Dear followers and supporters. Things have been quiet here in the past few months. Changes in employment and attending to some significant family needs required that we pause Sunday services for a season.

I am excited to share the God has opened a door and that our family will be redirecting a good bit of our time and energy to assisting St Sebastian Orthodox Church near Traverse City. This mission was recently transferred into our diocese so it seems a good place to direct ourselves while things continue to rest here in Cadillac. God willing there will be a renewed effort to build an Orthodox parish in Cadillac when the time for that is right. In the meantime please contact us through our Facebook page if you are Orthodox and interested in forming a community or if you are not Orthodox but are curious about learning more! We would love to hear from you. Please also pray for St Sebastian Orthodox Church, that Christ’s love would be made manifest there and that our labors will bear good fruit. Check back often for updates!

Grace & Peace,

Subdeacon Micah Chisholm

On January 9/22, 2020, the day of the commemoration of Hieromartyr Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow, the Dean of Michigan Parishes, Fr. Gregory Joyce, served the Divine Liturgy at the St. Sebastian Mission in Traverse City, MI with Archbishop Peter’s blessing. Although it was a working day, 15 people gathered for the Divine Liturgy – 14 of these partook of Holy Communion (the 15th was a Catechumen). Following the Divine Liturgy a meal was presented at which the future of the mission was discussed, as well as several interesting questions about Orthodox Christianity in Michigan and on the North American continent. God willing, Liturgy will again be served on February 18, and Sunday Reader Services will commence on February 2. We ask your prayers for this vibrant community! Lear more at their web site:

ST. SEBASTIAN MISSION

Congratulations to our parish in Lansing! Full coverage and lots of pictures of their feast day can be found on the Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America web site:

SECOND PASCHA IN MICHIGAN'S CAPITAL

Congratulations to our parish in Lake Odessa! Full coverage and lots of pictures of their feast day can be found on the Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America web site:
SECOND PASCHA IN MID-MICHIGAN

SEE THE FULL ORPR MEETING SCHEDULE FOR THIS FALL

SIGN UP FOR THE OCTOBER 6 MEETING (PLUS ALL DETAILS)

Our Deanery has been offered the opportunity to host the Diocesan Cross Procession “Walk of Life” this Labor Day weekend (August 31-September 2). And we want to do it! This has always been a positive event for our parishes, deanery, and diocese. We have always gotten more out of it as a deanery than we have put in. But the timing is rough. This event will happen two weeks before the annual festival at our Ann Arbor parish. So we need a volunteer to lead this effort – someone who is not on the Ann Arbor festival committee or a festival lead. Please contact Fr. Gregory Joyce, Dean of Michigan parishes right away if you can help. Some things have already been put in place – so you wouldn’t be starting from scratch! A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO HELP YOUR DEANERY!

Here are pictures from previous Walks of Life in the Michigan Deanery:

Walk of Life 2016

Walk of Life 2015

Information on the visit of His Grace, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, to the Michigan Deanery, including photographs, is covered on the web site of the Diocese of Chicago & Mid-America:

VISIT OF BISHOP NICHOLAS TO MICHIGAN

With the blessing of His Eminence, Archbishop Peter, His Grace, Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, will serve at Dormition Cathedral in Ferndale, MI on Sunday, May 12, 2019. Meeting of the bishop is set for 9:30 a.m. All are welcome!

Please note that we will meet on May 19 (NEW DATE FOR MAY) at Sts. Peter & Paul Cathedral in Detroit. We will participate in their weekly meal for their neighbors, many of whom are struggling with homelessness and housing stability. This is a great opportunity for our campers to help those less fortunate than themselves! All should wear uniforms. More information soon to come!

On Saturday, February 23, 2019 and Sunday, February 24, 2019 His Eminence Archbishop Peter of Chicago & Mid-America made an archpastoral visit to the Dormition Cathedral in Ferndale, MI. The occasion for Archbishop Peter’s visit was the clandestine celebration of the 25th ordination anniversary of the cathedral’s Rector, Archpriest Viktor Trotskyy. The celebration was a secret only to Fr. Viktor. The Parish Council worked together with the diocesan administration to arrange Archbishop Peter’s visit so that Fr. Viktor would not be aware of the celebration in advance. Following the Divine Liturgy on February 24, Fr. Viktor was presented with a First Hierarch’s Gramota from His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America & New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. His Eminence Metropolitan Philip of Poltava & Mirgorod also sent a greeting to Fr. Viktor on this day. Fr. Viktor is a native of Poltava and worked closely with Metropolitan Philip after the fall of the Soviet Union in the Poltava Diocese. A festal meal in honor of Archbishop Peter’s visit was held in the parish hall following the Divine Services. The conversations and recollections of Fr. Viktor’s 25 years of service at the Holy Altar among those present lasted well into the afternoon before the gathered faithful dispersed. Pictures of the celebrations can be found at this link:
FR. VIKTOR TROTSKYY 25TH ANNIVERSARY