Source: Orthodox Diocese of Sitka and Alaska
September 27, 2026
Photo: odosa.org
What ordinarily might have been a two-and-a-half-hour journey across Prince William Sound became a five-and-a-half-hour passage through heavy rain and unsettled seas. Rather than risk the crossing in a smaller vessel, His Eminence Archbishop Alexei of Sitka and Alaska and those accompanying him traveled aboard the larger ferry from Whittier. With His Eminence were Priest Thomas Rivas, Archpriest Thomas Andrew, and Deacon Anthony Lekanof…
There was something fitting about beginning the archpastoral visit this way. For more than two centuries, the story of Orthodoxy in Alaska has been inseparable from journeys across water. Saint Innocenty of Alaska, Saint Yakov Netsvetov, and generations of priests, readers, missionaries, and faithful traveled between distant communities in conditions that were often difficult and sometimes dangerous because somewhere beyond the water there were Orthodox Christians waiting for the Divine Services, for the Sacraments, for teaching, and simply for the presence of the Church.
… Read the rest at Orthodox Diocese of Sitka and Alaska.
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