Our Hierarchs and Clergy
The Most Reverend Bishop Victor, Russian True Orthodox Church
His Grace, Bishop Victor, was consecrated bishop on September 1, 2025 (Church Calendar) by the Holy Synod-RTOC and is the Ruling Bishop of Boston and the Americas (North and South), the Ruling Bishop of the Podvorie/Methochion Cathedral in Dmitrov, Russia, the Temporary Ruling Bishop of Ukraine, and the Secretary of the Synod of Bishops.
He became a deacon in 1977 and was elevated to priest in 1979 by St. Metroplitan Filaret (Voznisenski) (ROCOR).
His Cathedral in the United States, of the Holy Resurrection, is in Worcester, MA.
Our Priest, The Reverend Father Methodius
Fr. Methodius was born Nikolii Petrovitch Chwastek on on March 15th, 1975. His parents, then serving in the United States Navy, moved the family from Tennessee to California, then to the Midwest, and eventually settled in Michigan.
Nikolii and his wife, Jamie (Matushka Justina), married in 1996 and began a family of their own. This raised questions for them about life, death, and what happens after death. In pursuit of wisdom and when human philosophy failed to penetrate the mystery of life, they turned to Holy Scripture and gradually came to embrace the truth of Orthodoxy.
The family was Baptised into the local Russian Orthodox Church (ROCOR) near their home in Virginia in 2006 and has since grown to include many children and grandchildren.
Father Methodius was tonsured a Reader in the year 2010 and ordained a Sub-deacon in the spring of 2014. He entered the Holy Diaconate (ROCOR-MP) in 2020 and was received by his eminence Demetrius, Metropolitan of America (GOC-K), in December of that year. December 8th of 2021, on the feast of St. Clement of Ochrid, he was elevated to the rank of priest. He was received through the laying on of hands by his grace, bishop Victor of the Russian True Orthodox Church, on the Great Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul in 2026.
Reader Nicholas
Rdr. Nicholas and his family have been serving our parish since the beginning. They are fixtures in our community.
In addition to organizing our services, he also leads our choir in the wonderful Russian chant styles of Kievan, Znameny, and generally the Obikhod repertoire.
He is also an accomplished Iconographer, specializing in the ancient Cretan style.
What is the Eastern Orthodox Church?
The Eastern Orthodox Church is…
Historical: The Christian Church was established by the Lord Jesus over 2,000 years ago.
Cosmological: The Church is the Body of Christ, and is enlivened by the Holy Spirit. It represents and brings about the Salvation of the Cosmos.
Traditional: It is the keeper, defender, and repository of the True Faith. It stands against Heresy and division.
Liturgical: The authentic context and form of worship is in the Church. Only this form is pleasing to God, the Trinity, because it is inspired by His Spirit!
Sacramental: The only living Organism wherein true God-graced sacraments are available is the Church. Outside of the Church, the grace of the holy Mysteries is unavailable.
Ascetical: The Church is the spiritual hospital which offers the one therapeutic method capable of healing the whole man, body, and soul
Categorical: The true faith, once for all, received by the apostles is preserved, presented, and practiced in the Church.
Eschatological: The genuine bride for which the Lord will return at the conclusion of human history is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
At the Birth of the Baptist Church, we are a small, serious group of Orthodox believers. We are open to all genuine seekers of God. We welcome your questions about faith, life, the soul, and the world we live in.
What about ROCOR? They are Traditional...aren't they?
What happened to the official Churches?
Lenin's decree on the separation of church and state in early 1918 deprived the formerly official church of its status of legal personhood, the right to own property, or to teach religion in both state and private schools or to any group of minors.