Our Pastoral Team
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Subdn. Christopher Abdelahad |
Priests who Lovingly Served Our Community
V. Rev. Fr. Isaac CrowOf Blessed Memory (+2020)
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V. Rev. Fr. George RadosOf Blessed Memory (+2017)
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Our community at Ss. Peter & Paul in Potomac, MD is under the jurisdiction of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America and we are linked to the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and all the East. We trace our roots to first century Antioch, the city in which the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). Our beloved parish stands as testimony and witness to our most ancient Christian Faith and to all those who have dedicated their lives and were sometimes martyred to preserve its existence.
Our community was first sanctioned as a Mission on May 15, 1979. The outpouring of love and faith which brought about this new beginning, by Fr. George Rados and sixty founding members, was living proof that faith in God can provide greater miracles than is often anticipated. Read more>
Our community was first sanctioned as a Mission on May 15, 1979. The outpouring of love and faith which brought about this new beginning, by Fr. George Rados and sixty founding members, was living proof that faith in God can provide greater miracles than is often anticipated. Read more>
As described in the New Testament, the Orthodox Church is the first Christian Church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. The history of the Orthodox Church can be traced back to Christ and his Twelve Apostles. For twenty centuries, she has continued in her undiminished and unaltered faith and practice. Today her apostolic doctrine, worship, and structure remain intact. The Orthodox Church maintains that the Church is the living Body of Jesus Christ. To learn more about our faith, please find more resources on Discover Orthodox Christianity and more details on our Symbol of Faith (The Nicene Creed).
We are a parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Christian Church whose roots trace directly back to first century Antioch, the city in which the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). The Orthodox Church is the oldest and second largest Christian group in the world. We are called by God our creator to worship and follow Him, and to proclaim to the world His message of love, peace, and salvation.
The Antiochian Archdiocese sees itself on a mission to bring America to the ancient Orthodox Christian Faith. We join our brothers and sisters in the various other Orthodox Christian jurisdictions affiliated through SCOBA (the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the Americas) — Greek, Orthodox Church in America, Romanian, Ukrainian, and more — in this endeavor. In less than 20 years the Archdiocese has doubled in size to well over 200 churches and missions throughout the United States and Canada.
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The Church of Antioch was established by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas in 42 A.D., with St. Peter serving for the next eight years as its first prelate. The Church of Antioch is one of the five ancient Patriarchates of the Christian Church, along with Alexandria, Constantinople, Jerusalem, and Rome. We are in full communion with our brothers and sisters in various other Orthodox Christian jurisdictions, such as the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Orthodox Church in America. Together we work to nurture the Orthodox Christians of this land—whether immigrants or native-born, cradle Orthodox, or converts—and to bring America to the ancient Orthodox Christian Faith.
Today the Patriarchate of Antioch is headed by His Beatitude John X. A succession of the primates of the Apostolic See of Antioch that goes back to St. Peter the Apostle is available through this link. Scripture refers to Antioch as the place where the followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:26), and records that Nicholas, one of the original seven deacons, was from that city—and may have been its first convert (Acts 6:5). During the persecution of the Church which followed the death of St. Stephen the Proto-Martyr, members of the infant community in Jerusalem sought refuge in Antioch (Acts 11:19), and while St. Peter served as the first bishop of the city, SS. Paul and Barnabas set out on their great missionary journeys to Gentile lands (Acts 13:1) -- establishing a tradition which would last for centuries, as from Antioch missionaries planted churches throughout greater Syria, Asia Minor, the Caucasus Mountains, Mesopotamia, Greece, The Balkans, Italy and most of the Mediterranean Region. The Great Schism of 1054 resulted in the separation of Rome, seat of the Patriarchate of the West, from the four Eastern Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. During the reign of the Egyptian Mamelukes, conquerors of Syria in the 13th century, the Patriarchal residence was transferred to the ancient city of Damascus, where a Christian community had flourished since apostolic times (Acts 9), and which had succeeded earthquake-prone Antioch as the civil capital of Syria. The headquarters of the Patriarchate, which has jurisdiction over all dioceses within its ancient geographic boundaries (Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and the Arabic Peninsula) as well as others in the Americas, Australia, and Western Europe, are located in Damascus on “the street called Straight” (Acts 9:11) The Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East together with the three other ancient Eastern patriarchates (Constantinople, Alexandria and Jerusalem); four modern patriarchates (Russia, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria); five autocephalous churches (Cyprus, Greece, Georgia, Poland, and Albania); and four autonomous churches (Sinai, Slovakia the Czech Lands, Finland and Japan) -many with dependent bodies throughout the world- comprise what is known today as the “Eastern Orthodox Church” with an estimated 250 million adherents, of whom, some 5-6 million live in the United States and Canada. |
His Beatitude John X
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East |
