and about half way through a Pennsylvania state police officer appears near the front, clearly visible on the livestream.

I immediately got a very weird vibe seeing this. At one point he turns his head and begins looking around the room to the side, rear, and above (I don't know the exact layout of the space, but he appeared to be looking for something or someone).

He had a black police vest on over his uniform with a badge visible on his arm. Not sure if it's actual body armor but it feels very wrong and out of place to me. He was visible for approximately 12 minutes in total and when the camera switched he was gone. He did not go up for a blessing after the service.

Even if he is an Orthodox Christian, is it appropriate for a (presumably armed) law enforcement officer in full uniform, possibly body armor, to be inside of a church during the Divine Liturgy?

My personal opinion is if he was there in some kind of official capacity that is very wrong. And if he was there as a private citizen/worshipper he should change into civilian clothes before entering the church. And if he can't do that he should not attend.

We have a uniformed officer at my church.

Why would this be an issue?

Furthermore, the clergy clearly are encouraging and accepting of this, who are you to imply it's wrong?

In Orthodox countries, you'll see stuff like this all the time. Military/police/etc personnel attending Liturgy in uniform. Often a dress uniform for a formal event (like a procession) or a standard duty uniform if they need to get back to work/duty right after Liturgy.

It would honestly be a bit distracting to see someone standing in front of you at liturgy wearing body armor that says "Police" in big white letters. But let's leave it up to the clergy's discretion, it is not our place to decide the rules. We should just be happy that there are some Orthodox men in our police forces.

Nothingburger.

My first guess is the police man needs to get to work right after liturgy, and doesn't have time to change clothes. So he comes in his work clothes.

I've seen doctors do similar things as well. Busy people make time for Church by being practical. God doesn't care what you wear to Church.

Samseau said:

My first guess is the police man needs to get to work right after liturgy, and doesn't have time to change clothes. So he comes in his work clothes.

I've seen doctors do similar things as well. Busy people make time for Church by being practical. God doesn't care what you wear to Church.

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It really doesn't matter one way or the other. The Priests communes him.

There isn't a need for an explanation to us the non-communicants.

It is blessed.

At first I couldn't see he received communion so it seemed out of place. I personally consider a police officer in uniform as a government official and imho they have no business stepping foot inside of a church during the Divine Liturgy. As for doctors and other civilians, they generally aren't armed agents of the state who are tasked with enforcing the often unjust laws of man by violence and who frequently abuse their power to harm or kill innocent people in the street.

That being said after researching this topic it seems to be generally permitted for un-armed officers or soliders to attend the liturgy and "not that big of a deal", as others have suggested (though not in my experience), however there is an important distinction regarding being armed or not. If that were the case it would most definitely not be appropriate, but since we cannot see if he was armed or not in this case there is nothing further to add.

However for those saying "well if the priest allows it then it must be okay" I will say that is usually the case, and Orthodoxy is much better about this than most. I would always give a member of the clergy the due respect and benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise, but I hope you all realize that as Orthodox Christians we are called upon to question and hold them accountable and even in rare circumstances to disobey. I could provide so many examples, Covid-19 "pandemic" being the most obvious, but I'll just leave a few quotes and move on.

So, to answer the question "Who do you think you are to question something like this?" -- I am an Orthodox Christian.

• St. John Chrysostom: “The Church is not walls, but the truth of faith.” He cautioned that bishops and priests could err, and that their authority stands only insofar as they preserve true doctrine.
• St. Basil the Great wrote that when bishops deviate from the truth, laypeople must “cling to the faith of the Fathers,” even if that means separating from false shepherds.
• St. Maximus the Confessor (7th century) resisted both Patriarchs and Emperors who embraced heresy, standing alone for Orthodoxy. He was imprisoned and mutilated, yet later vindicated by the Church.
• St. Mark of Ephesus (15th century) rejected the false union with Rome at the Council of Florence, standing against nearly all other hierarchs. His resistance preserved Orthodoxy.

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Seng Hock said:

By now, it’s clear that the policeman is present to participate in the liturgy—not as a state spy.

However, I don’t believe that justifies attending the service in full body armor. Beyond being distracting and somewhat impolite—after all, when entering someone’s home or, in this case, a place of worship, people typically remove their hats and jackets—it also gives the impression that he was sent by the state to monitor or surveil the church.

Moreover, why would he wear heavy armor throughout the liturgy? For his own comfort, I would suggest he remove it and place it beside or beneath him, or store it somewhere safe within the church.

Think about this: what if someone planned to go to the farm after liturgy and showed up wearing a conical hat? Or someone intended to ride a motorcycle afterward and attended the service wearing a full-face helmet? It would feel out of place, wouldn’t it?

Personally, what interest me most was the chant at the 1:32:20 mark—“Receive the Body of Christ.” The tone is exactly the same as in our church. I’m glad to discover that this tone is actually used internationally, and not just something our local church came up with.

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You don't have any idea what the circumstances are. For all you know he was a parishioner and also serving as security.

The preist blessed it so our commentary really has nothing to do with it and our "feels" on the subject are quite immaterial.

Get2choppaaa said:

You don't have any idea what the circumstances are. For all you know he was a parishioner and also serving as security.

The preist blessed it so our commentary really has nothing to do with it and our "feels" on the subject are quite immaterial.

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It's perfectly correct to point out we don't know the specific details and say we shouldn't judge. I said as much before and that's also why I updated my OP once I noticed the man communed. And it's also okay to state our general beliefs on the subject. I never personally attacked anyone or said anything inappropriate, and I stand by my position that the mans presence was inappropriate. The way you keep coming back to argue about this, it's like you are somehow threatened because someone stated their opinion on the Internet. You don't need to read or respond if it bothers you so much.

That being said, your insistence on blind obedience at all costs is disappointing. Remember when almost all the Orthodox churches shut down for months during the scamdemic, and made people wear masks, etc? The priest or bishop or whoever blessed that too, and it was a heresy. At least ROCOR mostly got that one correct, but most didn't. It is normal and healthy in the Orthodox Christian faith to observe and even question things like this. Were you gatekeeping covid threads on RVF and telling everyone to just do whatever the priest says, because it is blessed? I doubt it.

If anything it's distracting for parishioners. But again, we don't know the circumstances.