St. John the Theologian Orthodox Christian Church

06/15/2026

Bumping or reposting our summer schedule so everyone who can attend is able to plan ahead!

Below is the mission schedule through the end of summer-
April 17 & 18
April 26 Sunday only 10:00am
Special Guest Priest Fr Nicholas Park!!!

May 15/16
May 29/30

June 12/13
June 26/27

July 10/11
July 24/25

Aug 7/8
Aug 21/22

Sep 4/5
Sep 18/19

July 3/4 possible bonus weekend w/ some of Father Seraphim's family as special guests.

06/13/2026

Sermon on the Mount teaches: without an inner life we will only judge and never help our brother.

In a sermon given on the second Saturday after Pentecost in St John the theologian mission in Quanah Texas we talk about judgment and discernment and the Lord's teaching that unless we guard our inner life, we will never help our brother but only bring ourselves down to Hell. From chapter 7, near the end of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount.

06/12/2026

On the 9 year memorial of his son's death, for those of you new to the page & wondering how an Orthodox mission took root in such a remote place- here is Father Seraphim telling the story in a nutshell. While Fr S's words here (link to the short in comments) might be hard to believe- and even shock some of you (remember "positive change" to a Christian will not look positive to the world) Jason & I can honestly say that through the example of +Daniel's parents, we have learned to say, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Glory to God in ALL things! Memory eternal, boys!

06/12/2026

Glory to God, it's mission weekend again. Last weekend we welcomed home Catechumens Stephena, Davina, Savina, & Macrina! Orthodox Christians have carried on the tradition of giving their children the names of Christians that have gone before them, and those not given a traditionally Christian name at birth take one upon their official entrance into the church. This particular family chose their name Saints in different ways- the mother took the feminine form of her departed father, Stephen. The oldest daughter took the feminine form of a Saint she has always cherished, King David, and the younger two daughters were given names of saints very close in sound and spelling to their own names, whose lives this family admires. How beautiful then that they all ended up sounding very similar to one another!

Regulars, especially mothers, please let me know if you prefer a 6:00pm start or 6:30pm for our summer hours. We'll try 6:00pm this weekend, if that doesn't put everyone in too much of a rush to get here- some of the little ones were getting tired by the end of last mission's evening service.

So- this Friday (Tomorrow!) meal beginning at 6:00pm Great Vespers to follow.
Saturday morning Divine Liturgy at 9:00 in the chapel. Lunch to follow. Reminder for those planning to bring a dish to share, we are well into the Apostle's Fast! (Father had posted encouragement and directions for us for the fast in a video on our page.)

Catechism Class begins at 8:00am before Divine Liturgy and is open to everyone from inquirers to seasoned Orthodox Christians. It is typical for catechumens to attend classes regularly for one year before baptism. (Though not uncommon to attend longer prior to baptism.)

First time visitors, contact us for directions! Everyone else, we are getting rain this evening be mindful of the potential for wet roads!

06/11/2026

A Slice of Life: Fr Joseph and +Danny

https://youtube.com/shorts/ohb1dDySqck?is=aST1K4PfAUMZMFv8
Another slice of life to thank God for. A conversation with Father Joseph at a monastery, and at the end of the conversation he told me about my +Danny (his ninth year anniversary of repose is today, the day of the publishing of this video).

Another slice of life to thank God for. A conversation with Father ...

06/08/2026

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Rsir39Wbotk
A Pastoral letter at the beginning of the Apostle's fast. From my heart to your heart.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Rsir39WbotkA Pastoral letter at the beginn...

06/05/2026

When the world exposes their sin without repentance, it accuses us of our sins!

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/vdBzM5oady4

We react to a recent story from an "influencer" which announces that they aborted their (6 months in utero) child because of a diagnosis of downs syndrome. They were completely unaware that they were broadcasting a terrible, personal sin. Our take is a little different than many other Christians. Of course, their sin is dark and toxic, as is their indifference to it. They stand as our accusers - if we are indifferent to our sins! We offer significant ways to combat sins, such as cursing, po*******hy and drug use, and not remain indifferent to them.

We react to a recent story from an "influencer" which announces tha...

06/02/2026

Baptism brings the Holy Spirit, and we can have peace, not the peace of the world! Pentecost 2026

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/sp0vq0CoMK0

On the Sunday of Pentecost, I of course tell the story, as recounted in Acts, but this story is able to fit in a children's book - it is not long. The more important story is how the Holy Spirit brings us peace. This peace, which passeth all understanding is not in any way like the world's "peace". It is only possible for those who are baptized, and therefore have the Holy Spirit abiding in them, AND they do everything in their power to hear the Holy Spirit, Who is always teaching, comforting, enlightening, in very quiet, and yet, infinitely strong words.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/sp0vq0CoMK0On the Sunday of Pentecost, I ...

05/29/2026

To pray for someone more diligently:
From the Old Believer Prayer Book, with **lines in italics added

Save, O Lord, and have mercy on Thy servant(s) ________, [bow]
Deliver him (her, them) from every tribulation, wrath and need [bow],
From every sickness of soul and body, [bow]
Forgive him (her, them) every transgression, voluntary and involuntary, [bow]
*Teach them to pray and to live with purpose. [bow]
*Erase the harm my sins may have caused him (her, them)
And do whatever is profitable for our souls. [bow].

Note: We can cause harm to people whether we intend to or not by causing them temptations which they succumb to and therefore sin, or giving them grief or making them unstable psychologically, and countless other things.



Certainly, if we intentionally harm someone, we are responsible for their behavior that comes about because of, or related to the harm, AND we are even responsible when we unintentionally harm someone, whether or not we are aware that we have harmed them, and whether or not this harm causes them to sin.



The Christian knows that it does not matter if someone has harmed us, we are always responsible for the harm that we give to them, even if we are responding to something they have done to us. They are responsible for their behaviors, and we are also responsible for their behaviors that have been caused by our negligence, anger, or cruelty, gossip, and a thousand other ways in which we show that we do not love our neighbor as ourselves.

It is a Christian duty, borne out of love, to pray for many people. We should certainly pray for those who are very close to us and we love very much, and we should also pray for those that we have had difficulties with. Sometimes life is ambiguous and we feel at fault also for difficulties in relationships. Whether we are at fault or not, a Christian recognizes that it is possible to harm someone without even knowing it. Therefore, I have added the penultimate petition to this prayer. The one before it is also when I added because I personally feel that the most important thing that a person can have and that we should pray for is that they have purpose and know how to pray. If we know how to pray everything can be achieved.

We can always pray for a person simply by merely saying “Lord have mercy upon N.” however sometimes we need to do something a little extra, and this prayer is very good for this.