His Grace Bishop Tikhon has appointed Fr. Stephen Vernak Acting Pastor of Christ the Saviour Church, Harrisburg, Pa.  Sunday June 10, 2007 will mark the beginning of Fr. Stephen's spiritual ministry as Pastor of our Church. We welcome Fr. Stephen, Matushka Anna, and children Sophia and Zoe. May God grant them Many Blessed Years!

Fr. Stephen was born and raised in New Jersey. He graduated from the Christian Brothers Academy in 1995, the University of Vermont (B.S.) in 1999, and St. Tikhon's Orthodox Seminary (M.Div.) in 2007. He had worked in Kodiak and Anchorage Alaska, Eugene Oregon, and Louisville, Kentucky prior to attending Seminary.

Our new Pastor was ordained to Reader, Subdeacon, and the Diaconate on June 24, 2006 by His Beatitude, Metropolitan HERMAN at Christ the Saviour Church, Paramus, New Jersey.

Fr. Stephen was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on April 28, 2007 by His Grace Bishop TIKHON at Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church, Paramus, New Jersey. Several of our own parishioners were privileged to attend his ordination to the Holy Priesthood. Fr. Seraphim Majmudar as well as more than a dozen other Priests, including Fr. Stephen's father and grandfather, participated in the ordination ceremony.

Fr. Stephen is the son of V.Rev. David and Matushka Mariam Vernak, and the grandson of V.Rev. John and Matushka Eugenia Nehrebecki.

On Wednesday, October 14th the faithful of Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church and many guests welcomed Archimandrite Daniel Byantoro, Dean of the Indonesian Orthodox Church. Vespers was served at 6pm. Following this Fr. Daniel gave a thorough exposition of the history and tenets of the Islamic faith, as well as his childhood, and the details of his personal experience of Jesus Christ, which brought about his conversion to Christianity. Nearly $1,000 was raised to help support the mission in Indonesia. Please see: http://friendsofindonesia.org/ for more information.

On Friday, May 1st, Fr. Peter Gillquist, renowned Orthodox speaker and director of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Churches Department of Missions and Evangelisn, offered a lecture entitled "Finding the New Testament Church" to over 120 Orthodox faithful and inquirers at Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church in Harrisburg, PA. In his reflections Fr. Peter shared with those gathered the historical and spiritual principles that led him and 2,000 other former Evangelical Protestants into the Holy Orthodox Faith in 1987. He encouraged those in the audience who were Orthodox to avoid being "lukewarm" (Rev. 3:16); and to those who were searching for the fullness of the integrity of the New Testament Church to continue their study of Holy Orthodoxy. We pray that our Lord will continue to bless Fr. Peter's ministry and we are thankful to God for giving us the opportunity to be inspired by Fr. Peter's journey and his commitment to Jesus Christ and His Holy Orthodox Church.