Clergy

Fr. James, originally from Oklahoma City, OK, was reared in an Orthodox Christian home. (His grandfather, Economos Nayemtallah Shadid, served as a priest in the village of Mrjeyoun, Lebanon). Fr. James studied Journalism and Public Relations at the University of Oklahoma and continued his studies in Boston at Holy Cross Seminary, where he received a Master of Divinity degree. He also spent a year studying Arabic at the Balamand Theological Seminary in Lebanon. On October 5, 2002 he married Gigi (Gizelle) Baba here at St. George. Fr. James possesses significant experience ministering to the youth of our Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America and our Archdiocese of North America, including service to youth at our Antiochian Village Camp. He worked as a counselor at the Antiochian Village (Bolivar, PA) for nine years and served as Camp Director of Camp St. Raphael.

Fr. James was ordained to the Holy Diaconate September 19, 2004 at St. George Cathedral in Wichita, KS and was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on October 17, 2004 at St. Elijah Orthodox Church in Oklahoma City, OK. He formerly served as the Assistant Priest and Youth Director at our Cathedral in Wichita, KS. Fr. James was assigned as the pastor of our parish in August 2011.

Fr. Symeon, a native of West Virginia, was catechized in the Orthodox Faith at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral (Houston, TX) and was received into the Orthodox Church at our parish. He received a B.A., summa cum laude, in Basic Humanities with a Religious Studies concentration from Marshall University (Huntington, WV) and a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary (Wilmore, KY). After becoming Orthodox, Fr. Symeon was sent by His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP to St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Canaan, PA), where he received a second Master of Divinity degree. On September 7, 2008, Fr. Symeon married Jing (Anastasia) Huang here at St. George in Houston. His secular employment background includes six years of military service as well as experience working in the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Fr. Symeon was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on June 20, 2010 at St. Elijah Orthodox Church in Oklahoma City, OK and ordained to the Holy Priesthood on October 10, 2010 at Ss. Constantine and Helen Orthodox Church in Dallas, TX. Fr. Symeon has been the second priest at St. George since October 11, 2010.

Fr. Joseph, a native of Pennsylvania, married Anita Sam at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Bridgeville, PA.  He was ordained to the Holy Priesthood in Philadelphia, PA on July 4, 1976.  Before moving to Houston, he served as a deacon and then pastor of St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church in Johnstown, PA.  Fr. Joseph holds a B.S. in Education from Millersville University (Millersville, PA) in addition to a Bachelor of Theology degree from Christ the Savior Carpatho-Russian Seminary (Johnstown, PA) and a Master of Education degree from Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA). 

Fr. Joseph served as the pastor of our parish from 1976 to 1983.  

Originally from Livingston, TN, Dn. Joseph received a BS degree in Chemistry from Cameron University (Lawton, OK) in 1975 and a MA degree in Chemistry from Princeton University (Princeton, NJ).  He was received into the Orthodox Church on March 26, 1978 in the Holy Transfiguration Chapel (OCA) at Princeton University.  He married Luba Anne Pacala at St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Bethlehem, PA on May 6, 1978.  Dn. Joseph earned a PhD in Chemistry at Princeton University in 1981.  He subsequently completed the Late Vocations Program of the Orthodox Church in America and, on September 24, 2000, was ordained to the Holy Diaconate at Holy Transfiguration Chapel at Princeton University.  Dn. Joseph served as a Deacon at the Holy Transfiguration Chapel (OCA) at Princeton (2001-2004), Archangel Michael Mission (OCA) in Humble, TX (2001-2004), and St. Cyril of Jerusalem Mission (OCA) in The Woodlands, TX (2004-20007).  

Having been received into our Antiochian Archdiocese, He has served as the Deacon of our parish since 2007.