Originally this petition was a response to the ostensible ordaining of Deaconesses by the Patriarch of Alexandria. Subsequent investigation revealed it was not an ordination at all but a kind of provisional blessing of women who served the Church. Nevertheless, despite the misinformation (or perhaps because of it), many concerned clergy and laity opposed the movement because it is poorly informed and politically driven.
Another attempt to resuscitate the question is being made by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarch, the same organization that gave a human rights award to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the notorious abortion activist who advocates the killing of the unborn up to the moment of birth.
The moral illiteracy exhibited in giving Governor Cuomo a human rights award should give anyone pause about this most recent effort by the Archons. We should also remember that all other Christian communions that have ordained deaconesses and priestesses have for the most part collapsed.
The question asked about ordaining women to the office of deacon is “Has the time come?” The answer according to over 230 signers below is “No.” Feel free to add your signature if you agree.
If you would like to be included as a signatory please scroll to the bottom of the page.
Press Release: Orthodox Clergy and Laity Take Stand against Deaconesses
January 15, 2018
WASHINGTON — Fifty-seven Orthodox Christian clergymen and lay leaders, including the heads of two leading Orthodox seminaries in the U.S., have issued a public statement calling on church leaders to defend Orthodox teaching on the creation and calling of man as male and female by opposing the appointment of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church.
The statement comes in response to a public statement issued in October by nine Orthodox liturgical scholars in the U.S. and Greece, expressing support for the Patriarchate of Alexandria’s November 2016 decision to “restore” the ancient order of deaconesses and its February 2017 appointment of deaconesses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Roman Catholic Church has also taken the first step toward the appointment of deaconesses with Pope Francis’s 2016 establishment of a commission to study the issue. That commission is headed by Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Half of the commission’s members are women. One of them, Phyllis Zagano, professor of religion at Hofstra University, is a well-known advocate of deaconesses.
Several Protestant churches, including Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians, began appointing women as deaconesses in the nineteenth century. Most have since ordained women to all higher orders such as priest and bishop.
The statement by the Orthodox opponents of deaconesses takes issue with the liturgists’ representation of the place of deaconesses in Orthodox tradition and raises serious doctrinal issues relating to the appointment of deaconesses. It also questions whether Alexandria’s appointment of deaconess in the Congo revived an ancient order or instituted a new order with an old name.
The signers include 35 priests and seven deacons, as well as 15 laity (including four women) who are college professors or journal editors. They belong to seven Orthodox jurisdictions: the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America (AOCANA), the Ecumenical Patriarchate (in the United Kingdom), the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOAA), the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria (Africa), the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR), and Mt. Athos in Greece.
For more information, contact Protodeacon Brian Patrick Mitchell at protodeaconpatrick@gmail.com.
A Public Statement on Orthodox Deaconesses by Concerned Clergy and Laity
The Patriarchate of Alexandria’s appointment of six “deaconesses” in the Congo in February 2017 has prompted calls in some corners for other local churches to follow suit. In particular, a group of Orthodox liturgical scholars has issued an open statement of support for Alexandria, declaring that the “restoration of the female diaconate is such that neither doctrinal issues nor authoritative precedents are at stake.”1
We, the undersigned clergy and laity, beg to differ and are writing now with three purposes: to question what was accomplished in the Congo, to clarify the historical record on the place of deaconesses in Orthodox tradition, and to point out the serious doctrinal issues raised by the appointment of deaconesses.
First, as to what was accomplished in the Congo, we note that the Patriarch of Alexandria did not use the Byzantine rite of ordination for deaconesses.2 He laid hands [cheirothetisa] on one woman making her “Deaconess of the Mission” and then prayed over five other women using a “prayer for one entering ecclesiastical ministry,” a generic blessing in the Greek-language archieratikon for a layman starting church work. He did not bestow an orarion upon any of the women yet had the five women assist in washing his hands, as subdeacons would. All this was done not during the Divine Liturgy, as with an ordination, but at its end. These facts, plus anecdotal reports from Africa that these new deaconesses have been assigned the duties of readers, call into question the claim that what happened in the Congo was truly a “restoration of the female diaconate,” for their manner of making and assigned duties bear only partial resemblance to those of ancient deaconesses.
Second, what can be said with certainty about the historical presence, role, and status of deaconesses in the Orthodox Church is that setting apart women as deaconesses was just one of several ways the early Church sought to protect the modesty of women by entrusting certain women with certain duties such as assisting in baptizing and anointing adult women and visiting women in their homes where and when men were not permitted, strictly within the limits specified for women by the Holy Apostles in Holy Scripture. The duties and status of deaconesses varied with time and place, as did the way deaconesses were appointed. The same duties were also assigned to widows, laywomen, male clergy, or nuns, so the need for deaconesses did not exist universally. Much of the ancient Church never had deaconesses. Outside Syria, Anatolia, Greece, and Palestine, deaconesses were rare to nonexistent.3
Deaconesses were also not without controversy. Several local councils prohibited their appointment (Nîmes in 396; Orange in 441; Epaone in 517; Orleans in 533), and many texts testify to the concern of Church Fathers to minimize their role, sometimes in favor of widows. The order appears to have peaked in the fifth or sixth century, surviving mainly in major eastern cities as an honorary office for pious noblewomen, the wives of men made bishops, and the heads of female monastic communities. The twelfth-century canonist Theodore Balsamon wrote that the “deaconesses” in Constantinople in his day were not true deaconesses. A century later, St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, ordered that no new deaconesses were to be made. Scattered proposals and attempts to appoint deaconesses again in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries did not receive enough support to cause a lasting revival of the order. Even now, other autocephalous Orthodox Churches have not rushed to follow the example of Alexandria.
Third, some blame resistance to deaconesses on a worldly, purely cultural prejudice against women, but that accusation treats the Church herself unfairly, even contemptuously, by ignoring legitimate prudential objections to the making of deaconesses motivated by genuine concern for the preservation of truly Christian and plainly Apostolic respect for the distinction of male and female, to which our post-Christian world is increasingly hostile.
The liturgists’ statement itself gives cause for such concern. Its argument for “reviving” the order of deaconess is not based on the needs of the women to be served by deaconesses—needs that somehow require ordination, needs that nuns, laywomen, laymen, or male clergy are not already meeting. Rather, the statement’s argument is based on the supposed need of women to be deaconesses. Making them deaconesses would be a “positive response” to the “contemporary world,” an “opportunity for qualified women to offer in our era their unique and special gifts,” and a “special way” to emphasize the “dignity of women and give recognition to her [sic] contribution to the work of the Church.”4 Such justifications denigrate the vocation of Orthodox laity, implying that only clerics serve the Church in meaningful ways, contrary to Orthodox belief that all Orthodox Christians receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit and a personal calling to serve the Church at Holy Chrismation.
The liturgists’ statement also makes clear that they do not intend a true “restoration” of the ancient order of deaconesses; their aim is a new order of clergywomen authorized to do things never done by Orthodox deaconesses and in some cases explicitly forbidden by Apostolic ordinance and Church canons. They would have women preach, which the Apostles and Fathers never allowed in church. They leave open the question of other liturgical duties, admitting no limitation that bishops must respect. They question which “qualities and qualifications” truly matter, doubting whether deaconesses must be mature and unmarried, despite the ancient rule, most forcefully insisted upon in the sixth century by St. Justinian as emperor, that deaconesses be at least middle-aged and remain celibate as deaconesses.5
The liturgists’ most ominous assertion is their subtle note, in anticipation of popular opposition, that “adequate preparation and education” are needed not of the women to be appointed deaconesses but “of the people who will be called upon to receive, honor, and respect the deaconesses assigned to their parishes.” Clearly, they foresee the need to force clergy and laity to accept deaconesses, which is hardly trusting of the Holy Spirit or respectful of the Orthodox Church’s traditional regard for episcopal authority.
In sum, the statement’s emphasis on gratifying women, disregarding tradition, and resorting to force gives evidence of a feminist perspective and approach consistent with the faithless western world but not with the Orthodox Church. More evidence of the liturgists’ perspective is available elsewhere. For example, two of the liturgists have called for the removal of Ephesians 5 from the Rite of Crowning on the grounds that it is inconsistent with modern thinking and therefore likely to be misunderstood. They suggest a different epistle or perhaps a sanitized version of Ephesians 5 without verse 33 (“Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence [phobetai, fear] her husband.”).6
Given this state of faith, we believe the appointment of deaconesses in any form in the present era is likely to divide the Church and distress the faithful by challenging the Church’s basic understanding of human nature. God has made every one of us either male or female and ordained that we live accordingly as either a man or a woman. He has also provided us with many authoritative precepts distinguishing men and women, in the Law, in the Holy Apostles, in the canons of the Church, and in the literature of our Holy Fathers, in passages too numerous to cite. But if laws and canons and precepts are not enough to turn us to repentance, God has given us two distinct models of perfected humanity, one male and one female: Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God, and His Most Pure Mother, the Theotokos, whose icons stand always before us in worship as reminders of what we are meant to be as men and women.
Yet there are advocates of deaconesses who wish to see women treated the same as men in the Church as in the world and who therefore use the rite of “ordination” (cheirotonia) of deaconesses in a handful of Byzantine service books to argue that deaconesses were once “major clergy.” These advocates covet the rank, honor, and authority of the clergy. Some would have deaconesses be just like deacons, only female. They would up-end the natural and economical order of male and female to raise women over men in the hierarchy of the Church. They would “ordain” women who are young, married, and with children, and they would give them a vocal role in worship and all the authority a deacon might exercise over men as well as women. The liturgists do not go that far, but their statement leaves open that possibility by either ignoring or questioning traditional limits on deaconesses, while stressing the exclusive prerogative of bishops to make of deaconesses what they will.
We cannot, therefore, take seriously the liturgists’ claim that “restoration of the female diaconate is such that neither doctrinal issues nor authoritative precedents are at stake.” Neither can we accept their assurances that deaconesses today will not lead to priestesses tomorrow, knowing where similar incremental innovations have led in heterodox communions. We also ought not to think only of what we ourselves might tolerate today. We must think generationally. Just as children who grow up in parishes with female readers are more likely to believe as adults that women should be deacons or deaconesses, so children who grow up in parishes with deaconesses will be more likely to believe as adults that women should be priests and bishops.
We therefore entreat all Orthodox hierarchs, other clergy, and theologians to uphold the dogmatic teaching of the Church concerning the creation and calling of man as male and female by resisting the divisive call to appoint deaconesses.
FOOTNOTES
1. Evangelos Theodorou, et al., “Orthodox Liturgists Issued a Statement of Support for the Revival of the Order of Deaconess by the Patriarchate of Alexandria,” Panorthodox Synod, https://panorthodoxcemes.blogspot.ca/2017/10/orthodox-liturgists-issued-statement-of.html?m=1, Oct. 24, 2017.
2. See “Το Πατριαρχείο Αλεξανδρείας για Διακόνισσες και Αγία Σύνοδο,” Romfea, http://www.romfea.gr/epikairotita-xronika/11485-to-patriarxeio-alejandreias-gia-diakonisses-kai-agia-sunodo, Nov. 16, 2016; and, “Στην Αφρική εόρτασε τα ονομαστήρια του ο Πατριάρχης Θεόδωρος,” Romfea, http://www.romfea.gr/patriarxeia-ts/patriarxeio-alexandreias/13147-stin-afriki-eortase-ta-onomastiria-tou-o-patriarxis-theodoros-foto, Feb. 18, 2017.
3. For the most in-depth study of the subject, see Aimé Georges Martimort, Deaconesses: An Historical Study, trans. K.D. Whitehead (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986). For a thorough study of Orthodox deaconesses before their disappearance, see Brian Patrick Mitchell, “The Disappearing Deaconess: How the Hierarchical Ordering of the Church Doomed the Female Diaconate,” http://www.brianpatrickmitchell.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Disappearing-Deaconess-2017-03-10.pdf.
4. The “positive response” and “special way” are from the report of the Inter-Orthodox Symposium in Rhodes in 1988 titled, “The Place of the Woman in the Orthodox Church and the Question of the Ordination of Women” (Istanbul: The Ecumenical Patriarchate, 1988), which the liturgists quote approvingly.
5. The minimum age for deaconesses changed several times over the years: The emperor St. Theodosius the Great set it at 60 in 390, the age the Apostle Paul set for enrolled widows in 1 Timothy 5:9, which St. Theodosius’s legislation mentioned. Canon 15 of Chalcedon lowered it to 40 in 451. St. Justinian’s Novella 6 raised it to 50 in 535, making an exception for women living in hermitages and having no contact with men. His Novella 123 lowered it to 40 again in 546, which Canon 14 of III Constantinople (in Trullo) confirmed in 692.
6. Alkiviadis Calivas and Philip Zymaris, “Ephesians 5:20-33 as the Epistle Reading for the Rite of Marriage: Appropriate or Problematic?” Public Orthodoxy, https://publicorthodoxy.org/2017/09/08/ephesians-rite-of-marriage/, accessed Nov. 4, 2017.
Signatories
- Archimandrite Luke (Murianka), D.A. (Cand.)
Rector & Associate Professor of Patrology, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (ROCOR) - Archpriest Chad Hatfield, D.Min., D.D.
President, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (OCA) - Archpriest Alexander F.C. Webster, Ph.D.
Dean & Professor of Moral Theology, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (ROCOR) - Protopresbyter George A. Alexson, Ph.D. (Cand.)
Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church (GOAA), Sterling, VA - Mitred Archpriest Victor Potapov
St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral (ROCOR), Washington, DC - Archimandrite Demetrios (Carellas)
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOAA) - Archpriest A. James Bernstein
St. Paul Orthodox Church (AOCANA, Lynnwood, WA - Archpriest Lawrence Farley
St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church (OCA), Langley, BC - Archpriest Stephen Freeman
St. Anne Orthodox Church (OCA), Oak Ridge, TN - Archpriest Fr. Thaddaeus Hardenbrook
Saint Lawrence Orthodox Church (GOAA), Felton, CA - Archpriest Lawrence Margitich
St. Seraphim of Sarov Orthodox Church (OCA), Santa Rosa, CA - Archpriest Patrick Henry Reardon
All Saints Orthodox Church (AOCANA), Senior Editor, Touchstone, Chicago, IL - Archpriest Peter Heers, D.Th.
Assistant Professor of Old and New Testament, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (ROCOR) - Archpriest Geoffrey Korz
All Saints of North America Orthodox Church (OCA), Hamilton Ontario - Archpriest Miroljub Srb. Ruzic
St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Orthodox Church (OCA), Center for Slavic and East European Studies, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH - Archpriest David C. Straut
St. Elizabeth the New Martyr Orthodox Church (ROCOR), Rocky Hill, NJ - Archpriest John Whiteford
St. Jonah Orthodox Church (ROCOR), Spring, TX - Hieromonk Patrick (John) Ramsey, Ph.D.
(ROCOR) [On loan to the Metropolis of Limassol, Cyprus], Distance Tutor, Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies, Cambridge, England - Hieromonk Alexander (Reichert)
Acting Abbot, SS. Sergius & Herman of Valaam Monastery (ROCOR), Atlantic Mine, MI - Hieromonk Alexis Trader, D.Th.
Karakallou Monastery, Mt. Athos (Greece) - Fr. John E. Afendoulis
St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church (GOAA), Newport, RI - Fr. Kristian Akselberg, D.Phil. (Cand.)
St Andrew’s Greek Orthodox Church (Ecumenical Patriarchate}, London, England - Fr. Christopher Allen
SS. Joachim and Anna Orthodox Church (ROCOR), San Antonio, TX - Fr. John Boddecker
SS. Theodore Orthodox Church (ROCOR), Buffalo, NY - Fr. Ignatius Green
Holy Virgin Protection Russian Orthodox Church (ROCOR), Nyack, NY, Editor, St Vladimir’s Seminary Press - Chaplain (Major) George Ruston Hill,
U.S. Army (OCA) Ethics Instructor, The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, Charlottesville, VA - Fr. Johannes Jacobse
St. Peter the Apostle Orthodox Church (AOCANA), Bonita Springs, FL - Fr. Nathaniel Johnson
Saint Lawrence Orthodox Church (GOAA), Felton, CA - Fr. Andrew Kishler
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church (AOCANA), Spring Valley, IL - Fr. Seraphim Majmudar
Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (GOAA), Tacoma, WA - Chaplain (Captain) Christopher Moody
U.S. Army (GOAA) Fort Sill, OK - Fr. John A. Peck
All Saints of North America Orthodox Church (GOAA), Sun City, AZ - Fr. John Schmidt
(OCA-ROEA) St. Elias Orthodox Church, Ellwood City, PA - Fr. Gregory Telepneff, Th.D.
Senior Research Scholar, Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies - Protodeacon Jeremiah Davis
Greek Instructor, Orthodox Pastoral School in Chicago, Christ the Savior Orthodox Church (ROCOR), Wayne, WV - Protodeacon Brian Patrick Mitchell
St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral (ROCOR), Washington, DC - Deacon Nicholas Dujmovic, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Politics, The Catholic University of America, Protection of the Holy Mother of God Orthodox Church (OCA-ROEA), Falls Church, VA - Deacon Stephen Hayes, D.Th.
Archdiocese of Johannesburg and Pretoria, Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa - Deacon Alexander William Laymon
Colonel, U.S. Army, Retired, St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church (ROCOR), Stafford, VA - Deacon Michael Pavuk
Director of Development, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary (ROCOR), Jordanville, NY - Deacon Ananias Sorem, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Philosophy, California State U. Fullerton, Falling Asleep of the Ever-Virgin Mary Church (OCA-ROEA), Anaheim, CA - Teena H. Blackburn
Lecturer in Philosophy and Religion, Eastern Kentucky University - David Bradshaw, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy, University of Kentucky - Mark J. Cherry, Ph.D.
Professor in Applied Ethics, Department of Philosophy, St. Edward’s University - Corinna Delkeskamp-Hayes
Editor, Christian Bioethics, Freigericht, Germany - Tristram Engelhardt, Jr., Ph.D., M.D.
Professor, Rice University, Professor Emeritus, Baylor College of Medicine - Bruce V. Foltz, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Eckerd College - David Ford, Ph.D.
Professor of Church History, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (OCA) - Nancy Forderhase, Ph.D.
Emerita Professor of History, Eastern Kentucky University - Ana S. Iltis, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy, Director, Center for Bioethics, Health and Society, Wake Forest University - Nathan A. Jacobs, Ph.D.
Visiting Scholar of Philosophy, University of Kentucky, President, 5Sees Production Company - Joel Kalvesmaki, Ph.D.
Editor in Byzantine Studies, Dumbarton Oaks - James Kushiner
Executive Editor, Touchstone, Chicago, IL - George Michalopulos
Editor and Publisher, Monomakhos.com - Sampson (Ryan) Nash, MD, MA
Director, Ohio State University Center for Bioethics, Associate Professor of Medicine, Ohio State University College of Medicine - Alfred Kentigern Siewers, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of English, Bucknell University
*Names of organizations are for identification only.
Point of contact for inquiries:
Protodeacon Brian Patrick Mitchell
protodeaconpatrick@gmail.com
Sign below if you want to be included in this statement.
List of signatories in addition to those listed above.
| 292 | Russ Rook | OCA | Nov 14, 2022 |
| 291 | Subdeacon Nektarios Harrison, M.A. | St. Herman of Alaska, Stafford VA. (ROCOR ) | Feb 23, 2022 |
| 290 | Brendan Finch | St Luke's Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Glasgow | Mar 20, 2021 |
| 289 | Fr Joseph Gagliano | Priest / ROCOR | Dec 03, 2020 |
| 288 | Nick Karakas | Jul 23, 2020 | |
| 287 | Grace McLoughlin | Pasrishioner / AOC | Jun 06, 2020 |
| 286 | Katherine Colling | ROCOR | Jan 10, 2020 |
| 285 | John Constantine | Layman/ U.S. Air Force | Jan 09, 2020 |
| 284 | Michael Karcher | Jan 05, 2020 | |
| 283 | Archpriest Justin Frederick | St. Maximus Orthodox Church, Denton TX OCA | Sep 18, 2019 |
| 282 | Veronica Der-Ghazarian | PTA / (OCA) | Aug 31, 2019 |
| 281 | Anthony Der-Ghazarian | Altar Server, OCA | Aug 31, 2019 |
| 280 | Lawrence Sapp | Aug 30, 2019 | |
| 279 | Valerie Der Ghazarian | Mother, wife, Orthodox sister in Christ | Aug 30, 2019 |
| 278 | Petra Leitkowski | Laywoman/Parishioner | Jul 26, 2019 |
| 277 | Fr. Panayiotis Anastasiou | Proistamenos St Barbara's Greek Orthodox Church Southend on Sea Essex UK | Jul 15, 2019 |
| 276 | Anna Stickles | OCA, | Jun 02, 2019 |
| 275 | Fr. Terence Johnston | St. Aidan Orthodox Church (ROCOR), Nashville, TN | May 10, 2019 |
| 274 | John Townsend | Archpriest/ROCOR | May 05, 2019 |
| 273 | Micah Marvin | Reader/St. Mary of Egypt/ROCOR/Roswell, GA | May 04, 2019 |
| 272 | Hans-Udo Kurr | U.N. Simultaneous Interpreter, Retired | Apr 07, 2019 |
| 271 | Tanya Hoadley | Parishioner SOC | Mar 30, 2019 |
| 270 | Aimee M. Cooper, MA | Lay woman, theology teacher, Antiochian Orthodox | Mar 23, 2019 |
| 269 | Perry Lee | layman St. Andrew Orthodox Church Lexington KY | Mar 07, 2019 |
| 268 | Edward Sullivan | Layman/Parishioner | Mar 05, 2019 |
| 267 | Mark Hartman | Diaconal seminarian, Eparchy of St. Nicholas, UGCC | Mar 04, 2019 |
| 266 | Fr. Mark Tyson | Priest-ROCOR | Mar 01, 2019 |
| 265 | Corey Sparks | Feb 28, 2019 | |
| 264 | Fr. Columba Lally, PhD | Priest, ROCOR WR | Feb 28, 2019 |
| 263 | Sub-Dn. Lazarus Der Ghazarian, MA | (Retired) OCA | Feb 28, 2019 |
| 262 | Seraphim Hanisch | Reader / Moscow Patriarchate | Feb 28, 2019 |
| 261 | Manuel Quelle | GOAA | Feb 27, 2019 |
| 260 | Sherie Mercier | OCA/ROEA | Feb 27, 2019 |
| 259 | Christopher Murphy | St Peter and St Paul Church Spfld MA OCA | Feb 27, 2019 |
| 258 | Madison Krezymon | AOCA of NA | Feb 27, 2019 |
| 257 | Zach Nassif | AOCA of NA | Feb 27, 2019 |
| 256 | John Kohl | Subdeacon, OCA | Feb 26, 2019 |
| 255 | John Grapsas | Layman/GOA Australia | Feb 26, 2019 |
| 254 | Jordan Brown | Feb 26, 2019 | |
| 253 | Peter Cousins | Reader | Feb 26, 2019 |
| 252 | Paraskevi Dotsikas | Feb 26, 2019 | |
| 251 | Christian Watts | Reader / ROCOR | Feb 26, 2019 |
| 250 | Thomas Fleetwood | Layman/GOAA | Feb 26, 2019 |
| 249 | Charles Warnky | Dallas, TX | Feb 26, 2019 |
| 248 | Xenia Mongan | Wife and mother | Feb 26, 2019 |
| 247 | Antonia Colias | Orthodox Christian laywoman | Feb 26, 2019 |
| 246 | Michael Seine | COL, USA (R) | Feb 24, 2019 |
| 245 | Ellene Phufas-Jousma | Educator | Feb 21, 2019 |
| 244 | Bianca Goean-Keeley | Academic Coordinator at Paideia Classical Academy; parishioner of Christ the Savior Cathedral (OCA) | Feb 20, 2019 |
| 243 | Anne Rowe | OCA | Feb 20, 2019 |
| 242 | Nicholas Yurschak | Reader/OCA | Feb 19, 2019 |
| 241 | Donald Bradley | Layman/GOA | Feb 19, 2019 |
| 240 | Monk Silouan Brown | ROCOR | Feb 19, 2019 |
| 239 | Priest John Parsells | OCA | Feb 19, 2019 |
| 238 | Margaret Lark | GOA | Feb 19, 2019 |
| 237 | Peter Schweitzer | Moscow Patriarchate | Feb 19, 2019 |
| 236 | Alexios Cody Adam Boruff | Feb 02, 2019 | |
| 235 | Luke (Majoros) | Archimandrite / OCA | Nov 21, 2018 |
| 234 | Jessica Cushnir | Mrs | Nov 18, 2018 |
| 233 | Jim Spencer | Layman/OCA | Sep 23, 2018 |
| 232 | E. Nicole Cooper, MD | OCA laity, St. Seraphim Cathedral of Dallas | Sep 11, 2018 |
| 231 | Priest David Smith | Priest-in-charge, Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Beavertown, PA (OCA) | Sep 11, 2018 |
| 230 | Archpriest Michael Carney | rector, St. Herman Orthodox Church (Russian Church Abroad) | Sep 10, 2018 |
| 229 | Michael Hahn | Laity SFO GO | Sep 10, 2018 |
| 228 | Sherie (Elizabeth) Mercier | OCA/ROEA | Sep 10, 2018 |
| 227 | Nicholas Fortuin | Layman/Georgian Orthodox Church of U.S. | Sep 04, 2018 |
| 226 | John Hanson | Deacon / ROCOR | Aug 11, 2018 |
| 225 | Thomas Andrango | Laymen altar server/OCA | Jul 27, 2018 |
| 224 | David Marcum | Jun 05, 2018 | |
| 223 | Fr Anastasios Bozikis | Associate Lecturer in Church History/St Andrew's Greek Orthodox Theological College(Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia) | May 07, 2018 |
| 222 | Peter T. Howe | Layman / OCA | Apr 22, 2018 |
| 221 | Micayla Gibby | Layperson / GOAA | Mar 27, 2018 |
| 220 | Michael Tereshko | Parishoner of ROCOR | Mar 26, 2018 |
| 219 | Beau Branson | Assistant Professor, Brescia University | Mar 25, 2018 |
| 218 | Father Peter Hill, PhD, FRAS | Director, Saints Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Institute; Rector, St Patrick Orthodox Church, Kilburn, SA (ROCOR) | Mar 17, 2018 |
| 217 | Ilya Kharin | Layman / Japanese Orthodox Church | Mar 14, 2018 |
| 216 | Evgeny Ivanov | Scientific Director at St. Basils's Analytics Center (Moscow, Russia), Russian Orthodox Church | Mar 13, 2018 |
| 215 | Marc Deneau | Mar 12, 2018 | |
| 214 | Michael Lesway | Alter sever Greek Orthodox Church (Canada) | Mar 10, 2018 |
| 213 | Dmitry Lovtsov | Canada | Mar 09, 2018 |
| 212 | Gregory Fairlie | Layman/ROCOR | Mar 09, 2018 |
| 211 | Gilles Gauthier | Layman / ACROD | Mar 09, 2018 |
| 210 | Chris Tsioulos | Layman / ACROD | Mar 09, 2018 |
| 209 | Donovan Smith | Layman/ROCOR | Mar 09, 2018 |
| 208 | Fr. Joshua Schooping | Priest/ROCOR | Feb 24, 2018 |
| 207 | Fr. James Rosselli | Priest / ROCOR | Feb 23, 2018 |
| 206 | Timothy Pollard | Layman / ROCOR | Feb 23, 2018 |
| 205 | Alfred Ellsworth | Laity: Serbian Orthodox Church | Feb 18, 2018 |
| 204 | Colette Kalvesmaki | 20877 | Feb 15, 2018 |
| 203 | Ilya Zhitomirskiy | Feb 12, 2018 | |
| 202 | Serafina Kastrioti | Layperson / St. Alexander Newskij, Mannheim, Germany (ROCOR) | Feb 05, 2018 |
| 201 | Ilia Kastrioti | Layman / St. Alexander Newskij, Mannheim, Germany (ROCOR) | Feb 05, 2018 |
| 200 | David Kinghorn | priest, St. Cuthbert's Orthodx Church, Pawtucket, RI ROCOR | Feb 04, 2018 |
| 199 | Benjamin Keoseyan | Feb 03, 2018 | |
| 198 | Robert Johannes Ulrich | Layman / Western European Exarchate, Scandinavian Deanery | Feb 03, 2018 |
| 197 | Father Michael Kabel | Feb 02, 2018 | |
| 196 | James Pupillo | Tonsured Reader Nativity of the Mother of God Orthodox Church (ROCOR) | Feb 01, 2018 |
| 195 | Br. Benjamin Cyrus | Holy Trinity Monastery (ROCOR) | Feb 01, 2018 |
| 194 | Edward Joseph Skiba | Archbishop, Presiding Bishop, Emmanuel Communion | Jan 29, 2018 |
| 193 | thaddeus franta | priest / oca | Jan 28, 2018 |
| 192 | W. Z. Baumgartner, P.E., DEE, CHMM | President, W.Z. Baumgartner & Assoc., Inc. | Jan 27, 2018 |
| 191 | Paula Pepe | Layperson - Holy Resurrection Antiochian Church, Tucson | Jan 26, 2018 |
| 190 | David Di Giacomo | Layman (OCA, Archdiocese of Canada) | Jan 26, 2018 |
| 189 | Andrey Lyubimov | Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary Library Manager (ROCOR) | Jan 25, 2018 |
| 188 | Protodeacon Victor LOCHMATOW | 13361-0036 HOLY TRINITY SEMINARY, Jordanville, NY | Jan 25, 2018 |
| 187 | Nun Barbara Dowbnia | Jan 25, 2018 | |
| 186 | Courtney Jones | Jan 25, 2018 | |
| 185 | Nicholas Griswold | Deacon | Jan 24, 2018 |
| 184 | Fr. Jacob Kulp | Father/Orthodox Church in America | Jan 24, 2018 |
| 183 | Fr. Alexis Baldwin | Priest, Holy Resurrection, North Augusta, SC (OCA) | Jan 24, 2018 |
| 182 | Thomas Moore | Archpriest/OCA | Jan 24, 2018 |
| 181 | anton kouznets | Diakon, ROCOR | Jan 24, 2018 |
| 180 | Rev. Fr. Michael Monos | St. Luke the Evangelist Church (GOAA) | Jan 24, 2018 |
| 179 | Protodeacon Michael Myers | OCA | Jan 24, 2018 |
| 178 | Dimitrios Florakis | Jan 24, 2018 | |
| 177 | Niko Sotiropoulos | Jan 23, 2018 | |
| 176 | Archbishop Leonardo Marin-Saavedra | The Old Anglo Catholic Church | Jan 23, 2018 |
| 175 | Archpriest George Morelli PhD | St. George's Antiochian Orthodox Church San Diego CA | Jan 23, 2018 |
| 174 | Helen Toma | Orthodox Christian | Jan 23, 2018 |
| 173 | Martin Toma | Layman | Jan 23, 2018 |
| 172 | Andrew Doubleday | Deacon | Jan 22, 2018 |
| 171 | Subdeacon Gregory Levitsky, M.Div. | 07731 | Jan 22, 2018 |
| 170 | Brian Hilk | Layman, OCA | Jan 22, 2018 |
| 169 | Fr. Emilian Hutnyan | Archpriest, St. AndrewEastern Orthodox Church, Maple Heights, OH (OCA) | Jan 22, 2018 |
| 168 | Deacon Joseph Licata | Deacon. Orthodox Church in America ( Diocese of the South) | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 167 | Archpriest Vasily Gilbert | OCA, Diocese of New England | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 166 | Taras Tikhomirov | Reader / OCA | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 165 | Byron Henderson | layman, OCA | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 164 | Martin Paluch | Jan 20, 2018 | |
| 163 | John Manutes | Deacon-OCA | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 162 | Matushka Nancy Gilbert | Secretary, Board of Trustees, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 161 | Christopher Encapera | UOC of the USA | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 160 | Fr. Andreas Blom | Archangel Gabriel Orthodox Church (OCA), Ashland, OR | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 159 | Hieromonk Gregory Zaiens | Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 158 | Curtis Campbell | Jan 20, 2018 | |
| 157 | Castrese Tipaldi | A Christian/ Latvian Metropolia of Moscow Patriarchate | Jan 20, 2018 |
| 156 | Catherine Yurschak | Jan 19, 2018 | |
| 155 | Gregg Gerasimon MD, FACC, FHRS | Colonel, Medical Corps, U.S. Army (ROCOR) | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 154 | Methodius Chwastek | Subdeacon ROCOR | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 153 | Priest Joseph Towne | Ph.D. (ROCOR) | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 152 | Anne Breitenbach | Jan 19, 2018 | |
| 151 | Priest Simeon B. Johnson | OCA - DOW | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 150 | Rev. Fr. Matthew Penney | PhD (ABD) | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 149 | Archpriest John Morris, Ph.D. | Ardchpriest/ Antiochian | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 148 | Helen Terry | Jan 19, 2018 | |
| 147 | Dn. Andrew Rubis | Albanian Orthodox Diocese of America (AODA) | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 146 | Fr Jeremiah Phillips | Antiochian Archdiocese | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 145 | Magdy Baiady | Jan 19, 2018 | |
| 144 | Gregory-Lazarus Murphy | The V. Rev. Fr./ St. Michael’s, Geneva, NY — AOCANA | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 143 | Laurel Kovacs | Holy Cross Orthodox Church (AOCANA), Linthicum, Maryland | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 142 | Alexandra Union, PhD | Orthodox Clinical Psychologist | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 141 | Archpriest George Ajalat | AOCANA | Jan 19, 2018 |
| 140 | Larissa Smaldino | Jan 18, 2018 | |
| 139 | Brian Van Sickle | Layman, OCA Diocese of the Midwest | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 138 | Ralph H. (Zosimas) Sidway | Director, North American Thebaid Project/OCA | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 137 | Archpriest Mark Mancuso | St Elizabeth the New Martyr Orthodox Church, Columbia, SC, ROCOR | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 136 | Protodeacon Timothy Wilkinson, Ph.D. | Dean and Professor, Whitworth University | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 135 | James Condra | Layman, OCA Diocese of the South | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 134 | Fr. Christopher Foley | Holy Cross Orthodox Church OCA | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 133 | Archpriest Steven Ritter | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of America | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 132 | Alexandr Cvejkus | Jan 18, 2018 | |
| 131 | C. Clark Carlton, PhD | Assistant Professor of Philosophy | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 130 | Maria Richiusa | Jan 18, 2018 | |
| 129 | Kathleen Webster | 20147 | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 128 | Father Andreas Papayiannis | Presbyter, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 127 | Deacon Gregory McFarland | St Anthony the Great Bozeman MT (OCA) | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 126 | Michael Hammond | Layman, Antiochian Archdiocese | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 125 | Misha Pennington | layman ROCOR | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 124 | Gail Sheppard | Senior Project Manager Healthcare, AOCANA | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 123 | Ryan Scannell | Layman, GOAA | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 122 | Paul Kalamaras | Rev. Fr., PhD | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 121 | Mariah Maggard | Jan 18, 2018 | |
| 120 | David Prestridge | ROCOR | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 119 | Susi Schuchard | GOA Metropolis of Denver | Jan 18, 2018 |
| 118 | George Luimes | Reader, Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary, ROCOR | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 117 | Christopher Mattox | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 116 | G. Almedha Morton | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| 115 | Valeria Sajez | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| 114 | Daniel Kowalcheck | Reader, Holy Cross Orthodox Church (OCA) Winston-Salem, NC | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 113 | Sophocles Frangakis | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| 112 | Ashley Coleman | Mother/homemaker, (AOCANA) | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 111 | Kenneth Gardner | Denver Greek Archdiocese | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 110 | Greg Maggard | layman,parish council. OCA/DOW | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 109 | Edward Akiwumi | ROCOR | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 108 | Archpriest Timothy Cremeens, PhD | Dean, Holy Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral (OCA) Wilkes-Barre, PA | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 107 | John Woolley | Deacon, AOCANA | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 106 | Fr. Peter DeFonce | Parish Priest, Saint Andrew Greek Orthodox Church (GOAA), Lubbock, Texas | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 105 | Julia Cole | Layperson, Moscow Patriarchate | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 104 | Peter Issajenko | M6P 1X3 | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 103 | Helen Kurtow | ROCOR | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 102 | Michael Bauman | Layman, Antiochian Archdiocease | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 101 | V. Rev. Andrei Alexiev | ROCOR, servicing St. John the Baptist Church, Black Lick, PA(OCA) | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 100 | Fr. Maximos McIntyre | Holy Protection Orthodox Mission (ROCOR) | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 99 | Ezekiel Vieages | Hieromonk- rocor | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 98 | Mitred Archpriest Claude Vinyard | ROCOR | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 97 | Matthew Markewich | Priest, OCA | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 96 | Anna Platte | layperson, ROCOR | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 95 | Albena Diener | Bulgarian Orthodox Chirch | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 94 | Kraig Diener | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| 93 | Catherine Laquatra | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| 92 | Michael Laquatra | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| 91 | Lucine Kouyoumjian | Antiochian | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 90 | Joseph Kouyoumjian | Sub deacon, Antiochian, Norwood, Mass. | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 89 | John Platte | Layperson, ROCOR | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 88 | Fr Thomas Soroka | Rector, St Nicholas Church (OCA), McKees Rocks/Pittsburgh PA | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 87 | Dr.Gerasimos Kambites M.D. FRCPC | Psychiatrist | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 86 | Archpriest David Barr | AOCANA | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 85 | Joseph Loomis | Layperson, AOCANA | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 84 | Fr. Steven Webb | Rector, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (ROCOR) | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 83 | Derek R. Pillion | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| 82 | Fr.Josef VON KlarrD.th. | PriestDio.MidwestO.C.A. | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 81 | Amy Asbill | St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church, Chandler, AZ (GOAA) | Jan 17, 2018 |
| 80 | Ana Sofia O'Brien | Jan 17, 2018 | |
| 79 | Elizabeth Berg | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 78 | James George Jatras | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 77 | Fr Michael Laffoon | AOCANA | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 76 | Michael Woerl | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 75 | David Borg | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 74 | Deacon Nicholas Park | St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, McKinney TX (ROCOR) | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 73 | Sean Reid | Deacon/OCA | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 72 | Mary Lowell | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 71 | Presbytera Catherine Heers | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 70 | Peter Papoutsis | Lawyer and Translator of the Septuagint into English for The Holy Orthodox Bible GOAA | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 69 | Michael Tocchi | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 68 | Lindsay Buhler | Mother, Southern California | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 67 | Paul Tate | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 66 | Bethany Tate | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 65 | Clifton D Healy | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 64 | Paul Schellbach | Archpriest | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 63 | Nikos Kyriakidis | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 62 | Alec Haapala | SOC - New Gracanica Midwestern Diocese | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 61 | Hadrian H Darmajuwana - Liem | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 60 | Michael Calabrese | Reader, ROCOR | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 59 | Thomas W. (Ignatius) Singleton | President Nehemiah Foundation | Jan 16, 2018 |
| 58 | Maximus Scott | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 57 | Daniel Spielmann | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 56 | Nichole Banks | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 55 | Protopresbyter Pancratios Sanders | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 54 | Rdr. Demitri Likomitros | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 53 | Gregory Parsells | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 52 | John Press, Ph.D. | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 51 | Joshua Reagan | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 50 | Konstantinos Dotsikas | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 49 | Archpriest Michael Taratuchin | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 48 | John Nguyentan | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 47 | Dn. David Maliniak | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 46 | Archpriest Stefan Weerts | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 45 | Daniel Watkins | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 44 | James Beltz | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 43 | Jesse Dominick | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 42 | Basil Polivka | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 41 | Rdr Michael Coleman | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 40 | Archimandrite Maximos | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 39 | Brenda Rutledge | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 38 | Subdeacon Michael Rossler | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 37 | Daniel Jewell | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 36 | Kathleen Janik | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 35 | Michael Janik | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 34 | Anthony Christian | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 33 | William Bitsas | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 32 | Protodeacon Nicholas Jannakos | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 31 | Elias Young, MDiv. | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 30 | Father John Kern | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 29 | Justin Olmstead | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 28 | Bogdan C. Banescu, J.D. | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 27 | Archimandrite Nektarios Harding | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 26 | Eric Russell | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 25 | Duane Uptain | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 24 | Joyce Morales | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 23 | Tanisha Gore | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 22 | Fr. Stephen Lourie | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 21 | Edward Sullivan | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 20 | Gloria Collins | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 19 | Ronda Wintheiser | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 18 | George Mathews | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 17 | Jeffrey Smith | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 16 | Sarah Cattell | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 15 | Constantina Gaddis, Ph.D. | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 14 | Alexandra Gaughan Campbell | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 13 | Archpriest Jonathan Ivanoff | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 12 | Isidora (Rhonda) Burkett | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 11 | Fr. Cyprian Craig | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 10 | Lydia Wilcox | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 9 | Ian Buckmaster | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 8 | Connie Krahn | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 7 | Jessica Buckmaster | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 6 | Marjorie Kunch | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 5 | Fr. Paul Girgis | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 4 | Gregory (William) Manning | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 3 | Teresa A. Polychronis | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 2 | Hieromonk Joshua (Anna) | Jan 16, 2018 | |
| 1 | Fr. Aristibule Adams | Jan 15, 2018 |