Ethiopian Orthodox priests sing readings from the Bible in Geez at a measured pace. A service lasts three hours, with the priests and deacons standing for nearly the entire service. Only children and the elderly usually receive communion at the service at the Church of Our Savior, because most members do not want to risk receiving the sacrament while they are in a state of sin. While only men can become priests and deacons, women form the majority of the church's congregants, and are generally among the most active members. At the Church of Our Savior, they prepare a breakfast after services eaten with injera, a flatbread that is central to Ethiopian cuisine.
Many women maintain traditional customs at church services.
They wear a white shawl to church called a netela. Some women from northern Ethiopia have a small cross tattoo on their forehead. The church is a source of many traditions that have been maintained since before the 7th century, when the spread of Islam isolated Ethiopia from the rest of Christendom. It is unique among Christian churches in the extent to which members keep Jewish customs. Baby boys are circumcised eight to ten days after birth, and some maintain elements of Old Testament dietary laws.