ROCOR Mission in Missouri Gearing Up for New Location
Services for the mission, which was founded in April of 2024, have been held in the home of Subdeacon Seth Williams since the beginning of June.
CAPE GIRARDEAU — In April of last year, St. Justin Orthodox Church began holding reader services in an old, historic building that the newly founded mission parish was renting in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
The road to get to that point had started all the way back in 2011, when Subdeacon Seth Williams and his soon-to-be wife began attending services at an Orthodox Church. Before the two were married, Williams moved to Texas and was catechized and baptized, along with his sister and brother-in-law, by Fr. Justin Frederick at St. Maximus the Confessor Church (OCA) in Denton.
“I can’t stress enough how godly of a priest Fr. Justin is,” Williams said. “He’s been extremely influential for us, and was always a kind and pastoral hand… He’s a gem in the south, and that’s a very good parish.”
Fr. Justin had taken his name after St. Justin Popovic before he was canonized with the blessing of Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas of blessed memory. Eventually canonized in 2010, St. Justin and his teachings were very influential on Williams and his fellow catechumens. From the St. Justin Orthodox Church website:
“The catechism we received was rooted in St. Justin’s teachings on the absolute centrality of the God-Man, Jesus Christ; the Church being one and unique as His Body; the importance of fidelity to the revealed Truth as found in the Orthodox faith; and the study of the lives of the Saints.”
Later, Williams’ wife was baptized at an Antiochian parish in Missouri and then moved down to Texas.
“I had planned to go to a monastery and see if that was what I needed to do, and God made it very apparent that I should marry my wife,” he said.
Eventually, the couple moved back home to Missouri and served faithfully in an Antiochian parish for about a decade. With Orthodoxy growing in the area and Southeast Missouri State University being located in Cape Girardeau, the Williams (and others) felt called to start a ROCOR parish there.
After going through the proper processes with the Russian Church Abroad, the time came to name their mission. Having discussed North American saints like St. Herman of Alaska and St. Peter the Aleut, St. Justin Popovic was also floated as a possibility due to the influence his teachings had had on several parishioners, including his works on the theanthropic nature of the Body of Christ, ecumenism, and the lives of the saints.
While discussing names with Fr. Sergii Alekseev, archpriest at St. Basil the Great Orthodox Church in St. Louis (located less than two hours away), the decision was essentially made for them.
“I threw out that name, and he didn’t give us another chance,” Williams said with a laugh. “He was just like, ‘St. Justin sounds great – I’ll talk to the bishop.’”
Now, it is the only church named after St. Justin Popovic in North America.
Holding their first reader service on April 14, 2024 after receiving a blessing from the recently reposed Archbishop Peter of Chicago and Mid-America, the first location the parish utilized was an old historic building. Earlier this summer, the decision was made to stop using the space as it was costing too much for just one day a week, and services started being held in the Williams’ home in June.
Without a full-time priest, as Fr. Sergii comes down to serve the Divine Liturgy once a month, the parish had been looking for a location to rent out that they can put a sign outside of and hold more services in throughout the week.
From left, Fr. Sergii Alekseev, Dn. Peter Longan, and Sdn. Seth Williams. Photos: St. Justin Orthodox Church
“I have five children, so I can’t have guys coming in to do a prayer service at 6 a.m. in the morning when there are five kids waking up,” Williams said. “We’ve been really trying to find a place.”
Williams also said that it is important to have a worship space that is set aside and projects stability. Holding services in someone’s home does not project that image to the general public.
With several false starts in finding a building, a local businessman who has visited the parish in the past offered his services, and the mission now has a location to move into that needs some remodeling.
“It will be a small chapel, but there are bathrooms, and we’ll have space where we can have coffee hour and places for children to go during the service if they’re crying,” Williams stated. “It will be humble, but it’s close to the university here in town.”
In fact, Vladyka Peter of blessed memory was adamant that the mission minister to the university students.
“10,000 or more students come every year, and we know that there are Orthodox Christian kids that come and don’t get plugged into a parish,” Williams said. “We’re hoping to minister to them – find them first, and then minister to them.”
Williams shared that it was once expressed to him by a student that they had always wished there was a parish in Cape Girardeau. Now, the mission will try to have Orthodox events on campus to give students the opportunity to know that they are there and to learn about the faith.
The parish is still small, but there is much potential with many children involved in the life of the church. Currently having three families and several individuals who are at varying levels of inquiry into Orthodoxy who belong to the parish, a piece of real estate close to the university and a ramped up calendar of services could make quite the difference.
Members of the St. Justin parish. Photo: Seth Williams
“Our first feast for St. Justin last year, our hierarchs were over in Serbia for his feast day,” Williams said. “They prayed for us over his relics while they were there. St. Justin is a powerhouse – he’s getting out there more to the English-speaking world and more people in America need to read him.”
By the grace of God, St. Justin Orthodox Church aims to get the teachings of Holy Orthodoxy out to the people of Cape Girardeau.
To aid in the remodeling of the church's new space with a donation, visit here.
Previously, UOJ reported that St. Maximus the Confessor Church in north Texas has raised more than $1 million toward a new church building. A fundraiser for the parish's new building, which is in the OCA's Diocese of the South, can be found here.
