We welcome all who seek the fullness of God. It is our deepest hope that our joy will be manifest to all whom God sends to us. Visitors often note our warm hospitality. Come worship the holy Trinity with us; then stay and share your story over a cup of coffee. We hope that you, too, will find a home for your soul, wherever God leads you. Our own pilgrimage has been winding, so we endeavor to be considerate of those who are searching for God.
We are a mission of the Diocese of the South of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), under his eminence Dmitri, archbishop of Dallas and the South. We are the first OCA mission in Kentucky, though we were preceded by sister parishes in other jurisdictions. We number around 50 adults and children. (With an emphasis on children!)
Our church was first founded in the summer of 1996 with the name Christ the Life-giver, as a mission of Holy Trinity Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC). (Holy Trinity is now St. John the Forerunner parish in the Diocese of the Midwest, OCA.) The EOC began as a communion of evangelical churches searching for continuity with the historic Christian church. The majority of churches were received into the Antiochian Archdiocese under the spiritual care (or omophorion) of his eminence, Metropolitan Philip, in 1987. (For more information, see Becoming Orthodox, by Archpriest Peter Gilquist, or the parish history of St. Athanasius Antiochian Orthodox Church.) Some churches were not yet ready to make this step, and our bishop, Samuel, was one of those who took this path. After Bp. Samuel’s retirement in December of 2000, we were under his grace, Christopher, Bishop of Terre Haute (EOC). He graciously held our parish with open arms as we transitioned from his guidance to the leadership of his eminence, Archbishop Dmitri.
We were received into the OCA by confession, chrismation, and communion on the feast of the Encounter of Our Lord in the Temple (February 2) 2002. (This feast is also sometimes called the Presentation.) We were given Saint Athanasius the Great as our patron. This means that “Saint Athanasius” is our name, and we ask holy Athanasius to pray with us. This was our second foundation, as it were.
Priest David was raised to the diaconate on the Feast of Ss. Peter and Paul, June 29, 2002, and subsequently to the priesthood on All
Saints, June 30. We look forward to many years of communion in the OCA.