St. Athanasius Orthodox Church • Nicholasville/Lexington Kentucky

October in the Parish

Abp. Alexander to visit Oct. 25-27

October is a liturgically calm season in the Orthodox Church. For newcomers, this month is a great time to plug into church life:

Our Fall Catechesis (Christian Teaching 101) is in full swing each Wednesday at 720pm (immediately following our regular Wednesday Vespers at 630pm.) Newcomers and inquirers are welcome at these classes — alongside our official catechumens. The weekly series will conclude in mid-December.

Sunday School has resumed!  Children’s Sunday School (ages Pre-K through High School) takes place after the Liturgy (20-30 minutes) and our virtual Adult Sunday School is live each Thursday. You can join the online conversation each Thursday here.

Our Archbishop Alexander is planning his final visit to St. Athanasius before his retirement this October 25-27. Please mark your calendars for this festive weekend (when we also celebrate the newly-canonized St. Olga of Alaska!) You can see the full schedule on the calendar below and at the main schedule page here. Learn more about Archbishop Alexander here.

We welcome those who are in (or close to) Madison County to consider a visit our daughter community, St. Nina Mission (213 Pauline Drive #5, Berea, KY,) which helps extend the reach of the Orthodox Faith along the I-75 corridor & Wilderness Trail. St. Nina Chapel is drawing people from Somerset, London, Corbin, and beyond. We are now serving services twice a week on Tuesdays (630pm) and Saturdays (6pm.) We also are trying to serve two Sunday Liturgies per month in Berea. Our lead priest at St. Nina this year will be Fr. David Thatcher, who can be reached at fr.david@bluegrassorthodox.org.

Below is a collection of photos from October 2025, showing the full range of our parish life including both physical improvements at our church and a big annual multi-parish Fall St. Herman Campout (Sept. 26-28) that was held in Corbin, KY. We hope these photos inspire you to visit our church or mission (or one of the local Orthodox parishes.) If you have questions about our calendar or any aspect of our Faith or parish life, please reach out to our associate pastor Fr. Giorgi Lomsadze at fr.giorgi@bluegrassorthodox.org.

Transfiguration

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“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14).” Early in August the church celebrates the feast of the Transfiguration. As Christ’s disciples climbed the mountain with …

“On Earth as it is in Heaven”

Building

Andrew Gould, an Orthodox architect, has produced a beautiful article discussing the theology behind traditional Orthodox architecture. Suggested by Mary Lowell, it can be read here. It can also be found on the links page along with many other interesting articles and websites.

Letter from Dn. James

Building

Dn. James Bryant sent Fr. Justin a list of recommendations for our parish to consider during the building process. These are things we should keep in mind as we begin actualizing our dreams.

Next Steps: Making Vision Reality

Building

St. Athanasius Orthodox Church hosted architects Dn. James Bryant and Bob Latsko for presentations on June 28-29. A profusion of slides of Orthodox churches from around the world accompanied the presentations, giving parishioners a feel for what makes a building “orthodox.”

Summer Series on the Saints

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Wednesday nights for the next four weeks of the summer will feature “Prayer, Asceticism, and the Spiritual Life: The Teachings of the Church Fathers” a lecture series examining the encounter between Biblical thought and ancient philosophy. The series will be conducted by Dr. David …

Pentecost

Building

In celebrating Pentecost we held our first Sunday Liturgy on the land. We endured the heat and cicadas to enjoy a beautiful service. Following Liturgy we had a pleasant picnic before Kneeling Vespers. With less than a month to go before having the land paid off, the reality of building a church is …

Beginning to Brainstorm

Building

This past Thursday evening (July 10th), we launched a series of brainstorming sessions for our building needs on the Land. We began with Moleben before the relics of St. Athanasius. The prayers lent a real sense of peace to all that followed and kept us focused on the “One Thing …

Picking the Right Architect

Building

A great article in Q&A format about making the decision to pick an architect. It was sent to Fr. Justin by Mary Lowell, copied from the American Institute of Architects website:

It’s Time to Dream

Building

After almost a two-year hiatus, the St. Athanasius building committee gave a presentation Wednesday night on the history of the parish’s building program. Fr. Justin challenged those desiring to be part of this process to “dream big,” noting that there are “no wrong answers” about the project at …

Celebrating Pentecost

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On Pentecost Sunday, June 15th, St. Athanasius Orthodox Mission celebrated its first Sunday Liturgy on our Land on Chrisman Mill Road. About 80 people braved the heat (and cicada bugs) to pray with us on top of the hill. We served the Divine Liturgy at 9:30am. This was followed by a picnic and the …