OCA Primate Consecrates Colorado Springs' Third Orthodox Church

Colorado Springs, February 11, 2025

Photo: theophany.org

A beautiful new church was consecrated in Colorado Springs over the weekend.

St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church (Orthodox Church in America), located on the east side of the city, began as an offshoot of the well-established Holy Theophany Church, which was led for nearly three decades by the missionary priest Fr. Anthony Karbo, who Orthodox priest described as ‘profound religious leader in Colorado Springs’ dies at age 60The 60-year-old priest had served as rector of Holy Theophany Orthodox Church for nearly 30 years.

“>reposed in the Lord last March.

Like many parishes throughout the country, Holy Theophany has been experiencing explosive growth lately, with more than 160 people being baptized in just two years from 2022 to 2024.

Photo: theophany.org

Thus, it became necessary to build a new church to accommodate the growing number of Orthodox Christians in the city, where there is also a strong Greek Orthodox parish. The church is built in the same 12th-century architectural style as Holy Theophany Church.

And on Sunday, February 9, the new church was festively consecrated by the primate of the OCA, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon of Washington and His Eminence Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco, reports Holy Theophany Orthodox Church.

The Consecration and Divine Liturgy were attended by clergy and faithful from throughout the Diocese of the West, including rector Fr. Anthony Machnee (a 2022 graduate of St. Vladimir’s Seminary who first spent nearly three years as assistant priest at Holy Theophany) and Fr. Andreas Blom, the current rector of Holy Theophany.

Photo: theophany.org

The evening before, Hieromonk Vasily (Permiakov) offered a talk on the service of Consecration following Great Vespers at Holy Theophany Church.

The parish describes itself:

Visiting St John the Baptist, you will find approximately 200 or so of us struggling to live the fullness of Christian life together as it has been preserved and handed down. More than half of us are relatively new to Orthodoxy, a third of us range from new-born to young adult, we are not just a few young families, while a few of our respected original founders are still among us to this day. We are Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian… we are also South African, German, Anglo, Hispanic, Swedish… Texan, Californian, Pennsylvanian… American. You will find us regularly participating in our Liturgical life as a community. We have our Sunday fellowship meals, our social activities, our small groups, church schools, camps, and retreats. We keep the fasts, we celebrate the Feasts. We struggle, we pray, we take to heart the Lord’s commandment: “deny yourself, take up your cross… come and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). We seek to be evangelists by acquiring the virtues of Christ, becoming the “savour” of acceptable sacrifice (2 Corinthians 2:15; Matthew 5:16). We work to love one another (1 John 4:12). We strive to be faithful.

Photo: stjohnscos.org