A Bit of Our Parish History

The present mission parish of St. Herman of Alaska, Langley, BC began in 1975, when a group of parishioners from the predominately Russian Holy Resurrection parish in Vancouver decided to start an English mission in the lower mainland.

These few faithful, led by Dr. Edward and Mrs. Vivian Hartley, with the bishop's blessing, began to hold Reader's services in their private back-yard chapel. Eventually they found a priest to serve them, Fr. Stephen Slipko, then of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. So it happened that the English mission was received into the Ukrainian jurisdiction--even though none of its members were Ukrainian and all its services were in English.

The mission was served by a succession of clergy, some resident, some visiting. By 1986, they were again without a priest. After a year of holding Reader's services in the back-yard chapel, through the arranging of (then bishop-elect) Fr. Seraphim (Storheim), they learned that a seminarian of St. Tikhon's, soon to graduate, was interested in coming to Canada to do English mission work. This priest, Fr. Lawrence Farley, came to do some services and to visit in May 1987. The parish decided then to "return home" to the OCA so that Fr. Lawrence could be assigned by Metropolitan THEODOSIUS (then locum-tenens for the Archdiocese of Canada, until Fr. Seraphim could be consecrated ruling bishop).

The parish, now newly-returned to the OCA, continued to hold services in the Hartley's backyard chapel as Fr. Lawrence served the small mission and worked at a full-time secular job to support his wife, Donna, and their two young daughters. The mission grew in size. eventually outgrowing its original cozy chapel. It found rented quarters for a time in an Anglican church in Surrey, then in a disused United Church in Langley. This facility it also rented, pulling out the pews and installing an iconostas.

At length the parish grew enough that Fr. Lawrence could resign his secular job to work full-time for the parish. It now consists mostly of young people, students, and young families. Though of course open to Orthodox of all ethnic traditions, it also consists largely of converts. The parish draws from all over the Lower Mainland, many of its flock living an hour's drive in all directions. They continue to be very zealous in their missionary activity. Four young men, converts from the parish, have pursued a call to Holy Orders, some having left the parish to take more education in preparion for this goal. As well, a "daughter" mission has been founded in Comox, on Vancouver Island, under the heavenly protection of the Holy Apostle Barnabas, under the leadership of Fr. Alexis Nikkel. It is hoped that soon St. Barnabas Mission, under Fr. Alexis' leadership, will be self-sustaining and will play the role in Vancouver Island that St. Herman's now plays in the Lower Mainland. St. Herman's also rejoices in the new presence of All Saints of Alaska Mission in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, pastored by Fr. John Hainsworth, a former parishioner of St. Herman's.

The parish continues to work very hard at making the riches of Orthdoxy accessible to the residents of the Lower Mainland. It has produced its own Prayer Book, as well as liturgical booklets consisting of their church's services of Vespers, Matins, Liturgy and Presanctified Liturgy. The Sunday morning sermon is available on tape.

The choir's octet, under the leadership of Mrs. Andrea Folster, has produced a CD/tape of Orthodox liturgical music (available from the parish book-store).

Fr. Lawrence has written a Synaxarion entitled "A Daily Calendar of Saints", published by and available from Light and Life publishing. Also, a New Testament commentary series is being published by Concilliar Press. The volume on Romans, entitled A Gospel For All, is now available, as is the volume on The Prison Epistles.

The parish has just purchased a new building of its own in Langley.