Scroll down for recent updates and more info on our Parish Hall Building Project...

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Posted January 18, 2025

Visitation of the Hawaiian Myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon in September 2024

“Hearken unto me, ye holy children, and bud forth as a rose growing by the brook of the field: And give ye a sweet savour as frankincense, and flourish as a lily, send forth a smell, and sing a song of praise, bless the Lord in all his works. Magnify his name, and shew forth his praise with the songs of your lips….”  

—Ecclesiasticus 39:13-15a

The visitation to our little parish, Holy Apostles in Beltsville, Maryland, of the Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, on the night of Monday the 9th of September, 2024, shone forth as a blessed, radiant, festal night. The light from our most pure Mother’s visit combined the radiance of Pascha with that of the Nativity of our Lord. [...]

Just like on Pascha, the children’s faces, and all of our faces, shone with the light of the Resurrection. Clergy present were Archpriest George and Priest Christopher Johnson, co-rectors of Holy Apostles, Deacon Christopher Capp, and Subdeacon Marc. Traveling with the Mother of God’s Icon were Priest Nectarios, Priest Octavion, and Reader Christopher Lasek.

This overall sense that pervaded the evening was further marked by a number of miraculous events, two of which we mention here...

Read the full article, with more photos, on the Eastern American Diocese website...

(Oct. 14, 2024, Beltsville MD)

On the Feast of the Protection of the Theotokos in 2024, Holy Apostles’ parish launched our Phase 1 (of 3 phases) fundraising drive, to build our parish hall designed by Andrew Gould.  Once this modest and beautiful parish hall is built, our parish can move out of the office park where we have been worshipping since 2002.  We will continue our worship life in the new parish hall, while we also continue the work on our historic chapel: restoration, renovation, and beautification.

The three Phases are as follows:

• Phase 1: $500,000 is the land work: Installation of initial site work and utilities, offsite timber fabrication
• Phase 2: $1,250,000, Building shell and completion of site work
• Phase 3: $650,000 Building fit out and completion of project

We hope to meet the Phase 1 goal of $500,000, by Pascha of 2025.  As of this writing (Oct 17, 2024), we currently have $95,000 of that amount, leaving $405,000 to be raised.  We are hoping and praying that the work can begin in May of 2025.  

We need $405,000 to put those shovels in the ground and begin.  We are looking forward to this day, and praying for it with all our hearts.  We have worked towards the day of the groundbreaking for many years.  Our children will be present at the groundbreaking too, with their shovels!

After our parish was founded in 2001, we prayed fervently for a permanent parish home.  In 2009, we were gifted a lovely historic chapel on two acres of land in Beltsville.  For a look at our efforts since then to plant the Lord’s vineyard in Beltsville, please see our new poster entitled: Our Historic Chapel and our New Parish Hall: A Tale of Two Timelines.

You can read more about our parish, our historic chapel, and our parish hall here on our website. Scroll down this page for links and info.

We ask that you pray for us and if you can, make a generous contribution to help us meet our goal of $500,000. Tax-deductible contributions towards building the parish hall may be made in either of the following ways:

You may mail a check to: Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 594, Beltsville, MD 20705

You may donate online here on our website using the provided Donate buttons, or on our Donate page.

“May the Lord bless everyone who will contribute to the building of the new parish hall, and the growth of Christ’s vineyard, in Beltsville, Maryland.”

~ Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

(reposed May 16, 2022)

(10/13/24) — This new Dual-Timeline Display shows the progress of BOTH the Restoration & Renovation of our Historic Chapel, AND the Building Project for our New Parish Hall, projecting each out to completion.  Additional info can be found in the updates below. 

Help us build our New Parish Hall, and move to our Historic Chapel Campus, where we will continue to proclaim and spread the Orthodox Gospel of Jesus Christ right here in Beltsville, Maryland!

Scroll down for recent updates...

Or use these links to quickly navigate to our Special Features:

• Watch our Parish Hall Fundraising Video - only 13 min., view here or on YouTube
• Visual History of our Chapel Restoration & Building Project - updated for 2024
• Special Video Presentation on the inspiring backstory of our Chapel:
  • 'Admiral Ammen, President Grant, and the Uncreated Light: Context for our Historic Chapel'
• Summer 2023 Update:
  • A helpful primer on our Historic Chapel and Parish Hall Building project
• Become a Church Builder, like St John Maximovitch!
  
  • "In building churches here on earth, we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven!"
• Additional news highlights of our Parish Hall Building Project
• Special Blessings - from Andrew Gould, Frederica Mathewes-Green, and our Treasurer, Mariya Petrenko

Read and share this news report from the Eastern American Diocese of the ROCOR:

On Saturday, July 13, Holy Apostles Church in Beltsville, MD, celebrated the 23rd anniversary of the founding of the parish on its patronal feast day ‒ the Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles.

The parish is a small and growing Orthodox mission, currently located in an office park very near to the University of Maryland’s main campus.

The divine services for the parish feast were officiated by co-rector Priest Christopher Johnson, co-served by Deacon Christopher Capp. Co-rector Archpriest George Johnson and Archpriest John Johnson (rector of St. Thecla Church in Kensington, MD) sang in the choir.

After Liturgy, the parish shared a joyful festal agape meal.

The parish is blessed to have been given a beautiful two-acre property that includes the lovely historic St. Joseph brick chapel, built in 1880 by Admiral Daniel Ammen, childhood friend of U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant. They are engaged in a building and restoration project to make the property the parish’s forever home...

Read the full article, with more photos...

"This Film is the perfect example of how the planting of the Orthodox faith and life happen in God’s own way and time. We at Holy Apostles also trust in God’s help in our life together. As you find it in your hearts please join those helping us move toward our future as the Mountain of God here in Beltsville.  Christ is Risen!" 

~  Fr. George Johnson

BELTSVILLE, MD: SCREENING OF "SACRED ALASKA" HOSTED BY HOLY APOSTLES CHURCH

EASTERN AMERICAN DIOCESE,

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, Official Website

On Wednesday, May 15, Holy Apostles Church in Beltsville, MD, hosted a screening of the award-winning documentary "Sacred Alaska." The screening was held in the historic Greenbelt Cinema, a small local theater near the church, in the historic town of Greenbelt. 97 tickets were sold. The purpose of the screening was missionary, following in the footsteps of our Venerable Father Herman of Alaska.  Continue reading...

We planted our newly restored Cross during Holy Week. On May 8, Bright Wednesday, 2024, we planted marigolds around the Cross. We also cleaned up the land a bit, and cleaned the inside of our historic chapel.

We are getting ready for our Holy Apostles Orthodox Church Easter Egg Hunt.

Father Christopher gave the opening prayer. Father George went to the cemetery to pray for the departed.

The joy of Bright Week is everywhere.
Christ is Risen!

More photos on our Facebook page...

Regarding the restoration of our Historic Chapel, much of the work was, and still is regularly performed by our own parishioners and friends of the parish. Work days are organized to maintain chapel and grounds, and to perform the projects that we can to satisfy the condition of the historic grant, which requires a contribution of at least 10% of the grant amount in money or labor. It’s also a great way to spend to spend your day in the beautiful outside working in the vineyard of the Lord. Please be on the lookout for the next date.  (From our Visual History 2024 - scroll down or click here.)

Matching Grant raises ~65% of target, adds over $49K to Building Fund. 

(May 6, 2024) The final total of donations to our 2024 Palm Sunday Matching Grant Fundraiser is $24,561, towards our goal of $38,000. Our sponsors committed to matching all donations dollar for dollar up to that goal. Thus our fundraiser raised $49,123 for the Building Fund, after the sponsors added their matching contributions.  

Although we did not reach our target, there are strong positives to note from this year's Palm Sunday Matching Grant Fundraiser:

• Our target of $38,000, for a final goal after match of $76,000, was by far our highest goal yet for a single fundraiser. (In fact, this was our first target amount greater than $30,000.)
• Our eight sponsors who provided the matching funds was our largest group of sponsors yet for a matching grant, and were almost all new sponsors. We appreciate their commitment and sacrificial giving!
• This was our third highest fundraising total after match yet, following Palm Sunday 2022 ($60,047), and Summer 2023 ($56,680). 

Watch for more news as we continue to work towards the next stages of land-clearing and groundbreaking.

Though the matching grant fundraiser is ended, we welcome donations at any time! Please use the Donate or PayPal buttons on this page.

Glory to God! We give thanks for all the good things the Lord is providing for our little parish.

The Mountain of God in Beltsville, Maryland

Video originally posted February 2021

Watch the video, then scroll down to learn more, and to see how you can help our vision be fulfilled. Use the Donate buttons at right to contribute your gift.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

(5/28/24) UPDATES SINCE THE VIDEO: Since this video was released in February 2021, we have made enormous progress towards construction through the following:

• Significantly increasing our fundraising totals;
• County approval of design, site planning, permits, property surveys, and soil erosion tests;
• Hiring of our general contractor, Quarry View Buiding Group;
• Contractor's detailed construction estimate and schedule, divided over three phases;
• Preparing for initial land work and groundbreaking for the foundation of the new parish hall. 

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This video represents the hopes and prayers of the people of Holy Apostles, to establish our parish in its new home in Beltsville, Maryland, from which the parish can continue to thrive and grow, in its soul-saving mission. In order to do this, we need to build our new parish hall, designed by Andrew Gould. Then we can move to the property, and continue the restoration and renovation of the beautiful historic chapel, given to the parish in 2009.

Our prayer is that those who view this video will join us in our missionary work, by praying for us, and by generously donating towards the building of the parish hall.

“May the Lord bless everyone who will contribute to the building of the new parish hall,

and the growth of Christ’s vineyard, in Beltsville, Maryland.”

~ Metropolitan Hilarion,

First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

Watch the video, then scroll down to learn more about the project. Visit our sub-pages detailing the history of the Chapel and New Parish Hall, check out our special page on Andrew Gould, view architectural renderings, and donate via the buttons at right and below.

Scroll down to learn more about our Parish Hall Building Project and our Historic Chapel...

Updated for 2024, providing an overview and current update on our Parish Hall Building Project as we advance towards groundbreaking.

Hover over images to pause the presentation.  

Clicking on an image opens the presentation in gallery view,

with the ability to play the slide show or view individual slides.

View the presentation in PDF format...

Several slides have explanatory notes, in some cases several paragraphs' worth with significant information which goes beyond the Visual History. View the notes by enlarging the pages below, or download the notes in PDF format.

Admiral Ammen, President Grant, and the Uncreated Light:

Context for our Historic Chapel

A Talk by Dr. Geraldine Fagan

Now available as a two-part video series on our YouTube channel. Scroll down or use these links (new tabs will open). A summary is provided below the videos.

Part 1  |  Part 2

Dr. Geraldine Fagan is a parishioner at Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in Beltsville, Maryland.  She graduated in Russian and German from Oxford University in 1995, and is a writer and editor.

Summary for Dr. Fagan's talk:

At Holy Apostles Orthodox Church in Beltsville, Maryland, on August 19, 2023, we commemorated our Lord’s wondrous Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.  After the divine liturgy, our devoted parishioner, Dr. Geraldine Fagan, presented numerous revelations under the title, “Admiral Ammen, President Grant and the Uncreated Light - Context for Our Historic Chapel.”

She reinforced and enhanced our understanding of the history of our nation, of two national heroes, and of their legacy through their devoted and lifelong friendship, and yet more in the lives of their descendants; all of this causing our God-given property to glow yet brighter in our hearts.

In 2009, our parish was given the historic St. Joseph’s chapel, on two beautiful acres of land on Ammendale Road in Beltsville, Maryland.  We are going on to live our parish life in the light of an ever more complete understanding of the meaning of this miraculous gift.

We learned that Grant’s devoted steed, “Cincinnatti,” which bore him through the Civil War, and one time saved his life, may be buried on Admiral Ammen’s “Ammendale” estate, it being possible that our property might hold the animal’s resting place.

We learned that Admiral Ammen named one of his sons after the President: “Ulysses Grant Ammen.”

We learned that Grant, in his post-presidential world tour, visited holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Holy Sepulchre.

We learned that Grant’s granddaughter Julia married a Russian Prince, Michael Cantacuzène Speransky.  They were married in America by a priest who would go on to become a Russian New Martyr, Fr. Alexander Hotovitsky.  He was a young Russian priest who went on to found 12 Orthodox churches on the East Coast, including St. Nicholas Russian Cathedral in New York.

Julia Grant helped Russian refugees, fleeing from the Bolshevik revolution.  She became and remained active in refugee matters for the remainder of her 99 year life.

We learned at last that Prince Michael is descended from a Byzantine imperial family among who was one who called a local council to proclaim the Orthodoxy of St. Gregory Palamas’ teaching on the uncreated light, the same light that shone on Mt. Tabor on the day of the Lord’s Holy Transfiguration.

We have come through these revelations to understand the fullness of that which God has given to us.  This understanding is not to be mere intellectual knowledge, but is fuel for spiritual energy to sustain us as we move to establish our life in this very holy place. 

May our own holiness and devotion grow, so that we can more nearly approach the spiritual greatness of the gift.

Our $27,000 Groundbreaking Matching Grant ended July 16. By raising $29,680, we exceeded our goal by 10%, easily passing the target, and with the $27,000 match raised a total of $56,680 to enable construction to begin.

We invite you to donate to the Building Fund at any time and help us build our New Parish Hall and move to our beautiful campus and historic chapel! 

We immediately began the necessary restoration of the chapel, applying for and receiving approximately $400,000 in grant money available from the county.  However, after  we complete the restoration and renovation of the beautiful old church,  without  bathrooms, kitchen, Sunday School rooms, and all of the things necessary for parish life, we could not move there.  We realized that we need a parish hall.

Andrew Gould designs our future Parish Hall

In 2017, we hired renowned architect Andrew Gould to design our future parish hall.  He designed a surpassingly beautiful building, which is in the same spirit as the historic chapel gifted to our parish.  Since then, we have had weekly meetings with our local architects and engineers, and with the recent hiring of our general contractor, we have raised and spent over $250,000 in pre-construction design, planning, permits and property surveys and tests.  We are now ready to begin building our parish hall.

Moving towards Groundbreaking

The land work must be done first; the solid success of this matching grant fundraiser enabled us to raise the money necessary to move forward with the groundbreaking.  Watch for news on the required land work, and on scheduling the Groundbreaking Ceremony.

Visitation of the Hawaiian Iveron Wonderworking Myrrh-streaming Icon of the Mother of God

On May 23 of this year (2023,) we had a visitation from the Mother of God’s miraculous Myrrh-streaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon.  At the prayer service at our office park church, the holy Icon streamed myrrh abundantly, soaking the analogion cover with the fragrant myrrh.  Then the wonderworking icon was brought to our historic property, where the Icon streamed myrrh abundantly again.  We have adopted our most holy Theotokos of Iveron as the protectress of our future parish hall, which is dedicated to her.

The holy Icon was touched to the four markers in the ground which mark the borders of the future parish hall, along with the Cross marking the front door of the building.  Then the Icon was brought across the future courtyard garden to our chapel and as the Icon was touched to the front door, so much myrrh began to stream that two of the women used their headscarves to soak up the myrrh.

Article continues below photos...

BELOW: Photos from the 2022 and 2023 visits of the myrrhstreaming Hawaiian Iveron Icon to Holy Apostles.

(Left) His Beatitude, Metropolitan Nicholas, Chief Hierarch of the ROCOR, holding the Icon during their joint visit in 2022.

(Right) Co-rector Fr. Christopher Johnson processing with the Icon during the same 2022 visit.

(Center) The Icon on our central analogion in our current chapel at Twin Chimneys Office Park, May 23, 2023.

“As my Father hath sent me, so send I you”

The Lord said “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, so send I you.”  (John 20:21) And again, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost...." (Matthew 28:19) The Greek root of the word apostle means sent.  After the miracle of Pentecost, the apostles went out into all the world, as it says in the prokeimenon for the holy apostles: “Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”  Our holy Orthodox Faith has come to Beltsville, Maryland, and we, too, are sent by the Lord.

It is the hope and prayer of the people of Holy Apostles, to establish our parish in its new home in Beltsville, Maryland, from which the parish can continue to thrive and grow, in its soul-saving mission. 

Once we have built the parish hall, we can move out of the office park and will worship in the dining room of the parish hall, until we have completed the restoration of the chapel so that we can worship there. 

Our Groundbreaking Matching Grant was indeed a great success, but fundraising continues as we press forward to build the new Parish Hall.

We are asking you, the friends of our little parish, to prayerfully consider contributing towards our Parish Hall Building Fund.  We ask you to join us in our missionary work, so that after we break ground we can complete the new hall in a timely manner, and build the Lord’s church in Beltsville, Maryland.  Pray for us, and consider generously contributing  towards the building of the parish hall. 

“May the Lord bless everyone who will contribute to the building of the new parish hall, and the growth of Christ’s vineyard, in Beltsville, Maryland.”

– Metropolitan Hilarion, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (2021)

Here are some ways to donate to our building fund:

Or, mail your checks written to Holy Apostles Orthodox Church (put "building fund" on the memo line) to: P.O. Box 594, Beltsville, MD 20704

Let's start building!

In Christ’s love,

Archpriest George and Priest Christopher Johnson, Co-Rectors; 

the fundraising and building committees of Holy Apostles,

Mariya Petrenko, Treasurer

"In building churches here on earth, we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven."

From St John of Shanghai and San Francisco, Zealous Builder of Churches

by Nun Nectaria (Lees):

St. John loved God’s house so intensely that wherever he served, he would remain in the church long after the service. The Lesna nuns recalled that when St. John was visiting, they often did not sit down to evening trapeza until midnight, waiting for their archpastor to emerge from the church. Everywhere he went he either oversaw the building of churches or supported the same with his attention and prayers.

He wrote about the godly work of building churches:

Some people are saying: “The time is not come to build the Lord’s house.” Among them are many who are buying houses for themselves, who live in their own houses in full satisfaction of their material needs, or who are selling their homes to move into better and better dwellings, increasing their assets. It is understandable when such words are heard from unbelievers…But how can they be repeated by believers who themselves go to church?

A church is a place that is consecrated, holy, in which there always dwells the grace of God. At the consecration of Solomon’s temple, the glory of the Lord in the appearance of a cloud filled the house of God. So it was in the Old Testament temple. How much more powerfully does the grace of God act in the temples of the New Testament where there is offered the true cleansing from sin, where we partake of the true Body and Blood of Christ, where during the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Spirit continually descends upon the gifts being consecrated and upon the people present? One can pray anywhere, and God hears prayers from everywhere. But it’s much easier to pray in a church where everything is conducive to prayer. From there our prayers ascend to God, and the mercies of God are sent down upon us.

The construction of a church is a sacrifice to God; to allocate a parcel of land for church services is to sacrifice unto God a part of your own property, but most of all it is a gift of your love, your zeal. Churches are not needed by God Whose throne is heaven and Whose footstool is the earth; it is we who need them. It is we who benefit from donating toward the building of churches, although the Lord accepts not so much the substances of our alms as much as He does our zeal—the quality of our effort. Christ approved the widow’s mite, saying that she had given more than anyone else, for the rich cast in a great deal from their abundance, but she gave all she had, all her livelihood. Those alms we give in the name of God are received by God Himself. Spiritually, our alms are laid up in the treasuries of heaven, God’s treasuries, from which no one can steal them away. If someone steals any church possession, he steals from God Himself.

At each Liturgy, those who contributed to the building of the church are commemorated. In building churches here on earth, we create for ourselves eternal habitations in heaven. Decades will pass, our bodies will decay, perhaps our very bones will turn to dust, but our souls will live eternally. Happy will he be who prepared for his soul a dwelling in the heavenly mansions. Even if the churches that are built should fall to ruin, the names of those who contributed to their construction will be written in God’s eternal books, and the prayers which arose from within these churches will be sealed.

Read the inspiring full article...

This section shows recent news and updates from 2023 forward in reverse chronological order (most recent at top), including building updates and fundraising, where we have experienced consistent fundraising success for several consecutive years.

Help us by using the DONATE buttons on this page. Thank you for your prayerful and generous support!

April 28, 2024: Palm Sunday Match ends, reaches $24,561 in donations, raising over $49,000 after match for our Building Fund! — Thank you for your generous contributions and Glory to God! 

March 18, 2024: Annual Palm Sunday Match Launches, aims to raise $38,000 by April 9, for total goal with match of $76,000.

July 16, 2023: Our Groundbreaking Matching Grant Fundraiser ends, raising $29,680, exceeding our goal by 10%, easily earning the match amount, and raising a total of $56,680 to enable construction to begin. With the success of the Matching Grant Fundraiser, our Building Fund has over $100,000, and we are poised to start the land work, officially break ground, and begin construction. 

June 3, 2023: $27,000 Groundbreaking Match begins, aims to raise over $54,000 by mid-July to begin construction of our New Parish Hall.

April 9, 2023: Palm Sunday Building Fund Match EXCEEDS GOAL, hits $19,140, raises over $34,000 for our Building Fund!— Thank you for your generous contributions and Glory to God! 

March 13, 2023: Building Fund Match Launches, aims to raise $30,000 by April 9— We have 2 contributors who are offering a $15,000 Matching Grant this year, for the building of our parish hall. The grant closes on Palm Sunday. We hope we will make the match and go beyond it, with God's help.

March 10, 2023: General Contractor selected — We have recently taken a big step in the process of preparing for the ground-breaking: signing a contract with a general contractor, for about $10,000, to begin initial work. It may seem like a small step, but it has taken a lot of work, putting our trust in God and taking step after step towards the goal of building the Lord's church, establishing His vineyard in Beltsville, Maryland.

These special feature articles and stories from recent years are blessings too important and inspiring to be relegated to the archive pages telling the story of our Historic Chapel and New Parish Hall. We wanted to keep them on our "Front Page" for you (and us!) to be reminded and inspired by them over and over again. 

New Feature Video Interview with our architect, Andrew Gould

Conducted by Jonathan Pageau (The Symbolic World podcast and YouTube channel), this 44 minute video presents a visual survey of some of Andrew's architectural design work, and discusses his vision for "how to integrate the past with the present regarding Orthodox creative endeavors."

We felt this was also the opportune time to provide a feature page for Andrew Gould on our parish website, as he has been a key figure in our story since 2017 with his visit to the parish and subsequent design of our New Parish Hall.  Proceed to Our Architect, Andrew Gould...

Originally posted July 11, 2022

Mariya’s Letter to Converts

Our treasurer, Mariya Petrenko, has written a most beautiful and profound letter, addressed to an Orthodox convert, from a cradle Orthodox Christian.  With Mariya's permission, we are sharing it with you, here.

Originally posted October 14, 2018

We wish to extend our sincere thanks to Frederica Mathewes-Green for helping us launch our Capital Fundraising Campaign on June 10, 2018. Frederica delivered an inspiring talk, 'Towards an Orthodox America', which perfectly resonated with our vision for our English-language Orthodox mission here in Beltsville, Maryland.

Watch the video from Frederica's talk and our June 10, 2018 Capital Campaign Launch Event on our YouTube channel...

Frederica Mathewes-Green is a wide-ranging author and speaker, whose work has appeared in numerous top-tier publications. She has been a regular commentator for National Public Radio (NPR), and has published 10 books to date, including her most recent title, Welcome to the Orthodox Church (Paraclete Press, 2015). She has published over 700 essays, and given over 500 talks...

To learn more about her writing, speaking, and books, visit Frederica's website at Frederica.com.

Originally posted June 17, 2018