Welcome to Saint Matthew
All Visitors are welcome to join any service
Pastoral Leadership
His Eminence Archbishop Alexander
Archbishop of Dallas & the South office@dosoca.org
Archbishop Alexander (Golitzin) was born in Burbank, CA in 1948 and raised attending Saint Innocent Church, Tarzana, CA. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary. He spent seven years pursuing doctoral studies at Oxford University in England under His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware]. During this time, he also spent two years in Greece, including one year at Simonos Petras Monastery on Mount Athos.
His Eminence received his DPhil in 1980, ordained to the diaconate in 1982, the priesthood in 1984, and tonsured a monastic in 1986. In 1989, he took a teaching position with the Theology Department at Marquette University in Milwaukee WI, a position he held until April 2012. In October 2011 he was elected Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese and consecrated May 5, 2012. On March 30, 2016 he was elected Bishop of Dallas, the South, and the Bulgarian Diocese. In 2017 the Holy Synod elevated him to the rank of Archbishop.
His Grace Bishop Gerasim
Bishop of Fort Worth
Auxiliary to the Diocese of the South
Bishop Gerasim was born in 1961, in Torrance, California, and raised in Palos Verdes. Growing up, he initially attended the Episcopal Church, and later the Presbyterian. As a child he had a diverse range of interests: sports, history, science fiction, and stamp-collecting, which offered a window to foreign lands and languages. He graduated from University High School in Irvine in 1979, simultaneously taking classes at UC Irvine during his senior year.
He studied Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, later shifting his focus to Spanish literature. Entering university with a conscious Christian identity, he attended Intervarsity Fellowship.
September 1982, Archbishop Anthony tonsured him a riassaphore-monk with the name Gerasim, in honor of Saint Gerasim of the Jordan.Riassaphore-monk Gerasim was tonsured as a monk in May 1992. Two years later he traveled to Russia with another monk and a deacon. Metropolitan John (Snychev) of St Petersburg ordained him to the diaconate on January 1, 1995, and then to the priesthood on January 5.
In August 2009 Abbot Gerasim stepped down as superior of the Saint Herman Monastery and entered Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. During the summer of 2010, he traveled throughout the Diocese of Alaska, visiting nearly thirty-five villages and attending regional conferences. Returning to seminary, he was encouraged by faculty advisors to finish a Master’s of Divinity degree, which he received in May 2012. In his final year he served on Sundays under Archpriest David Garretson at Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in South River, NJ, augmenting seminary studies with pastoral practice in a parish.
Beginning in September 2012, he served for a year at Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral in Los Angeles. In April 2013 Archbishop Benjamin elevated him as Archimandrite. In September 2013 he was assigned to Saint Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas, Texas, where he serves as cathedral dean. On May 18, 2021, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America elected Archimandrite Gerasim as Bishop of Fort Worth, Auxiliary to His Eminence Archbishop Alexander and the Diocese of the South. He was ordained to the episcopacy on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, at Saint Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas, Texas.
Fr. Joshua Trant-Priest in Charge
Glory to Jesus Christ! Welcome to St. Matthew's! We are an Orthodox community finding transformation and love in Jesus Christ. There are many reasons people first explore the Orthodox Church, but they stay because they find Jesus Christ. Our desire as a Christian community in Baton Rouge is the same as what St. Paul wrote many years ago to the Christian community in Corinth: to behold the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, being changed into His likeness. If you are also seeking this transformation, we hope you will join us.
This site is to help orient you to our small but growing community. We welcome questions and comments, but most of all we welcome you to visit us for worship and fellowship Sunday morning. If you would like to know more, explore our website or send me an email. I look forward to seeing you at church!