Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic
Charleston Chancery, 4407 Kanawha Ave. SE, Charleston, WV, 25304-1734
724-787-9832 (phone); 304-346-0146 (fax, marked "ATTN Bishop THOMAS")
Welcome to the Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic, part of the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in America. The Diocese of Charleston is led by His Grace Bishop THOMAS and includes more than 30 churches and missions in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Click here for a directory of all the parishes in the Diocese of Charleston.
Click here for an informational PDF for our Diocese, and click here for the make-up and deans of our deaneries.
Click here to learn more about Bishop THOMAS.
Click here to see Bishop THOMAS's schedule.
To contact Bishop THOMAS electronically, email bpthomasjoseph@gmail.com.
Bishop THOMAS visits St. John Chrysostom + York, PA
Dn. John Shumski writes:
His grace, Bishop THOMAS, visited St. John Chrysostom Church in York, PA on the occasion of their patronal weekend, November 6-8, 2009. Sayidna had dinner with the clergy, parish council members and their spouses on Friday evening. On Saturday afternoon he met with Teen SOYO for an “Ask Sayidna” session. Bishop THOMAS presided at Great Vespers with Litia and Artoclesia and was the honored guest at a banquet attended by the congregation. On Sunday, Divine Liturgy was celebrated and a parishioner was inducted into the Order of St. Ignatius. The children of the parish sang a Troparion for Sayidna and a reception followed in the social hall.
Bishop THOMAS Visits St. Philip + Souderton, PA
Fr. Noah Bushelli writes:
The Parish of St. Philip was blessed recently to welcome Bishop THOMAS on our patronal feastday, November 14th. Fr. Joseph Butts and Fr. Andrew Damick concelebrated with me and Dn. Herman for the Matins and Divine Liturgy. At the end of the Liturgy, Bishop THOMAS gave to our humble parish a relic of St. Raphael of Brooklyn. By God's mercy the rain was stayed and we processed around the church with the relics. Bishop THOMAS encouraged us strongly in our daily evangelistic work, to be disciples of St. Philip and invite people to church by saying, "Come and See." Fr. Andrew spoke briefly about St. Raphael's life and continuing presence with us after his death. The parish is commissioning an icon of St. Raphael in which to have the relics embedded. We are moving forward with mission work and feel very blessed to have the protection and physical presence of St. Raphael, the Good Shepherd of the Lost Sheep in America.
Bishop THOMAS Visits St. Mary + Chambersburg, PA
During the weekend of October 24-25, His Grace Bishop THOMAS made a pastoral visit to St. Mary Church in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. After arriving in town, His Grace met with the pastor, Fr. Theodore Pulcini, as well as Deacon Evangelos Prieston and Subdeacon Joseph Merlina. Fr. Ted presented Sayyidna with a copy of the St. Mary’s “Five-Year Plan,” which outlines the congregation’s aspirations and intended course of action for the future.
Preparations were then made for Vespers, which was celebrated that evening with some fifty parishioners in attendance who sang the service congregationally. Afterwards, the Parish Council hosted Sayyidna for dinner at the Copper Kettle Restaurant in Chambersburg, during which he responded to a number of questions, especially regarding the growth of parishes in our Diocese. Bishop THOMAS noted that when he first came to the Diocese, he had no Western-rite parishes under his omophorion; now there are three, with a number of other groups expressing interest in embracing Orthodoxy.
Fruitful Labor and A Hierarchal Visit at St. Philip Church + Souderton, PA
Fr. Noah Bushelli, of St. Philip Church in Souderton, PA, writes:
Bp THOMAS Prays over Simeon Nicholas BushelliRecently, we had a blessed pastoral visit from Bishop THOMAS. A unique aspect of this visit was that on Saturday Morning, Sayedna led about 50 of us in a retreat on "Raising Godly Children". We prayed together the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children, then His Grace equipped us with some inspiring stories from his own childhood and some practical resources.
At another visit earlier this year, my family had the blessing of Sayedna praying the 8th Day Naming Prayers for our youngest, Simeon Nicholas.
Brotherhood of St. Joseph of Damascus Clergy Retreat 2009 Report
September 23-25:
Click here for a collection of images from the retreat.
With the Pennsylvania forests’ magnificent change of colors well under way, proclaiming the glory of creation, the clergy of the Diocese of New York and Washington DC, and the Diocese of Charleston, Oakland and the Mid Atlantic gathered at the Village in late September with Bishop THOMAS for their fifth annual clergy retreat. In attendance with Sayedna were twenty-seven priests and deacons of the Brotherhood, and Mother Alexandra, abbess of St. Thekla Convent and her guest Mother Mariamne.
The retreat was led by one of the Brotherhood’s own – Archimandrite John Abdalah, pastor of St. George Cathedral, Pittsburgh. Bishop Thomas asked Fr. John to discuss the theme “Being a Priest with a Positive Attitude.” During the retreat sessions, Fr. John challenged the Brotherhood to consider three questions about their ministries. The first was what metaphor best reflects their ministry. The second was to ask what person had a significant influence on their ministry. And last was what do we want to be remembered for. As we discovered through the individual and collective answers to these questions, the images of how we see our ministries - now and in the future - profoundly affect the attitudes we portray to others through our day-to-day work in our parishes.
Diocese of Charleston News Archive
