Recipients Announced for 2026 Mission Planting Grants
The Department of Evangelization of the Orthodox Church in America is pleased to announce the 2026 Church Planting Grant recipients:
St. Catherine Orthodox Mission in Columbus, MS is being awarded a first-year grant for $40,000. Located in a quadrant of Mississippi that is underserved in terms of Orthodox presence, St. Catherine’s, founded in 2018, has the chance to be a destination parish for many cradle Orthodox without a home and for seekers from other traditions seeking a new spiritual home. Priest Herman Garrison, assisted by a strong group of lay leaders, believes the mission is poised to see continuing growth with the planting grant which will serve as a catalyst for Fr. Herman’s full-time pastoral work.
St. Nina Mission, located in the greater Orlando, FL area, is also being awarded a $40,000 first-year grant. St. Nina Mission, planted by St. Stephen Orthodox Church in Longwood, FL only three years ago, has had a strong ministry with recent Slavic immigrants. The founding pastor, Archpriest Andrey Syrkin, originally from Ukraine, has worked hard to gather both the local Slavic community as well as people from various backgrounds. As St. Nina receives its first-year grant, Fr. Andrey will be able to pivot to full-time ministry for the first time (in America) and towards a broad vision of mission in the greater Orlando area.
St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre Mission in Palm Coast, FL is being awarded a third-year grant for $24,000. Originally founded in 1995, St. Alexis saw slow growth initially, but found its footing several years ago. Led by Archpriest David Rucker, the mission has thrived with the help of the Church Planting Grant and is entering its final year of support.
All three of these missions completed the application process and met the criteria required for the program. Upon recommendation of the Department of Evangelization, the Metropolitan Council approved these three candidates which were subsequently confirmed by the Holy Synod at its recent Fall 2025 Session.
Archpriest Justin Patterson, Project Manager overseeing the Department of Evangelization, noted that the criteria used to make the selection are vital indicators for any mission. “A healthy mission,” he said, “needs to have a strong vision for outreach, an optimal geographic location for growth, energetic clergy and lay leadership, as well as robust liturgical and social calendaring. The two new missions selected for 2026 – St. Catherine and St. Nina — certainly show great promise on all of these fronts.”
The Church Planting Grant Program is designated exclusively to assist in providing a full-time resident priest’s salary and must be matched by the mission, its deanery, or diocese. Grants may be renewed for up to a total of three years. In the first year, participating parishes receive $40,000 to help support their priest. In the second year, that support drops to $32,000. In the final year, the support offered is $24,000. The step-down approach allows a mission parish to gradually get its footing. Each quarter, a mission provides various metrics and debriefs about challenges and opportunities with local deans, diocesan leaders, as well as the OCA Department of Evangelization.
For 30 years, the Department of Evangelization has consistently offered this grant program to missions across the Orthodox Church in America. More than 40 parishes have successfully graduated from the program during these years and it remains one of our most enduring and transformative national programs. More than a million dollars has been offered through the visionary offering of key lead donors, as well as through the generosity of the Stewards of the OCA.
The Department of Evangelization offers congratulations to Archangel Gabriel Mission in Hickory, NC and to St. Ambrose Mission in Roanoke, VA, as they graduate from the Church Planting Grant Program at the end of 2025. The generous gifts of Stewards of the OCA fund the development of programs and resources to assist parishes, missions, and faithful thrive in effective ministry. Consider becoming a Steward today by donating at oca.org/donate.