Whenever I am traveling I like to visit the local parishes as time permits. I was fortunate enough to have been able to watch Texas A&M defeat Nebraska in football and then visit
St. Silouan the Athonite Antiochian Orthodox Mission in College Station, TX the following day.
My wife was in that area a few weeks ago and tried, without success, to find this parish. With this in mind I headed out a bit early knowing I wouldn't arrive without incident. I was right. After a few passes I found the small sign (not the sign to the right, mind) pointing towards a private drive behind a furniture store. That makes the area sound a bit urban. It's not. To wit, I passed a large flock of gazelles just down the road from the church.
I walked in and saw three men at the kliros and Fr. Gregory Gibson in the altar. As a father of 6, being early for any church service is a rarity. Being first is unheard of. People started ambling in after Liturgy had started. As a parent who has found that standing up front is a good way of keeping the kids engaged and makes being aware of unhappy looks from parishioners at child-noise an impossibility, I never really know who is there until it's time to go up to receive. This weekend the attendance was not too high, but I credit that to an exciting and long football game the previous night and the upcoming holiday later in the week.
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We couldn't stay for coffee hour, but many did. I think I'll return the next time I'm in town. I should mention I had hoped to visit the local ROCOR parish, but couldn't get a hold of the priest in advance. As many will already know, if you show up at a ROCOR church and expect to be communed by the priest without giving him notice beforehand, the answer might well be no. That doesn't bother me at all, but I need to find a way to get to Vigil next time to make that happen.
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I'm not sure the ROCCOR mission is still operating. Last I heard the priest was transferred to either Austin or San Antonio. If they are hopefully they've moved from the closet behind an insurance office they were using last time I visited 5 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThis is Fr. Cassian Sibley - the ROCOR parish, The Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring, is alive and well here in Bryan, TX. You probably couldn't contact me because you had our old number. About 6 months ago we changed our parish phone number (to 979-422-9886). Unfortunately given this era of technology and the proliferation of website material and directories, it is difficult to make such a change in all the places where people can find stored information concerning our parish. (And for the record, I'll commune Orthodox visitors at least once on their own conscience.) We aren't any longer "in the closet behind an insurance office" as Douglas has so delicately put it - we are at 1009 Winter Street, Bryan, Tx in a residential neighborhood south of downtown. Our website at www.theotokos-lifegiving-spring.com works, as does our google map site, and we'd love to see you the next time you are in Bryan/College Station.
ReplyDeleteOne last thing - while it is true that for the time being I am also the Rector of the ROCOR parish in Austin at the request of Bishop Peter, I am rarely in attendance there. The clergymen serving liturgy there on a weekly basis are Fr. Aidan and Fr. Paul (our new military chaplain).
Josephus,
ReplyDeleteI just ran across this post today...about a year after the fact. That Nebraska game was intense! My wife and I were excited to have been at that game as guest coaches.
Glad you enjoyed your visit, and I hope that you'll get a chance to visit with us (and with Fr. Cassian) when you visit Aggieland again!
Jon