On Saturday, June 29, the feast of Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco the Wonderworker, the Eastern States Deanery clergy gathered in Saint John the Baptist parish in Little Falls, NJ to celebrate the Liturgy and hold a Deanery meeting.

At the meeting, the clergy welcomed two newly-ordained clerics of the Deanery - Priest Nicholas DeGraaff, who was ordained on the feast of Saint Nicholas in 2018 and serves at the Three Saints Church in Garfield, NJ, and Deacon Artemy Kulikovsky, who was ordained on Bright Saturday in 2019, and serves at the Church of All Saints, Pine Bush, NY. 

The clergy also talked about the current situation in their respective parishes. In general, our parishes are hurting from low attendance and participation at the Divine services and events (some more than others), but everyone remains committed to doing their best with what they have - be it leading their communities in worship, educating them, or being present in the greater communities. 

To conclude the meeting, the Chancellor of the Patriarchal Parishes, Archpriest Igor Tarasov, updated everyone on the upcoming Convocation of the Patriarchal Parishes to be held in Antichian Village Sept. 30-Oct. 3, reminding that registrations have to be submitted by September 7.

Priest Alexey Paranyuk