Archpriest Michael Sekela is warmly welcomed on September 9, 2007 as the permanent pastor of Christ the Savior Orthodox Church, relocating with his beloved wife, Matushka Theresa, from Chicago, Illinois to serve our community.

Father Michael was born in 1940 and raised in a small town in central Pennsylvania. He married Theresa Egan in 1965, who lived directly across the street from his childhood home. Ordained to the Holy Deaconate in 1972 and to the Holy Priesthood in 1973, Father Michael graduated from Saint Tikhon’s Theological School in 1974 with a Bachelor’s degree in Theology.

After graduation, he served his first parish, Saint Andrew’s Church in Baltimore, Maryland, for eight years, receiving his Master’s degree in Religious Education during that time. He went on to serve as Chaplain for the United States Navy, assigned to the 2 nd Marine Division in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and then to the Navy’s Recruit Training Center in Orlando, Florida.

After finishing his work with the Chaplain Corps, he was assigned to Archangel Michael Church in Burbank, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, where he served as parish priest for eleven years. He was later attached to Saint Joseph’s Church in Wheaton, Illinois, and officially retired in 2005.

In July 2007, Metropolitan Herman called Father Michael to serve as Rector of Christ the Savior Church in Stafford, Virginia. Father Michael and Matushka Theresa are blessed with three children and six grandchildren: Andrew (wife Kathy), Stephen (wife Heather, children Joshua, Felicity, and Zoe), and Larissa (husband Chuck, children Alex, Luke, and Matthew).

Our entire parish community warmly welcomes Father Michael and Matushka Theresa Sekela. May God grant them many years!