St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church, Rock Hill, South Carolina
We are a mission church of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), a canonical jurisdiction of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic communion of Orthodox churches worldwide. For information about the Orthodox Church and the OCA, please visit www.oca.org.
Visitors are always welcome. If you are unfamiliar with the Orthodox Church, please call Father Paul, or come pray with us at one of our services. Christ is in our midst!
Visitors are always welcome. If you are unfamiliar with the Orthodox Church, please call Father Paul, or come pray with us at one of our services. Christ is in our midst!
Regular ServicesGreat Vespers: Saturday, 5:30 p.m.
Divine Liturgy: Sunday, 9:30 a.m. (Other weekday, special, and feast day services as announced.) Special Services and Announcements (last updated July 2, 2019)
(Please check here periodically for announcements about special services and events or changes to the normal schedule.)
Ongoing: Sundays, 12:15 p.m - 1:15 p.m. - What is the Orthodox Faith? Following the Divine Liturgy and coffee hour each Sunday, Fr. Paul is giving a set of comprehensive teachings on the Orthodox faith and Church. The material is intended to transform, not simply inform! It is based on four well-known primary sources on the Orthodox Church and faith: Sources: Carlton, Clark. The Faith. Salisbury, MA: Regina Orthodox Press, 1997; Ware, Met Kallistos. The Orthodox Church. London: Penguin Books, 1993; Hopko, Thomas. The Orthodox Faith, four volumes, New York, NY: Orthodox Church in America, 1981; The Living God, A Catechism for the Christian Faith, two volumes Trans. Olga Dunlop. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1996. Sunday School - as announced, for three groups: young children, Junior High youth, and College and Career (young adults). Fellowship Groups - Two study and fellowship groups meet monthly. Contact Fr. Paul for more information. What is the Orthodox Faith? (a series of presentations for members and appropriate for inquirers and catechumens also) - contact Fr. Paul if you are interested in this class, it is currently ongoing. See announcement above. Volunteering at Project Hope (contact John Chura for days and times; usually happens Monday through Thursday morning, 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.) Men's Breakfasts - Meet together for a "manly" breakfast. Happens the first Saturday of every month. Meet at the Rock Hill Diner, 2254 Cherry Road, Rock Hill.
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Location
Physical address: 3075 Long Meadow Road, Rock HIll, South Carolina, 29730
(Mailing address: Rock Hill Mission OCA, c/o Fr. Paul Coats, 4695 Hannah Drive, Rock HIll, SC 29732)
Directions:
From the North: take I-77 south to exit 73, Rt. 901. Go right (west) on 901 (Mt. Holly Road) for about 1/2 mile, then turn right on Long Meadow Road (across from the Nichols Store). Go about 1/4 mile, the church is on the right.
From Rock Hill: take I-77 south and follow the directions above; or, take route 901 south through Rock Hill. Follow 901 about 3 miles past where it becomes Mt. Holly Road (3 miles past the Saluda/Albright/121 Bypass intersection), then when you see the Nichols Store on the right turn left onto Long Meadow Road. Go about 1/4 mile, the church is on the right.
(Mailing address: Rock Hill Mission OCA, c/o Fr. Paul Coats, 4695 Hannah Drive, Rock HIll, SC 29732)
Directions:
From the North: take I-77 south to exit 73, Rt. 901. Go right (west) on 901 (Mt. Holly Road) for about 1/2 mile, then turn right on Long Meadow Road (across from the Nichols Store). Go about 1/4 mile, the church is on the right.
From Rock Hill: take I-77 south and follow the directions above; or, take route 901 south through Rock Hill. Follow 901 about 3 miles past where it becomes Mt. Holly Road (3 miles past the Saluda/Albright/121 Bypass intersection), then when you see the Nichols Store on the right turn left onto Long Meadow Road. Go about 1/4 mile, the church is on the right.
Background
In the fall of 2007 the Diocese of the South of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) sought to increase its presence in the south Charlotte metropolitan area. Plans were made to plant a church in Rock Hill. Fr. Paul Coats, a graduate of St. Vladimir's Theological Seminary in New York and an ordained priest in the OCA, was attached to Nativity of the Holy Virgin OCA parish in Charlotte and moved with his family to Rock Hill in 2008, in anticipation of establishing a future mission church there. This came to fruition in the summer of 2010, when His Beatitude Metropolitan Jonah, hierarch of the OCA at the time, gave his blessing to hold services as the Rock Hill Mission, OCA, under the auspices of the OCA Diocese of the South. Fr. Paul served St. Anthony mission while holding a secular job.
Nativity of the Holy Virgin OCA parish in Charlotte actively contributed to the mission's growth. Mission members gratefully accepted the assistance of the Knights of Columbus and the Rock Hill Oratory, who extended hospitality and granted use of their building at 3075 Long Meadow Road, through a lease agreement. In November 2012 the church was granted full mission status and its name, St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church, by His Eminence Archbishop Nikon, Bishop of Boston, who was Locum tenens of the Diocese of the South at that time.
In 2013 the mission purchased the Long Meadow road building from the Knights of Columbus and undertook building renovations to provide a suitable altar space and necessary hallways to improve usability. Additional improvements were later made to the kitchen, interior, and windows. At the same time Fr. Adam Horstman and his family were assigned to the parish following his graduation from seminary in the summer of 2013, and served for five years. The church continued to grow, by God's grace from just a few people in 2010 to its current combined support base of about 30 families and single adults, and an average attendance of about 50.
St. Anthony’s is actively serving its members and the community through prayer and sacramental services, communal meals, Bible study and fellowship groups, a budding church school, regular charitable contributions to the Pilgrim’s Inn, regular volunteering at Project Hope, and the support and sending of Orthodox Christian missionaries.
Nativity of the Holy Virgin OCA parish in Charlotte actively contributed to the mission's growth. Mission members gratefully accepted the assistance of the Knights of Columbus and the Rock Hill Oratory, who extended hospitality and granted use of their building at 3075 Long Meadow Road, through a lease agreement. In November 2012 the church was granted full mission status and its name, St. Anthony the Great Orthodox Church, by His Eminence Archbishop Nikon, Bishop of Boston, who was Locum tenens of the Diocese of the South at that time.
In 2013 the mission purchased the Long Meadow road building from the Knights of Columbus and undertook building renovations to provide a suitable altar space and necessary hallways to improve usability. Additional improvements were later made to the kitchen, interior, and windows. At the same time Fr. Adam Horstman and his family were assigned to the parish following his graduation from seminary in the summer of 2013, and served for five years. The church continued to grow, by God's grace from just a few people in 2010 to its current combined support base of about 30 families and single adults, and an average attendance of about 50.
St. Anthony’s is actively serving its members and the community through prayer and sacramental services, communal meals, Bible study and fellowship groups, a budding church school, regular charitable contributions to the Pilgrim’s Inn, regular volunteering at Project Hope, and the support and sending of Orthodox Christian missionaries.
What is the Orthodox Church and what is the Orthodox Faith?
The Orthodox Church is the Church established by Christ through his holy apostles, and has existed from the time of Christ until now. Historically, it is the Church that has grown throughout the world from four ancient centers of Christendom, (Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Constantinople), and which has remained united in faith and worship since the great schism with Rome (the fifth ancient center) in the 11th century. It exists by the grace of God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in Christ, as the second largest unified church body in the world (after the Roman Catholic Church). The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) grew originally from the care of Russian and other immigrant Orthodox mission activities in the United States in earlier centuries, and has embraced large numbers of converts that until recently have had little connection to the ancient apostolic Church.
You may find out more about the Orthodox Church in America and the Orthodox faith here: http://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith. The Orthodox Church in America is in communion with other established Orthodox jurisdictions in the U.S. such as the Greek and Antiochian Orthodox Archdioceses, having been granted autocephaly (self-governance) by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1970.
Our bishop is His Eminence, the Most Reverend Alexander, Archbishop of Dallas, the South, and the Bulgarian Diocese: oca.org/holy-synod/bishops/the-most-reverend-alexander .
You may find out more about the Orthodox Church in America and the Orthodox faith here: http://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith. The Orthodox Church in America is in communion with other established Orthodox jurisdictions in the U.S. such as the Greek and Antiochian Orthodox Archdioceses, having been granted autocephaly (self-governance) by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1970.
Our bishop is His Eminence, the Most Reverend Alexander, Archbishop of Dallas, the South, and the Bulgarian Diocese: oca.org/holy-synod/bishops/the-most-reverend-alexander .
Great Reads
The Orthodox Faith (four volumes) by Fr. Thomas Hopko
https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith
Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith by Fr. Peter Guillquist
http://store.ancientfaith.com/becoming-orthodox-a-journey-to-the-ancient-christian-faith/
The Orthodox Way by Bishop Kallistos Ware
http://store.ancientfaith.com/products/The-Orthodox-Way.html
The Orthodox Church by Bishop Kallistos Ware
http://store.ancientfaith.com/the-orthodox-church-ware/
For the website of a leading publisher of books about Orthodoxy, St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary Press: www.svspress.com/
Contact
Fr. Paul Coats, Assistant Priest, 803-980-4695, paulcoats3@gmail.com
About St. Anthony the GreatIn the third century St. Anthony went into the desert to completely give himself to Christ. Through prayer, hard work, great struggle, and reliance on Christ, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and became a teacher, healer, and leader. His life is described by St. Athanasius in The Life of Antony, a Christian classic.
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