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Photo courtesy of eadiocese.org |
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Clergy and Concelebrants in Christ,
With hope in the Resurrection, we share the link to the livestream of the March 13, 2026 funeral of newly departed Archpriest George Johnson, which includes the messages expressed in the EA Diocese news story below, as well as a most uplifting homily by Archimandrite John Townsend from Optina Elders Monastery and St Mary of Egypt parish in Roswell GA (ROCOR), and a message from our rector, Father Christopher Johnson. Our thanks to all who attended the funeral, and also to the more than 1700 who viewed the livestream.
We hope you will be consoled and edified by this article about the funeral from the Eastern American Diocese of the Russian Church Abroad, which includes the full obituary for Father George, plus a photo gallery of almost thirty images, and begins as follows:
FUNERAL OF ARCHPRIEST GEORGE JOHNSON SERVED IN HOLY APOSTLES CHURCH
On Friday, March 13, clergy and faithful from across the Eastern American Diocese came to bid farewell to the newly departed Archpriest George Johnson, who reposed in the Lord on Monday, March 9.
The Funeral Rite for a Priest was officiated by the dean of the Capital Region, Archpriest Victor Potapov, co-served by 12 diocesan and visiting clergy. Praying in church was His Eminence, Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen).
The church was filled with family, parishioners, and spiritual children of the newly reposed. The choir sang prayerfully, as an homage to the decades of devotion Fr. George gave to the realm of English liturgical music and translations...
Fr. George was interred adjacent to the historic chapel and property acquired by the parish for its future home.
Read the full article and obituary, and view the photo gallery here.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support during this time. We take comfort in our shared faith and the community Father George loved so dearly.
Please watch this space for further announcements and especially the schedule for the fortieth day memorial for Father George, which will occur appropriately during the Paschal period.
May Father George’s memory be eternal!
. . . to receive updates on parish news, our parish hall building project, and our move to our historic chapel campus.
We invite you to join us the evening of Saturday, March 21st, 2026, at 5:00pm for the Vigil for St. John of the Ladder. We will be visited by both Metropolitan Nicholas and the holy Kursk Root Icon of the Theotokos.
God-willing, we will share an agape meal afterwards. It is a fast day, wine and oil are allowed. We are glad to be able to welcome our metropolitan to our little church, and the most Holy Theotokos' Wonderworking Kursk-Root Icon.
Dear Family of Holy Apostles Orthodox Church and Friends,
God bless you!
I'd like to thank you all for your prayers and your outpouring of love for our family. We're tremendously blessed to have all of you in our lives.
Please see the following schedule changes for this week at Holy Apostles:
- 3/17 (Tuesday) 7pm: 9th-day Pannikhida for Fr. George
- The Presanctified Liturgy that was previously scheduled for Wednesday night is cancelled.
Please check our Schedule page and subscribe to our Google calendar to stay updated on our service schedule!
In Christ,
-Fr. Christopher
The Mountain of God in Beltsville, Maryland
Watch the video, then visit our 'Build Holy Apostles' page to learn more, and to see how you can help our vision be fulfilled.
Thank you for your prayers and support!
This video represents the hopes and prayers of the people of Holy Apostles, to establish our parish in its new home in Beltsville, Maryland, from which the parish can continue to thrive and grow, in its soul-saving mission. Learn about our historic chapel and new parish hall here...
Get Door-to-Door Directions and directions from major routes here...
The St. Romanos the Melodist Society produces and publishes English language music of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The St. Romanos website is the online extension of A Church Singer's Companion, a project envisioned to contain the music necessary for every service a parish choir might need to sing, while staying simple enough so that any parish choir can sing it.
The St. Romanos Society produces music in both printed and recorded formats, and conducts seminars and workshops on the proper performance of that music. Music downloads are in PDF format, "pay as you can." Your support helps our music ministry continue and expand its offerings. Shop the many titles in our bookstore.
The St. Romanos Society is a sodality of Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, Beltsville, Maryland.
Detailed Reviews and Endorsements by clergy and choral professionals are provided for your consideration.
Build Holy Apostles!
OUR VISION is to establish the parish in its new home, from where the parish can continue to thrive and grow as a living icon of Orthodox missions in America. Read our full Purpose and Vision Statement here, and join us as we Build Holy Apostles!
Read the classic message: 'St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Zealous Builder of Churches'
"In building churches here on earth, we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven."
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Met. Hilarion at our parish, 2016 |
The blessing for the foundation of Holy Apostles Orthodox Church was given by Bishop Gabriel of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, on April 28th, 2001, on the eve of the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, [but there was an earlier blessing from Bishop Hilarion] in the spring of 1995, for us to openly pray for and work towards the eventual establishment of the new mission parish... Read the rich and edifying early history here...
Our first house church, followed by our move to Twin Chimneys Office Park, leading up to the gift of the Historic Chapel. Learn more here...
Since 2009 we have been restoring our beautiful chapel, gifted to our parish that year by the Christian Brothers.
To date, we have received and administered grants of approximately $400,000 so far, and continue to apply for the grants as they become available. Learn more here...
In October 2017, after spending two days with us and our beautiful chapel campus, noted Orthodox architectural designer Andrew Gould shared with us his vision for an attractive parish hall echoing the "Queen Anne" style of our historic chapel.
For the launch of our Capital Building Fund in mid-2018 Andrew provided us with a lovely watercolor of his design, and since that time we have been fundraising and moving towards building the parish hall, raising and administering approximately $300,000 in pre-construction costs. Once we complete the parish hall, we can begin holding the divine services in it, while we continue to work on the restoration and beautification of the chapel. Learn more here...
Our Dual-Timeline Display shows the progress of BOTH the Restoration & Renovation of our Historic Chapel, AND the Building Project for our New Parish Hall, projecting each out to completion.
Get up to speed quickly with this helpful overview, and see more detailed recent updates here...
Renowned Orthodox architectural designer Andrew Gould designed our parish hall and will also be involved with the design of the interior of our historic chapel.
Check out this special feature page with videos and more about the architect and our future parish home.
Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, in Beltsville, Maryland, is a parish of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), Eastern American Diocese, founded with the purpose of bringing the Gospel and Divine Services of the Russian Orthodox Church to the people of America in the English language. We invite you to come to any of the Divine Services or events at our mission church. In 2009 we were gifted a beautiful, historic chapel and two-acre campus by the Christian Brothers. Our vision is to establish the parish in its new home, from where the parish can continue to thrive and grow as a living icon of Orthodox missions in America.
