WELCOME
Fr. David
Sommer and Family
QUESTION
AND ANSWER
for
Seekers and the Curious
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QUOTE
ON "THE EUCHARIST"
"I desire the
bread of God, the heavenly bread, the
bread of life--which is the flesh of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God... And
I desire the drink of God, namely His
blood, which is incorruptible love and
eternal life."
--St. Ignatius (c.
105 A.D.), quoted in A Dictionary of
Early Christian Beliefs, David W. Bercot,
editor.
"They [the Gnostics]
abstain from the Eucharist and from
prayer, because they do not believe
the Eucharist to be the flesh of our
Savior Jesus Christ... Those, therefore
who speak against this gift, incur death."
--St. Ignatius (c.
105 A.D.), quoted in A Dictionary of
Early Christian Beliefs, David W. Bercot,
editor.
The
present age is not a time for rest and
sleep, but it is a struggle, a combat,
a market, a school, a voyage. Therefore
you must exert yourself, and not be
downcast and idle, but devote yourself
to holy actions.”
Starets
Nazarii of Valamo
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About us
We
are a small group of families and individuals
from the Snohomish-Monroe-Lake Stevens area
who had been attending St. Paul Orthodox Church
in Brier (near Lynnwood) and St. Andrew Orthodox
Church in Arlington. Most of us are from non-Orthodox
backgrounds but have discovered the riches of
the Eastern Orthodox Church in the past decade.
Although
most people think of Greek or Russian Orthodox
etc. when they see the term “Eastern
Orthodox,” we are a community of English-speaking
Americans and our services are in English.
Our Archdiocese is originally from Antioch,
which can trace its roots back to the same
Antioch mentioned in the book of Acts where
believers were first called “Christians.”
The Antiochian branch of Orthodoxy was brought
to America by immigrants starting more than
100 years ago. Now most parishes in North
America are like ours, English-speaking Americans
from various religious, ethnic and cultural
backgrounds.
For many years our
group talked and prayed about bringing Orthodoxy
“home” to the Snohomish area.
In early 2003, with Father Thomas Davis as
our spiritual leader, we began having weekly
meetings and Vespers services at a home in
the Cathcart area.
In November, 2003,
we leased warehouse space at our current site,
set up a temporary worship area and expanded
our services to include both Wednesday and
Saturday evening.
Since that time we
have, with the help of an architect and a
master carpenter, developed and executed plans
for remodeling the warehouse and turning it
into a holy place of worship.
Our small community
has struggled through many delays since we
commenced work, the most difficult being the
death of our beloved founding priest, Fr.
Thomas, on April 29, 2004. After a time of
grieving and seeking guidance from God and
our sponsoring clergy, we decided to continue
the vision we had shared with Fr. Thomas.
Currently, our community
is has just been assigned a Priest/Pastor
– Fr. David Sommer and his family and
is assisted by Reader James Clendenen, with
guidance from Fr. James Bernstein (St. Paul
parish - Briar, WA) and Fr. David Hovik (St.
Andrew parish - Arlington, WA).
We invite you to visit us and to consider
joining our small, but growing, community.
Be sure to check our calendar for service
times. If you have any questions or if you’d
like to receive our e-mail newsletter, drop
a note to
email Fr. David Sommer
AS
YOU CAN SEE BY OUR SCHEDULE, WE NOW HAVE FULL
SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES.
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Music
in PDF format
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