Bishop THOMAS visits St. Gregory Parish in Washington, D.C.

St. Gregory the Great Orthodox Church in, Washington, DC was privileged to have His Grace, Bishop THOMAS be present on the weekend of March 18 and 19 for the celebration of our 10th anniversary. Sayedna THOMAS presided at Vespers on Saturday evening, in which he tonsured Keivan Shahrokhi as a Reader. At the banquet following Vespers, members of the parish recounted our 10-year history in pictures and remembrances; presentations were made to our pastor, Fr. Nicholas Alford, Khourya Rebecca, who is our choir director, and others; and Sayedna THOMAS spoke to us about the importance of being evangelists and of finding a home of our own.

As our parish is composed of converts to the Orthodox faith, a booklet had been prepared in which some members told the stories of their journeys to Orthodoxy. Bishop THOMAS urged us to share these stories with others so that they may also discover what we have found in Holy Orthodoxy.

St. Gregory's is one of the Western Rite parishes of our archdiocese and on Sunday morning, the Bishop joined us for the celebration of the Liturgy of St. Gregory. He talked informally with parishioners afterward and met with the Parish Council.

We recently lost our rental space and have moved into the Chapel at Ss. Peter & Paul Church in Potomac, Maryland, where these events took place.

We look forward to Sayedna THOMAS' next visit and we pray that God will be with us in our next ten years as a parish.

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