OCA and ROCOR Hierarchs Concelebrate at Old Rite Parish in Alaska

HOMER, AK — Abp. Alexei of Sitka and Alaska (OCA) and Bp. John of Caracas and South America (ROCOR) concelebrated the Divine Liturgy at Holy Transfiguration Church in Homer, Alaska, last week, marking another encounter between clergy of the two jurisdictions. The parish joined ROCOR in 2023 and follows the Old Rite.

The gathering began Sept. 10, on the eve of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, with a Vigil lasting more than four hours. Abp. Alexei and Bp. John were welcomed by Archpriest Nikolai Yakunin, priest in charge of Holy Transfiguration, along with other clergy.

The following day, the feast was observed with the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours and Typika, followed by the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. During the services, Varsonofy was tonsured to the rank of Reader as he began the ministry anew within ROCOR.

Bp. John has particular pastoral responsibility for Old Rite communities within ROCOR. Abp. Alexei observed that several customs at Holy Transfiguration closely resembled practices preserved in Yup'ik and Unangan Orthodox communities elsewhere in Alaska, including men and women standing on opposite sides of the church, women covering their heads, and children participating naturally in the services.

The parallels reflected a common Orthodox practice of receiving and handing down worship rather than continually reinventing it. The Diocese of Alaska noted that the Old Rite parish and Alaska Native communities developed under different historical circumstances, yet both preserved elements of an Orthodox inheritance rooted in generations of faithful practice.

The hierarchs and clergy continued their gathering in Anchorage at St. Tikhon of Moscow Church, where Fr. Nicholas Cragle serves as rector. Services were celebrated largely in Church Slavonic, with Archpriest Daniel Charles, chancellor of the Diocese of Sitka and Alaska, and clergy and servers from St. Innocent Cathedral also participating.

The services in Homer and Anchorage brought together different expressions of Orthodox life in Alaska, from Old Rite and Church Slavonic traditions to the Yup'ik and Unangan customs preserved in Native communities. The concelebration of Abp. Alexei and Bp. John offered a visible expression of the shared Orthodox inheritance connecting communities shaped by different historical experiences.

Previously, the UOJ reported that the Yukon Conference brought prayer, ordination, and rejoicing to Alaska faithful.