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Dearly Beloved Fathers, Mothers, Brothers and Sisters:
For many years, the missions of our Diocese have been organized into a Missionary District. Under the leadership of our mission deans, this was a great tool for planting and supporting missions throughout the Diocese of the West, especially in times when not all of our parishes, clergy, and leadership were ready to fully engage in this effort.
In getting to know our Diocese, it has been brought up to me numerous times that our missions have a heartfelt wish to connect deeply with their geographic neighbors and that our established parishes are eager to be more closely involved in planting missions and supporting our existing efforts. This past week, in the course of a sustained retreat and conversation with the Deans, the Acting Mission Director, and the officers of our Diocese, the authentic consensus was reached that we should have our missions in their appropriate district deaneries. At the same time it was decided that we must reinvigorate our Missions Board to provide specialized service to our missions as they are planted and are grown.
After ascertaining that I have the support of the Deans and the Diocesan Council, I have come to a decision to incorporate all of our missions into the appropriate geographic deaneries. This leaves us with four large districts. My hope is that I will be able to work closely with the four Deans, along with our Chancellor and the Missions Director Priest Peter Runyon, to have a unified vision and approach. I have also asked the Deans to express my strong encouragement and wish that parishes and clergy in smaller geographic “units” of our deaneries foster fellowship even more intentionally than they already are.
I express my gratitude to Archpriest Matthew Tate and Mr Peter Schwalbenberg and re-appoint them to the Missions Board along with our Deans, ex officio. We will identify, with your help, additional clergy and faithful to help with missions support as we proceed.
As a tangible manifestation of our commitment to growing the Kingdom of God in these Western United States, I have also established a mission dedicated to the Meeting of Our Lord in Kuna (Greater Boise), Idaho. Archpriest Jerome Cwiklinski will shepherd this new outpost. I have also asked the Missions Board to form a task force to explore planting a mission in the Greater Salt Lake City area as soon as possible; Archpriest Andreas Blom and Priest Peter Runyon will chair this effort.
Dear Clergy and Faithful of the Diocese of the West: it is central and essential to our character that we are a missionary diocese. Our parishes are growing. Our neighbors are seeking, knocking at the door, and asking for bread (cf. Matthew 7:7-9) – the bread of life, the true teaching that is found in the Orthodox Church. Whether we are strengthening our parishes and vocations with the Thriving Parishes Project, reaching out to our youth with our camps, college ministries, and young adult outreach, building up missions, or visiting the sick, we are all engaged in the work entrusted to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a great privilege for all of us, and I extend my archpastoral gratitude and blessing to all of you for your resolve in this holy work.
In Christ,
+Vasily
Bishop of San Francisco and the West
The Diocese of the West is the geographical district of the Orthodox Church in America consisting of the Western United States. The diocese has active parishes in Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii. San Francisco is home to the diocese’s cathedral, Holy Trinity, as well as the Chancery offices. The diocese is led by His Grace Vasily, Bishop of San Francisco and the West.
