To the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, beloved children in the Lord:
Glory to Jesus Christ!
During the sacred season of Great Lent, the Church calls us to sobriety and renewed stewardship. Through fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, we learn again that every aspect of our life—spiritual and material alike—is entrusted to us by God and must be ordered toward his service. Among those entrusted with a particular stewardship are our clergy and their families.
The priest, called to celebrate the Divine Services and care for souls, carries sacred responsibilities week by week in the life of the parish. His household shares in the demands and sacrifices of that calling.
In recent years, it has become clear that many clergy households experience financial strain—not as a dramatic crisis, but as a steady pressure. Some priests have reflected that financial concerns absorb attention that would otherwise be devoted to parish life. Others have noted the necessity of outside employment in order to provide stability for their families. These realities invite a measured and responsible response.
Through the Office of Pastoral Life, the Orthodox Church in America has established the Financial Health Initiative. Supported in part by a grant from the Lilly Endowment, this initiative provides clergy households with financial literacy education, practical planning tools, and professional coaching. Upon completing the program, families may submit a simple application to receive a grant administered by the Office of Pastoral Life, assisting with debt reduction, emergency savings, or retirement preparation.
The Lilly grant requires matching funds. For every dollar distributed in assistance, a dollar must be raised. Gifts offered to this initiative are therefore doubled, directly increasing the support available to clergy families.
Such support is not charity. It is an expression of stewardship of our shared life in Christ. When a clergy household gains financial stability, the priest is freer to devote his attention to the pastoral ministry entrusted to him. When a family stands on firmer ground, the parish it serves is strengthened.
In this Lenten season, I invite you to consider supporting this matching effort. In doing so, you participate directly in strengthening the households of those who serve at the altar and labor for the salvation of souls.
May the Lord, who provides for all our needs, bless this work and grant peace and perseverance to all who serve in his vineyard.
To him, together with his Father and his All-holy Spirit, be all glory, honor, and worship, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Yours in Christ,
+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
Your generosity drives the Office of Pastoral Life’s vital work, strengthening our parishes’ health and vitality by supporting clergy and their families. When our clergy thrive, our local communities flourish, creating a ripple effect that enhances the overall mission and good work of the Church.
Consider a gift to the Office of Pastoral Life today! opl.oca.org/giving/
About the Office of Pastoral Life
The Orthodox Church in America’s Office of Pastoral Life supports the well-being of clergy and their families, the foundation of parish life across North America. Believing the health of the Church is inseparable from the health of her clergy, the Office offers programs that build resilience, connection and pastoral joy. Programs include Thriving in Ministry peer-learning groups, Financial Health Initiatives, quarterly Synaxis Gatherings, Retreats and Clergy Wives Ministry. In partnership with bishops, dioceses, parishes and our generous donors, the Office of Pastoral Life helps create sustainable conditions in which priests, deacons and their families of the Orthodox Church in America can flourish spiritually, vocationally and personally through every season of parish ministry.