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The History of St. Thekla Eastern Orthodox Christian Church

 

St. Thekla Orthodox Church began in the fall of 2014, as The Eastern Shore Antiochian Orthodox Mission.  At that time George M. Cody placed a notice in the local newspaper highlighting the need for an Orthodox church on the mid-shore and suggested that interested parties meet to discuss how this might happen.  The first meeting was attended by a small group of Orthodox Christians, unknown to each other at the time, who met for the very first time in a classroom at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Easton.

 

Father Boniface Black of St. Andrew’s Orthodox Church in Lewes, Delaware represented The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America at that meeting.  Having previously started six mission churches; Fr. Boniface was able to share valuable in-sight into how we should proceed with this endeavor. Under his guidance we became his seventh mission church.

 

Ultimately this group of Orthodox Christians decided to work at establishing a mission and notified the Antiochian Archdiocese of our interest and commitment.  The Archdiocese sent Bishop THOMAS (Joseph) who met with us and gave his blessing to our endeavor.  In less than two months, on December 3, 2014, we had our first Divine Liturgy with 33 people in attendance.

 

Divine Liturgy was conducted monthly in the Chapel of St. Mark’s Methodist Church.  However, those monthly services were conducted on a weekday since the chapel was not available to us on a Sunday morning.  One year later the mission began to have Liturgy one Sunday a month at a local hotel.  Eventually, we met twice a month until the 2020 Covid pandemic, which unfortunately mandated the cessation of all in-person church worship. In the summer of 2020, the state lifted the prohibition on in-person gatherings.  At that time, we were blessed to find that the Talbot Evangelistic Church in Trappe had a hall of approximately 2000 square feet, which our parish was able to lease. This enabled the group to meet weekly. It also afforded us the opportunity to worship in a true Orthodox manner, complete with our Iconostasis, altar, and icons in place.  This location still serves as our temporary church home as we endeavor to seek a permanent location.

 

September 26, 2021 was a monumental day for the newest Orthodox Christian church on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. On this day we were blessed to be visited once again by Bishop THOMAS of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Diocese. Until now, we had been known simply as the “Eastern Shore Orthodox Mission”. His Grace bestowed upon us the name St. Thekla Orthodox Christian Church. The naming of a mission is an indication of stability and growth. We are excited to be blessed with our saint’s name as we continue to grow.

 

St. Thekla is a very appropriate name for our parish. She was one of the first females and missionaries to preach Christianity to the population of that time and our Eastern Shore Orthodox Christian Church offers us the opportunity to do the same. Since our formation we have more than doubled in size as people hear about us and find our congregation to be a warm and welcoming community of faith that practices the Christian faith handed down to us from the Apostles.

St. Thekla’s parish is now comprised of members throughout the Eastern Shore from Cambridge to Chestertown and from Tilghman Island to Georgetown, DE.

 

We invite you to come and worship with us and experience worship in the Orthodox tradition.

Our Founder

The Eastern Shore Orthodox Mission was founded by the Archpriest Boniface Black, of Souderton, PA Fr. Boniface reposed Sunday, August 7, 2016. 

Father Boniface served Lutheran Churches in Iowa and Pennsylvania before entering Eastern Orthodoxy. He was Pastor of Saint Philip Antiochian Orthodox Church in Souderton, PA from 1978 until 2009 when he became Pastor of Saint Andrew Antiochian Orthodox Church in Lewes, DE. 

He was active in mission work for the Mid-Atlantic Antiochian Orthodox Christian Diocese, having helped start seven congregations in Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland. Under his guidance over the years, seven men were ordained into the Orthodox priesthood.

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St. Thekla Orthodox Church
​P.O. Box 624; Easton, MD 21601
info@stthekla.org
443-221-4888


St. Thekla Orthodox Church
​P.O. Box 624; Easton, MD 21601
info@stthekla.org | 443-221-4888
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