Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America
Wichita Chancery, 1559 N. Woodlawn, Wichita, KS, 67208-2429
316-687-3169 (phone); 316-687-3327 (fax)
Welcome to the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America, part of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America. The Diocese of Wichita is led by His Grace Bishop Basil and includes more than 50 churches and missions in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
Click here for a directory of all the parishes in the Diocese of Wichita.
Click here to learn more about Bishop Basil.
To contact Bishop Basil electronically, email editor@antiochian.org with "Bishop Basil" in the subject line.
2013 Wichita PLC: Register and Make Your Reservations NOW!
With our 2013 DOWAMA Parish Life Conference quickly approaching (Wednesday to Saturday, June 5-8, 2013), please be sure to register very soon as well as making your hotel reservations. Both of these items can be accomplished at www.plckc2013.com ">the PLC website. This year we will have our large “family reunion” in the historic downtown of Kansas City, Missouri. We look forward to having you with us for this year’s conference, which is being hosted by the parish of St. Basil the Great Orthodox Church in Kansas City, KS. Amir Askander will be our Hafli musician, Mother Nektaria of St. Paul's Skete in Grand Junction, TN will be our keynote speaker, and you will be our special guests!"
Upcoming DOWAMA Anniversaries
His Grace Bishop Basil writes:
MANY YEARS! Fr. Seraphim and Kh. Maria (Masha) Gisetti and the congregation of St. John Chrysostom Church in Golden, Colorado will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Father's priestly ordination on May 19th, 2013
Fr. David Barr and Kh. Luanne Barr and the congregation of St. Elias Church in Austin, Texas will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Father's priestly ordination on June 28th, 2013.
2013 Paschal Greetings from Bishop Basil
His Grace Bishop Basil writes:
PASCHA 2013
Beloved and Christ-loving Clergy, Monastics and Laity of the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America:
I embrace and greet you with a holy kiss in the Name of the Resurrected Theanthropos Jesus Christ, and, together with you and Orthodox Christians throughout the world, I joyfully proclaim that Christ is risen! Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! ! ألمسيح قام Хрңстос Воскресе! Hristos a înviat! Cristo ha resucitado!
On this radiant Feast of feasts I share with you, my dearly beloved spiritual children, the following soul-profiting words excerpted from a Paschal homily of our father among the saints Gregory the Theologian (330-390):
This is the Day of Resurrection! Let us all be united in heart, and let us give glory to God on this solemn festival. Let us address as brothers even those who hate us, as also those who love us, and have helped us, and have suffered anything on our behalf. Let us forgive all things in the Resurrection ... Yesterday I was crucified with Christ; today I am glorified with Him. Yesterday I died with Him; today I am given life with Him. Yesterday I was buried with Him; today I rise again with Him. Today let us offer unto Him, Who has suffered and Who has risen for us, ourselves, which to God is the most precious and becoming of gifts.
Wishing you and your families a glorious Paschal season perfumed with the sweet fragrance of good works and holiness, looking forward to being with you all at our Diocesan Family Reunion in Kansas City this June 5th - 8th, and assuring you of my continued love, prayers and blessings, I remain
Your Father in the Risen Christ,
+Bishop Basil
Antiochian College Student Reflects on Real Break Trip
Real Break students with Patriarch BartholomewOCF Real Break 2013 – Trip to Constantinople
by Alexa Janda, St George Orthodox Church in Houston, TX
My decision to serve with the OCF Real Break mission trip to Constantinople was one of the best decisions of my life. Initially, my spring break plan was to spend a week in Alaska with my parents. However, my plan changed last Christmas break when I found out my two good friends Mary Catherine Huneycutt and Mary Dahdouh were going on the OCF trip. I shared the Real Break information with my parents who instantly recognized what an amazing opportunity this trip would be for me. I registered for OCF Real Break not realizing that this mission trip would be a life changing experience.
New Church Home for a Kansas Western Rite Parish
Preparing the new temple for St. Michael, Park City, KSSaint Michael the Archangel Orthodox Christian Church, a Western Rite congregation in the Antiochian Archdiocese, hosted The Right Rev. Bishop Basil (Essey), Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America, for its first Divine Liturgy in its new church temple in Park City, KS, on April 7, 2013. This service on the third Sunday in Lent was a significant milestone in the life of the parish which has experienced many challenges and successes in the nine years of its existence.
St. Michael’s began when Fr. John Flora and a group of his former Episcopal parishioners sought to become members of the Orthodox Church. Father John and 37 members were accepted as catechumens by Bishop Basil in the narthex of St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral in Wichita on Dec. 31, 2003.
During the time St. Michael's parishioners were catechumens, they attended services in the Cathedral and later held morning prayer services in the chapel at St. George. Father John was ordained on Pascha, 2004, and St. Michael’s then celebrated Divine Liturgy in the cathedral chapel until it moved into a rented space of its own in March 2010.
