Diocesan Life The Spiral Shape of Archbishop Michael’s Episcopal Ministry: Celebrating the First Five Years Spring/ Summer 2015
by Fr. John Shimchick The 5th Anniversary of Archbishop Michael’s Knighton, and his childhood friend and fellow consecration as our Diocesan hierarch took place seminary student, Fr. James Dutko, with his wife, on Saturday, May 9, 2015. It began with a Divine Pani Kathy. Fr. James is now the pastor of Vladika’s Liturgy served at St. John home parish, St. Michael’s the Baptist Church, Passaic, Carpatho-Russian Church, New Jersey and included a Binghamton, New York. He reception at The Brownstone is also the son of Vladika’s in Paterson. While recalling initial mentor, Fr. Stephen an event that took place at Dutko, who had been St. Jersey City in 2010, it is fair Michael’s pastor as Vladika to say his ministry could be was growing up. Other described both as moving in guests at this table included: a linear direction and yet as Theresa Slovesko Koast, of following the reoccurring St. Michael’s Church and path of a spiral, which moves Protodeacon Peter Skoog outward, returns in, and and daughter, Marija, of then moves even farther out, Holy Trinity OCA Church repeating elements while in Pottstown, Pennsylvania encompassing and adding photo by John Savastinuk (his former deacon). Present more and more. also were administrators and students from St. Tikhon’s Seminary, where he has This was clear at the reception as he described served as dean, professor, and now rector. Some of how the assembled guests represented important these students now serve as clergy in our Diocese. phases of his life. At a family table were his Continued on page 18 mother, Ann Dahulich, his sister, Barbara Dahulich
Continued from page 12 away chairs, sweeping up cigarette butts, and watching the door. We take courage from Philippians 2:1-5: “If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete... Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others...”
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When loved-ones have died or I have faced trials, I have needed my brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage me, pray for me, and be with me. Addiction, like other illnesses and trials, affects our parishioners and communities. In this, too, I am grateful for the Church where together we work to “encourage one another and build up one another”
(1Thess 5:11). In the case of addiction, this building up of each other begins with the work of research and learning. Approaching someone with a basic understanding of addiction may be enough to save a life or remove the isolating experience of shame and stigma. I know of no welcome greater than that. v Juliana (Mecera) Federoff is a member of Holy Virgin Protection Cathedral in New York City. She graduated from St. Vladimir’s Seminary (Master of Arts in Theology, 2009) and Union Theological Seminary (Master of Sacred Theology, 2010), where her research focused on ecumenism and women’s ministries in the Orthodox Church. She enjoys hospital chaplaincy, group facilitation, and has worked as an executive for the United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence in New York City since 2010. She can be contacted at juliana.mecera.2007@owu.edu.
