The Ordination of Father Methodius to the Priesthood
The Ordination of Father Methodius to the Priesthood took place on the feast of Saint Clement of Ohrid in the monastery catholicon on November 23/December 8, 2021. May God grant Father Methodius many years in the service of His Holy Church!
Fr. Methodius was Born March 15th, 1975 and given the name Nikolii Petrovitch Chwastek. His parents, who were then attached to the United States Navy, moved the family from Tennessee to California before ending up in the Midwest and eventually settling in Michigan.
After graduating High school in 1993, Nikolii entered the skilled trades. He spent several years working in machine shops while taking classes at small colleges and seminaries. During this time, Nikolii met and married his wife Jamie (of 25 years) and the two of them started to build a family of their own. Raising his children caused Nikolii to ask questions about what he would teach them concerning life, death and, most importantly, what happens after death. These questions drove him to seek wisdom. When human philosophy proved unable to penetrate the mystery of life, he turned to Holy Scripture and gradually came to embrace the truth of Orthodoxy and sought entrance into the Holy Church.
In the year 2006 Nikolii brought his young family to the local Russian Orthodox Church near their home in Virginia. By the year 2007 they had been catechized and brought into the Church through Holy Baptism, at which time Nikolii was given the name Methodius in honor of his patron Saint. Since that time, the family has grown and now includes six sons and one daughter.
Father Methodius was Tonsured a Reader in the year 2010, ordained a Sub-deacon in spring of 2014. He entered the Holy Diaconate February 2nd of 2020 and was received into the GOC by Demetrius, Metropolitan of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of America in December of 2020. He was recently ordained a priest by His Eminence at Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Monastery in upstate New York.
For the past 18 years he has been self-employed working as a remodeling contractor. During this time, he has studied at two pastoral schools offering programs for those without time for a full study schedule. Currently, with the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan Demetrius, he has been offering catechism, preaching, teaching and services in the newly established mission in Pinckney, which is dedicated to the Birth of the Baptist and Forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Galleries
- Feast of the Holy Great-Martyr Demetrius, 2023
- Feast of the Holy Great-Martyr Demetrius, 2023
- Feast of the Holy Great-Martyr Demetrius, 2023
- FEAST DAY OF OUR MONASTERY 2023
- Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Monastery Feast Day 2023 Gallery
- The Feast of the Life-giving Spring, 2023 Gallery
- The Ordination of Joel Thomas to the Diaconate
- The Ordination of Vasilios to the Diaconate
- Saint John of San Francisco Orthodox Monastery Feast Day 2022
- The Ordination to the Priesthood of Father Methodius
- Saint John’s Monastery – Feast Day Gallery 2021
- Pascha Season 2021
- Holy Theophany 2021
- Feast of Saint Demetrius the Great-Martyr 2020
- Feast of Theophany 2020
- Saint John of San Francisco Monastery Feast Day 2019
- The Ordination of Deacon Jacob to the Priesthood
- Pascha Season 2019
- The Feast of Theophany 2019 Gallery
- The Ordination of Deacon Benedict to the Priesthood
- Fall 2018 Construction Projects at Saint Johns Monastery
- Saint John of San Francisco Feast Day 2018
- The Ordination of Deacon Joachim to the Priesthood
- The Ordination of Peter Gilstrap to the Diaconate
- Ordination of Monk Demetrius to the Diaconate
- From Private Home to Monastery
- From Padle Ball Court to Church
- From Swimming Pool to Kitchen and Trapeza
- Saint Demetrius Feast Day 2017
- Saint John of San Francisco Feast Day 2017
- First Feast Day of Saint John of San Francisco
- Ordination of Monk Joachim to the Diaconate
- Monastic Life
- Construction Work on Two New Chapels
- Myrrh Streaming Icon of Saint Nicholas
- A Look at Our New Location in Cobleskill
- Divine Services
- Saint Nicholas Vigil, 2015
- First Theophany at Saint John’s Monastery
- The Beauty of God’s Creation
- A Walk in the Woods
- Blessing of the Church Construction