The wonderful news has probably traveled to most of you, that the Lord has given our parish a beautiful temple, the historic St. Joseph's cemetery church. The church had been boarded up for 30 years. The church and land, about 2 acres, has been given to us by the Christian Brothers, as an outright gift. It will be our task to restore and renovate the building, which will need to be done before we can occupy it. With the Lord's help we will need to raise $1,000,000.00 to cover the costs of the restoration/renovation. Additional funds will be needed for the beautification of the church, and to build a parish hall (we estimate another $1,000,000.00.)  We have begun fund-raising efforts, and welcome any ideas or suggestions for ways to raise the funds. To all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, please keep us in your prayers as we begin this process.

More information is available in our 2009 brochure, 'A Pure Miracle', the text of which can be viewed below. You can also download the brochure in PDF format here:

• Larger file (3,636 KB)
• Russian version (Русская версия) (654 KB)
• Smaller file (607 KB)

Holy Apostles Orthodox Church

Beltsville, Maryland

“Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”

 
Who we are *

Our parish was founded in 2001 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 are part of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, under the protection of Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York.

We began our parish life in a little house in the woods, our paradise at the beginning. A year later, we moved to our present location, a 1200 square foot office park space. We have done all that we can to create a place where the golden light of Orthodoxy can shine forth. All along, we have prayed that the Lord will give us a permanent parish home.

In September of 2008, when Metropolitan Hilarion visited us, we showed him the St. Joseph’s church. We did not yet know whether the church would be ours, but we were fervently praying for it, if it be the Lord’s will. The Metropolitan walked contemplatively around the beautiful old church. He said, "Don't worry, God will build the church. I am praying that God will grant it to the parish. It would be a wondrous occurrence.”

Our little flock now [this was in 2009] consists of about 50 souls, made up of lifelong Orthodox Christians and converts, people from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. St. John Maximovitch said that the purpose of the Russian diaspora was to spread the holy Orthodox Faith throughout the world. We desire to follow in the footsteps of the Holy Apostles, who, after receiving the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, went out from their native Israel to bring the Christian Faith to the ends of the world.

* For a more complete history of the founding and early years of our parish, see  A Garden of Blessings.

On June 3, 2009, through the Lord’s mercy, the parishioners of Holy Apostles witnessed a pure miracle in the wondrous gift which was given to us: a beautiful brick country church situated on two acres of land in Beltsville. The historic St. Joseph’s church is a disused Catholic cemetery chapel, built in 1880 in the American Queen Anne Revival style.

The church was built by Admiral Daniel Ammen, a childhood friend of President Ulysses S. Grant, who saved Grant’s life in a near drowning when they were boys. He donated the church to the Christian Brothers in 1880. Admiral Ammen died in 1898 on the day of Saints Peter & Paul, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

The church is situated on a hill; the grounds are serene, with many lovely old, stately trees. The property is bordered by a cemetery. The Christian Brothers donated the church and land to our parish in return for our promise to restore the chapel, which has fallen into disrepair, having been boarded up for about 30 years.

Restoring the Historic St. Joseph’s Chapel and Building our Parish Hall

An in-depth study of the church has been completed by an historic restoration consultant. The projected cost of the historic restoration and renovation of the church is approximately $1,000,000.00. In addition, we estimate the cost of beautifying the church and building the parish hall to be another $1,000,000.00. Our total initial fund-raising goal is therefore $2,000,000.00. Though this is a large amount of money, it is equal to the cost of four mid- priced homes in the DC area.

It may seem an impossible task from a worldly point of view, but we Christians are not of this world, and our Lord Jesus Christ says, “Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom…”

Our little flock has faith in the Lord’s promise. We put our trust in God and look to Him for help each step of the way in this path that He has laid before us. We also ask for your help. Please make a generous donation. Help us to establish His Church, and our church home, in Beltsville, Maryland.St. John of San Francisco says, “The construction of a church is a sacrifice to God...but most of all it is a gift of your love, your zeal... Those alms we give in the name of God are received by God Himself. Spiritually, our alms are laid up in the treasuries of heaven, God's treasuries... At each Liturgy, those who contributed to the building of the church are commemorated. In building churches here on earth, we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven.”

In the spring of 1995, six years before the blessing was given by Bishop Gabriel to found Holy Apostles, on the eve of Holy Week, Bishop Hilarion gave his blessing to Fr. George and me for us to openly pray for and work towards the eventual establishment of the new mission parish. Fr. George and I wanted to start the new mission that year, but Vladika Hilarion instructed us to wait a little while. In church the next day, he gave us advice for the future mission, things such as "you'll need to have separate space for the mission. If you are in your house or in a garage, it will be hard to grow." He understood and supported our desire to pray in English, and our desire to be missionaries.

After receiving this blessing from Vladika Hilarion, for the next 6 years from 1995 to 2001, Fr. George and I dedicated ourselves to continuing our service to the Lord at St. John's, where we had been since our conversion to Orthodoxy in 1986. The English community grew, and more English services were added to the schedule.  Continue reading...

There is much, much more in Matushka Deborah's rich narrative of the founding and early years of our beloved parish, Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, in Beltsville, Maryland.