Rev. Fr. John Cook of Saint Tikhon Orthodox Church – Ruther Glen, VA

Greetings in Christ!

I am Fr. John Cook, the Rector of St. Tikhon Orthodox Church in Ruther Glen, VA. Like many priests of smaller parishes, I have to work full-time to support myself and my family. I have a full-time secular job to which I travel 4 hours round trip daily, while putting in 8 to 12 hours at the office. I am a 100% disabled veteran as well. I serve on the Spiritual Council, and am also Serving as the Dean of the Northern Deanery of the Western Rite Communities ROCOR. I am also the Deputy Director of Orthodox Africa. Currently, I have no days off, and I get about 3-4 hours of sleep a night. Glory to God in all things!

The goal, of course, is to devote myself full-time to ministering to and growing my flock in central Virginia. Towards that goal, the help of Share The Faith donors has been much appreciated.

Okay, the quick down and dirty on my faith background……I was raised Roman Catholic and thought that I would be a Franciscan monk and priest. God had a sense of Humor, and I married a Lutheran, became an Episcopalian (for 2 weeks), became an Old Catholic and then went to Seminary (Learned about Orthodoxy) was ordained a deacon and a priest, became an Anglican. I then became Orthodox and was ordained first a deacon and then a Priest by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion. Maybe we will unpack all that later…..

What a Blessing! St. Tikhon Parish was blessed by His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion of Blessed Memory First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad in April of 2016 to begin with three people, in Richmond Virginia. We started by using a Roman Catholic Church, St. Patrick’s in the “Fan” on 26th Street in Richmond and were allowed the use of the facility free of charge. I asked the Diocese if there was a smaller location, and after about a year we moved to Lakeside and were blessed to use the Chapel of the Camboni Missionary Sisters for the next two to three years. Over this time we were still around 8 regular attendees, until COVID hit. The Roman Diocese decided to shut down its churches due to COVID, which put us out of a worship space. We began to search for a new location – a storefront or something similar. While the search was on, we had five virtual liturgies followed by me driving around to provide the Holy Mysteries to those who attended. On the fifth week, while we were waiting to hear from realtors, Matushka Tamara and I were heading home and I asked her to send a text to the parish and ask them to pray that we would hear something, and that God would provide what was needed for us. About 20 minutes later we drove by a sign that said “Church for Rent”. I discussed it quickly with Matushka, and we pulled into the small parking lot and called the number on the sign. The person who answered said “you know it’s funny, I just put that sign up 20 minutes ago.” He told me that, if I didn’t mind waiting a few minutes, he would be right back and would show me that building.

We are beginning our fourth year in that building, which has taken a lot of work. We are getting ready to ask if we can rent to own or purchase the property and building from our landlords, who have been such a great blessing keeping our rent the same every year and allowing us to do whatever we would like to the building. Our parish has grown to 18 – 20 a week with 30 if all came at the same time. There are baptisms scheduled and catechumen’s learning! Glory to God!

At St. Tikhon’s we are growing a family, a place to heal and learn. A place to welcome all those where they are and to sow the seeds of faith and to teach the faith. We are working to grow our faith in depth and understanding. We are ORTHODOX, as God provides we grow. We are trying to be like the early Christians by helping those in need regardless of who or what they are. If you find your way to St. Tikhon’s, you are part of our family, whether or not you stay with us or move on, are here with us weekly or just once in a while. Christ is in our Midst!

Fr. John and Matushka Tamara Cook

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