St. Jonah Orthodox Church Celebrates Centennial of Patron Saint's Repose with New Ordinations and Plans for a New Temple

CREDIT: Cory Meissner

SPRING, TX — The parish of St. Jonah of Manchuria in Spring, Texas, marked a historic milestone this week, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the repose of their heavenly patron October 20, 2025. Roughly two-hundred faithful joined in the celebrations, coming from as far as Florida, California, and Illinois. 

The festal services were presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel, Locum Tenens of the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America.

Archbishop Gabriel was concelebrated by twelve priests and five deacons, with the services highlighted by several ordinations that reflected the parish’s continued growth and spiritual vitality. During the Divine Liturgy, Daniel Gonzales and Paisios (Shane) Martin were ordained as Readers; Paisios Martin and James Hall were subsequently ordained as Subdeacons; and James Hall was finally ordained to the Holy Diaconate.

A special moment of gratitude came when the parish’s longtime choir director, Demetra Durham, received a Gramota (a formal diocesan commendation) recognizing her fifty years of service as a choir director. Beyond her faithful leadership at St. Jonah’s, Durham was honored for her decades-long assistance to other parishes and missions throughout the diocese, helping them build and strengthen their own liturgical music programs, and her work on the Diocesan Liturgical Music Committee.

Providentially, it was Vladyka Gabriel himself who first blessed the establishment of the parish and named it in honor of the newly glorified St. Jonah of Manchuria, canonized only two years earlier in 1996. He later ordained Fr. John Whiteford to the priesthood in 2001 to serve the young parish, which has since grown into a vibrant community and spiritual home for many Orthodox Christians in the Houston area.

Following the festal services, the parish announced the launch of its capital campaign, an ambitious initiative to expand the current church building, enlarge parking facilities, and ultimately construct a larger temple to accommodate the parish’s growing membership.

“Through the prayers of St. Jonah, our community continues to flourish,” said Fr. John Whiteford. “This next chapter will allow us to serve even more families and continue the mission our Archbishop first blessed nearly three decades ago.”

Further information about the parish’s building campaign can be found at saintjonah.org/building-campaign

The Centennial of St. Jonah's repose holds church-wide significance for ROCOR. It could be argued that St. Jonah is the first "saint of ROCOR." UOJ-USA recently reported on centennial celebrations in ROCOR's European dioceses. 

UOJ-USA plans to release a short documentary film on the life of St. Jonah and the celebration in Spring in the coming weeks. For early access, consider subscribing on Patreon.

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