It was my honor to introduce the Most Rev. Dr. Ray Sutton, Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church, to the Very Rev. Dr. Samer Youseff, Archpriest at Church of the Redeemer in the Antiochian Orthodox Church.
The conversation was warm, thoughtful, and marked by a shared reverence for the historic faith once delivered to the saints. Moments like this remind us of the deep roots we share in the early Church and in the apostolic ministry.
Fr. Samer was joined by his wife, Khourieh Julianna, and two of their sons, Dimitri and Dominic. It was a joy to see families present in what is ultimately not merely institutional dialogue, but fellowship in Christ.
Delighted to have the Very Rev. Fr. Samer Youssef from the Antiochian Orthodox Church of the Redeemer visit St. Paul’s and Canterbury School. I gave him a tour of our chapel and school as we discussed Anglo-Orthodox history and the legacy of St. Raphael of Brooklyn. Pictured here with Mr. Michael and Patrick Milbank, sons of our founder Rev. Norman Milbank and Vestry Members.
But this meeting carried more weight than a simple introduction.
Fr. Samer’s parish was originally the first Antiochian Western Rite community in California. Over time, the parish embraced the Byzantine rite, but its origins were deeply tied to the Anglican crisis of the 1960s.
Both his parish and ours trace their beginnings to the same moment of rupture surrounding Bishop James Pike in the Diocese of California.
James Pike publicly questioned core Christian doctrines—including the Trinity and the divinity of Christ—and embraced theological positions that many believed departed from historic orthodoxy, prompting significant unrest within the Diocese of California in the 1960s.
During that period, part of the congregation of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Los Altos departed to follow Canon Edwin West and eventually formed a Western Rite parish under Antioch. Father West was received into the Orthodox Church when he was ordained by Metropolitan ANTHONY in January 1963, and his parishioners made a profession of faith in the Syrian (Antioch) Orthodox Church.
Another portion of that same St. Mark’s congregation formed St. Paul’s Anglican Orthodox Church in Los Altos under Rev. Milbank. 50 years later, St. Paul’s is a member of the Reformed Episcopal Church in the Anglican Church in North America.
Some families were literally divided between the two parishes. So it special to have these two families stand together today.
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