On November 1, 2018 a small group of former parishioners from St. Ignatius Orthodox Church in Franklin, TN were given the blessing and name of St. Anna from His Eminence Metropolitan JOSEPH to officially begin meeting and offering Orthodox liturgical services as a mission in Columbia, TN. The Very Reverend Fr. Stephen Rogers, who had only one year earlier retired from St. Ignatius Orthodox Church in Franklin, TN after serving as the senior Priest for over 20 years, was asked to serve as the Priest at St. Anna and Fr. Andrew Short was ordained as a Deacon and continued to assist Fr. Stephen in that capacity until he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on May 30, 2021, replacing Fr. Stephen who then retired for a second time.
In 2018, when this mission was officially chartered as St. Anna numbered about 20 men, women, and children. At this date, five years later, the mission has a membership of 75 and we are welcoming new visitors and inquirers nearly every week, and several are currently inquirers and catechumens, preparing for baptism and chrismation in 2024.
St. Anna has active monthly men’s, women’s, and youth ministries as well as a weekly church school for the children ages 3-12 using the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. The men have been taking turns giving brief reports about their patronal saints at the monthly “Men’s Night Out” at a local restaurant and also meet together one Saturday morning each quarter to go to the homes of the older single women and widows to do “odd jobs” for them as a part of the Job 29:13 Ministry, “And I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.” Fr. Andrew recently lead a weekend pilgrimage for the men of St. Anna to the Sacred Monastery of St. Iakovos near Oklahoma City. We are launching a new Food Pantry at our church later this year and are looking for ways to continue our ministry to prisoners and their families in our city.
The women of St. Anna meet every other month for a Sunday luncheon and hold and an annual craft sale in November where the proceeds benefit the local crisis pregnancy center. The women have worked together to provide meals for those who have been sick in the parish as well as beautifying the temple with flowers and special preparations for feasts, including the Patronal Feast of St. Anna on July 25. Our women also hold an annual soup and bread sale to raise money during lent for special projects and ministries at our church.
Our teens have completed a 12-month study from Faithtree.org called The Relationship Project and are currently studying the book of Genesis. Several of our teens attended camp this summer at Camp St. Thekla, enjoy our annual Labor Day canoe trip down the Duck River, serve as acolytes and readers at the chanter’s stand and help with childcare when needed during the Wednesday evening discussions and teachings after Vespers.
One of the historic milestones of our young mission during the past 2 years was the purchase of 5.3 acres of land on a major road entering the city of Columbia for our future permanent church building. His Grace Bishop NICHOLAS came to St. Anna in December 2021 to officially bless our land and to plant a cross on our land to dedicate it for God’s glory. Our building committee is currently working with an Orthodox architect to plan and design the future building to be built on this land, by your prayers.
Please pray for our mission, come visit us when you have reason to be in middle Tennessee and send any friends or family members who may want to join us in the fastest growing county in Tennessee. We agree that Columbia, TN is a great place to live and to raise our families!
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Ancient Faith Radio gave Share the Faith Director, Fr Evangelos Pepps, an opportunity to discuss Orthodox mission work in the US. How can we share the faith effectively and establish more Orthodox missions? 
