OCA Announces 2026 Church Planting Grant Recipients

Photo: OCA

SPRINGFIELD, VA — The Orthodox Church in America’s (OCA) Department of Evangelization has named three missions as recipients of its 2026 Church Planting Grants, a long-running program that supports growing communities in establishing full-time pastoral leadership.

According to a release from the OCA, St. Catherine Orthodox Mission in Columbus, Mississippi, and St. Nina Mission in the Orlando, Florida, area will each receive first-year grants of $40,000. St. Catherine’s, founded in 2018, serves an underserved region of Mississippi and hopes to expand its outreach under the leadership of Priest Herman Garrison. St. Nina Mission, founded three years ago by St. Stephen Orthodox Church in Longwood, Florida, has become a hub for recent Slavic immigrants. The grant will allow its pastor, Archpriest Andrey Syrkin, to serve full-time in the United States for the first time.

St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Mission in Palm Coast, Florida, will receive a third-year grant of $24,000 as it completes the final year of program support. The mission, founded in 1995 and led by Archpriest David Rucker, has seen significant growth in recent years.

The Metropolitan Council approved the grants following recommendations from the Department of Evangelization, with final confirmation by the Holy Synod at its Fall 2025 session. Archpriest Justin Patterson noted that the newly selected missions demonstrate strong outreach vision, effective leadership, and promising locations for growth.

The Church Planting Grant Program funds full-time clergy salaries on a three-year tiered model and requires matching support from the mission or its diocese. For three decades, the program has helped more than 40 parishes graduate into stable communities, supported by over a million dollars in donations from key benefactors and the Stewards of the OCA.

The department also congratulated Archangel Gabriel Mission in Hickory, North Carolina, and St. Ambrose Mission in Roanoke, Virginia, as they conclude the program at the end of 2025.

Previously, UOJ reported that the Holy Synod of Bishops of the OCA gathered at the Chancery for its regular fall session earlier this month.

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