It is my true joy to greet you in the Name of The Lord! It is such a blessing to have come full circle and to have wound up here as the rector at St. Andrew’s parish in Ashland, VA. You see, many years ago, about 22 I think, I was strolling along the sidewalk in Richmond and came upon a small Orthodox bookstore on Sheppard Street. (It’s now an upscale hair salon!) It had icons in the windows and interesting things appeared to be going on inside. Being a good Catholic boy, and also being employed by a local Catholic bookstore a few blocks away, I decided I would go in and check it out…maybe see what the competition was up to…..
Well…that, as they say, was the beginning of the rest of my life!
The bookstore was an outreach of the community of Saint Andrew’s parish. They welcomed me and my wife so warmly and earnestly. (No kids then! Imagine that!) We were overwhelmed by the joy they took in us being there and the true love they had for each other. This was truly a community with Jesus Christ at the center!
We came back often to visit. A few kids later we were received into the Orthodox Church ourselves. A few kids after that we found ourselves far away in Pennsylvania in seminary at St. Tikhon’s to prepare for the priesthood. We stayed in PA for 8 years! (I pastored my first parish there for several years and became a fire dept Chaplain and active fire fighter!). We had many great experiences and had the opportunity to visit many wonderful Orthodox parishes during that time. We found ourselves saying time and time again, “That was a nice parish, but it was no St. Andrew’s”. Not once did I imagine that now, 11 children, a few children in law, and a few grandchildren later, I would be back in Ashland at St. Andrew’s.
We have come home!
I left as a son of this community and have returned as the father and it is my particular joy to stand before the Holy Altar, an old friend and a new priest, having been asked to come and minister to them during this next exciting chapter in a very very beautiful story.
I like to remind them that I’m Orthodox and now their priest…….and it’s all their fault!
God is so very good and has blessed me and my family with so many rich gifts in our lifetime, not the least of which is this parish community of Saint Andrew’s that we have regarded as family for the last 22 years. Glory to God for ALL things!
Now, we find ourselves at another impasse. We have always wanted to see a mission parish established in Matushka Angie’s hometown of Culpeper, VA, 1.5 hours to the northwest. With the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Alexander, we have established a presence and Fr. Adam serves this community as founding pastor in addition to his full time duties at St. Andrews. Good things are happening and the fields are white for the harvest. We don’t know from day to day how we will continue to make this possible but God is so good and we trust in His rich gifts. “Here I am Lord”. This is the verse that Fr. Adam wakes with and goes to sleep with. Simply show up. God does the rest.
Please pray for us. God is with us. I know you are also!
+Fr. Adam
Share the Faith Action Plan: To makes ends meet, Fr. Adam has been driving for Uber and Lyft as many as five nights a week. Obviously, it is difficult to grow two parishes when the priest has to spend time feeding his family from secular work. As he grows his parishes, Fr. Adam (like so many other Orthodox priests) needs the support of generous donors to provide for his family so that he can focus solely on the Kingdom. With our current budget, Share the Faith can only partially meet Fr. Adam’s needs for next two years. Please prayerfully consider a generous donation, one-time or monthly, to assist the mission of this man of God as well as the many other worthy missions and projects we assist.
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Share the Faith is using the donations of faithful Orthodox Christians to support the work of Fr. Mark. Please consider a donation of any amount, no matter how small (monthly is particularly helpful) to assist either this parish or our other missionary work. Even a small donations greatly assist in the evangelization and transformation of our nation. To give a general donation to support Orthodox Missions through Share the Faith, click the donate button below:
STF chairman Lee Kopulos caught up with Fr. Adam recently to see how his work in Virginia is going. Fr. Adam had an interesting report from the mission field. Attendance is booming, not just at his parish but also at others according to his brother priests. The mission in Culpeper is also blessed with its first catechumen.
