Houston, August 17, 2026
Photo: Fr. Joseph Huneycutt
The feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos was especially joyful for one Houston parish this year.
At St. Joseph Orthodox Church (Antiochian Archdiocese), the feast was celebrated with a Baptismal Liturgy, during which 11 people were received into the holy Orthodox Church.
Parish rector Archpriest Joseph Huneycutt announced the joy news on X yesterday. The new converts come from various religious backgrounds, including atheism, Non-denominationalism, Mormonism, and Catholicism.
In a Baptismal Liturgy, the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation are celebrated within the Divine Liturgy itself, rather than as an independent service.
St. Joseph Antiochian Orthodox Church began in 1993 as an outreach to West Houston and Katy, started by five families from the mother parish of St. George. A deacon from St. George (later Bishop Thomas) served the small group until, by 1994, it had grown to eleven families worshiping in a rented dance studio with an inherited iconostasis. That November, Fr. Matthew MacKay was assigned as the mission’s first priest, and the parish was officially named St. Joseph the Betrothed.
The growing community built a multi-purpose building on newly purchased land, then, after reaching 50 families, constructed a traditional Byzantine-style cruciform church, consecrated by Bishop Basil in 2004.
Today, St. Joseph is a Pan-Orthodox parish of about 100 families—half cradle, half convert—reflecting a rich mix of Arab, Russian, Greek, Romanian, Georgian, and Tex-Mex heritage.
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