In 2019, The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, at its meeting in San Francisco during the celebration of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, gave its blessing for the full consecration of our church and had set the date of Saturday, July 11, 2020, for this long-awaited event. As we all know, this didn’t come to pass as we had hoped due, primarily, to the Covid epidemic and the panic which surrounded it, the war in Ukraine and other circumstances, which delayed the delivery of our new altar table and other furniture and accoutrements to bring our church to full readiness for its consecration.
Glory be to God, we can now look, with hope, toward next year to finally consecrate our church. While we have not yet been given a formal blessing by the Synod, we are hoping to fulfill this long-standing dream on June 1, 2024 — the fourth Saturday of Holy Pascha.
The long-awaited columns have arrived from Crete and are in the process of being permanently installed. Our newly carved altar table has arrived, and the table of oblation and eight new analogia (each of which can be donated in honor of a family or in memory of a departed loved one) are in production. Our iconographer has committed to complete work inside the altar and, hopefully, additional work on the eastern section of the ceiling by our consecration date.
None of this has come easily, and I am so very grateful not only to the hard-working Parish Council and generous members of our parish, who have done so very much — and will be doing even more over the next year — but to our Russian Orthodox community of the Bay Area and at large. Through their combined efforts, our iconostasis is completely paid for, and the realistic possibility of finally consecrating our church has generated a great deal of excitement in the diocese. Also, once an official date for the consecration has been set, a great many of clergy and laypeople from all over the country have told me that they are planning to travel to Santa Rosa to participate in this joyous event.
We have, with God’s help, achieved a great deal over these last few years and, before our celebration, and during it, much more is to be done. I call on all of our parishioners, especially those who have not been as involved as much as they could have been up to now, to participate in this communal effort. In doing so, you will be continuing the work of our forebears, whom we commemorate every year during our patronal feast day celebration, who began this endeavor so many years ago, and helping to bring it to fruition. As our heavenly patron St. Paul wrote: “We are laborers together with God: you are God’s husbandry, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereon.” (1 Cor. 3:9–10).
Let us also continue in this building, but taking heed as to how we continue it – never forgetting that those who began this work did so to the glory of God and so that they could have a place to celebrate the Divine Liturgy, to take advantage of the Holy Sacraments and to build their spiritual lives. Building a beautiful church does not save our souls. Using it and the Grace of God which is freely dispensed through it, does.
When we complete this important work — having contributed the very best of our treasures and talents — let us be equally diligent in building our spiritual lives, and those of our children and grandchildren. In this way, this beautiful House of God may never be empty but always filled with praise and prayer to Him for all of the great mercies He has shown us, and continues to show us, for generations to come.
God Bless!
Fr. Alexander
