In September 2022, St. Athanasius began a new 3-Year Forward in Faith Capital Campaign. Unlike our previous Building Campaign 2010-2016, which focused on getting our parish into our current Phase I building located at 100 Lime Lane, our current campaign is focused in a different way.
A 3-year effort with a $400,000 goal has been initiated that will serve as a kind of “bridge,” helping us ramp up pastoral and administrative work to meet the growth we are anticipating in the years to come. We learned from our Capital Campaign Study, conducted in fall of 2021, that our faithful want to focus this current campaign on broadening our capacity for pastoral ministry. They see expanding our ministry staff as the natural prelude to building our temple and developing mature daughter communities across the Commonwealth.
This Forward in Faith Campaign 2022-2025 will move us toward our longer-term goals in two key ways:
- By securing a second priest to assist Fr. Justin, helping us take our pastoral, missional, and administrative work to the next level; and
- By developing a comprehensive campus plan to meet both our immediate needs (particularly with regard to Sunday School) and to flesh out the full vision for our campus plan here at 100 Lime Lane.
Specifically, the Forward in Faith Campaign will raise (over 3 years) the funds to create a 5-year “financial bridge” to ease our parish into fully funding a second priest who will complement Fr. Justin’s work. Alongside our pastor, this second priest will assist Fr. Justin in all aspects of priestly ministry. This second priest, whom we hope to identify and have in place in Kentucky at some point in 2023, will also take an active role in parish administration, coordinating with lay leadership to create and maintain an integrated calendar of all parish ministries.
The Campaign will also resume work with our architect from Phase I, Tom Smith, to draw up final plans for our future temple and completed campus at 100 Lime Lane. Our architect is committed also to help us craft creative solutions to meet the needs of increasing instructional space in the near-term. Our hope would be to have final plans for our campus in-hand by the mid-point of this Capital Campaign period, sometime in late 2023.
Please prayerfully join us as we sow the seeds for our future growth in Jessamine Country and across the Commonwealth—and move Forward in Faith together! Also, please reach out to Fr. Justin if you would like to join in financially contributing towards this current campaign!
Our Forward in Faith Campaign has been guided by our vision as a parish, which includes both our general Mission Statement and and specific Core Values that are consistently important to us.
Who are we as a parish community?
Our Mission Statement: As Orthodox Christians, we, the faithful of St. Athanasius, are called to bear witness to Christ. We are committed to worshiping God in an Orthodox manner and to sharing our Faith through service to others.
What are our Core Commitments?
St. Athanasius Orthodox Church is guided by five core commitments:
- Liturgical worship of the Lord God remains at the heart of all that St. Athanasius does. Orthodox divine services–celebrated beautifully, prayerfully, and often–are the heartbeat of our parish life. Our prayer life itself flows from this rhythm of liturgical worship in the church.
- Cultivating a healthy and vibrant parish community remains an additional paramount priority. In the midst of a crazy world, we intentionally prioritize a warm parish culture of hospitality, friendship, and the integration of our people across generations and different cultural backgrounds.
- As a growing parish, our parish community affirms the importance of conciliar leadership and common responsibility. Under the pastoral care of our archbishop and led day-to-day by our parish pastor, our clergy and laity are committed to work together in a collaborative way, carrying out the many ministries of our parish with this conciliar commitment always in mind.
- Total spiritual formation, which also includes Christian education for young and old, remains a hallmark of Orthodox Christianity at its best. We strive to support that formation by having pastors readily available for Confession and spiritual direction, by offering a variety of classes, by encouraging pilgrimages and by connecting our people to resources for spiritual growth outside our parish walls. We are grateful for our formative ties to monasteries and seminaries and encourage our people to prayerfully consider God’s call on their lives.
- Embedded in these other priorities–and not least among them–is our commitment to prioritize outreach beyond the walls of our church. This focus on outreach touches on charity work–locally, nationally, and internationally–and also on our mission to share the Gospel, proclaimed in an Orthodox manner, across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
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Below is the information we posted in 2018 that announced the completion of our 2010-2016 Building Program. We have revised the text slightly, so that it is not confusing and does not conflict with current plans for our campus at 100 Lime Lane in Nicholasville.
Glory to God, our Building Capital Campaign Phase 1 construction was completed in 2016! Our original materials for our 2010-2016 Campaign can be found (slightly edited) below. As of 2022, we owe about $680,000 on our mortgage for the Phase 1 church. Interestingly, some money has come in for the final phase of construction (see the proposed master plan from 2014 above) including about $50,000 for future frescoing for our final church temple! We have our eye on the ball for this final phase in our church construction project! Here are some interesting details from our older Building Campaign 2010-2016:
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St. Athanasius Orthodox Church in Nicholasville, Kentucky serves Central Kentucky by witnessing to the fullness of the Christian faith through Orthodox Worship, strengthening our community through Fellowship, reaching out to others through Evangelism and Hospitality — especially helping those in need, and continuing in life-long formation and total parish education.
“God must have a big vision
for Kentucky.”
Our History
In February 2002, after a journey through the Evangelical Orthodox Church, the 25 founding men, women, and children of St. Athanasius were received into the canonical Orthodox Church under the care of the ever-memorable Archbishop Dmitri of the Diocese of the South of the Orthodox Church in America.
Since that auspicious beginning 10 years ago, our parish has seen dramatic growth, first under the pastoral leadership of Fr. David Rucker, currently serving as Associate Director of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center in Florida, and now under the leadership of our present rector, Fr. Justin Patterson.
Recognizing that St. Athanasius had achieved certain important goals with regard to liturgical life, ministry, attendance, tithing, and owning property, the Holy Synod of our Church granted St. Athanasius “parish status” in 2009. At present, our regular Sunday Liturgy rarely dips below 100 worshipers. We joyously anticipate the good things to come as we seek to build a proper church building (temple) in which to glorify God more publicly here in the Bluegrass State.
Worship remains at the heart of all that St. Athanasius does. On average, we hold some kind of liturgical worship five days per week in our parish. We also strive to maintain a real sense of community by hosting weekly parish meals after Liturgy, as well as monthly social events among our men and women. Among the ministries that St. Athanasius Church has continued to develop is a vibrant program of total parish education, including Sunday School for children and adults, classes for inquirers, ongoing catechetical instruction, and youth group. St. Athanasius is also fully engaged in service to those in need in the Bluegrass State.
Our Prayerful Vision
The faithful of St. Athanasius take seriously the call to bear witness to Christ and the preaching of Him in an Orthodox manner. We are here for only two reasons—to grow in Christ ourselves and, in serving others, to share this precious gift of our Faith with all those whom the Lord brings to us.
Part of this long-term vision of sharing the Gospel here in the Bluegrass State includes the establishment of a permanent Orthodox temple and parish campus that will express, by virtue of a physical presence, the grace of our Lord to the people of our community.
Our medium-term vision includes:
- Temple space for Orthodox worship ( for 250-300 people)
- Parish Hall space for fellowship (250-300 people)
- Location conducive to evangelism and hospitality, including hospitality to those in need
- Appropriate space for life-long formation and total parish education.
The completion of a permanent home for our parish will occur over three phases:
- Purchase Phase – Land Acquisition, Site Plan, and Design of a interim Church/Hall for Worship, Hospitality & Ministry
- Phase I – Construction of an interim Church/Hall
- Phase II – Construction a proper, free-standing Orthodox Temple, capable of accommodating 250-300 people
Project Timeline
Acquire property for permanent location- 2012 [done!]
Begin construction no later than December 2013 [done!]
Enter our interim Church/Hall at permanent location – 2014 [done!]
Complete a proper free-standing 300 seat Orthodox Temple space – 2020 [revised in 2022 to 2027…]
