Christ The Saviour Church
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
603 North Fant Street Anderson, South Carolina

Christ The Saviour Church is a mission parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. We are a diverse community.  We have members who learned the Orthodox faith at an early age and those who discovered it as adults.  Services are in English.  Please take a look at the schedule of services and come visit us!

 

Our Mission Statement:

We come together as The Church to love and to worship God, and to joyfully live, celebrate, and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We serve one another, the community, and the world through heartfelt and reverent worship, fellowship, teaching, ministering, and outreach.


Patriarch John X of Antioch

His Beatitude John X was born in 1955 in the city of Lattakia, Syria. His father Mounah Yazigi was from Lattakia, a teacher of Arabic language. His mother Rosa Moussi is from Tripoli, Lebanon. They gave birth to four children – two boys and two girls. His Beatitude’s brother is His Grace Metropolitan Boulos of Aleppo. One sister is a nun. His Beatitude lived and studied in the city schools. He graduated from the University of Teshreen with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering. During his university studies, he played an active and leading role with the youth, which led to the establishment of a Byzantine Music School and many spiritual youth programs. His work led to a great spiritual revival among his generation.

In 1978, His Beatitude graduated from the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology, University of Balamand, with a Bachelor in Theology. In 1983 he graduated from the University of Thessaloniki, Greece with a doctoral degree in Liturgia. He was awarded the Doctorate with distinction. The title of his doctoral thesis published in Greek is: “The Service of Holy Baptism: An Historical, Theological, and Liturgical Study.” In 1981, and simultaneously with his doctoral studies, His Beatitude earned a Diploma in Byzantine Music from the Conservatory of Byzantine Music in Thessaloniki, Greece.

His Eminence Metropolitan John Mansour of Lattakia ordained John Yazigi a deacon in 1979 and a priest in 1983. As priest he served in the Archdiocese of Lattakia. Since 1981, he taught courses on Liturgics at the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology at the University of Balamand. During the periods of 1988-1991 and 2001-2005 he served as Dean of the Institute of Theology. In addition, he served as Abbot of St. George Al Humayrah Patriarchal Monastery in Syria. There he founded a monastic community and a school of ecclesiastic studies. He also served as the Abbot of the Our Lady of Balamand Patriarchal Monastery in the years 2001-2005. His Beatitude is the spiritual father of the Convent of our Lady of Blemmana in Tartous, Syria.

In 1995, the Holy Synod of Antioch elected him as the Bishop of Pyrgou, an area called in Arabic Wadi An-Nasara or Al-Hosn. He served there till 2008 when he was elected by the Holy Synod as the Metropolitan of Europe. He was elected by the Holy Synod meeting in Balamand Monastery as Patriarch of Antioch and all the East on Monday December 17th, 2012.

In addition to his pastoral care in these parishes, he was involved in many worldwide activities at the ecumenical, Christian and especially Orthodox Christian spheres. He participated in many international conferences in Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Cyprus, United States of America, Russia, and the United Kingdom.

His Beatitude is distinguished by his ecclesiastic, national and ecumenical presence shown through his participation in many conferences, on the national and international levels. He is renowned for his clear vision, based on truth, and eagerness to find the best solutions for conflicts amongst parties. He is known by his compassionate and friendly character. He is a good listener, and a faithful steward for those in need.

Wherever he worked, His Beatitude proved to be a man of action and a good sower of the Word of God, seeking to reveal the beauty of the Spouse of Christ and making Her shiny and strong. He is known by his closeness to the Youth and his ability to involve them in the service of the church, their society and their nation. He is a good administrator, and a proven man who knows how to work with others and reinforce institutions. He played a leading role in Higher Education while he was Dean of the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology.

His Beatitude is the author of several books on theology, education, music, and liturgy. He published a series on liturgical studies. He edited the liturgical books of the Orthodox Church in Arabic, and more specifically the liturgical books of the archbishops, priests and deacons. In addition, he translated and wrote many articles, and gave many lectures in different universities, parishes and institutes.

Our Bishop

Bishop Nicholas was born in Damascus, Syria, in January 1963 to an Antiochian Orthodox family. He attended the French Lycée Laïque elementary and middle school, and the Omia High School. For the first 18 years of his life, he attended the Antiochian Orthodox Patriarchal Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary in Damascus.
 
In February 1981, Bishop Nicholas emigrated to the United States, where he began a course of study at Northeastern University. He earned several degrees, including Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Master of Science in Computer Engineering, and a Specialization Certificate in Object-Oriented Design, Architecture, and Coding. Bishop Nicholas worked for nearly 20 years as a Computer Engineer at several companies in the Electronics Design Automation industry, such as ViewLogic Systems and Synopsys Co. He was also promoted to the highest technical ranks as a Lead Software Architect, Principal Software Engineer, and Software Engineering Manager. He represented his companies to many conferences in Sweden, France, England, Germany, Italy, and USA, and also served as a lecturer in Electronics Circuitry, Circuit Theory, and Digital Computers at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA.
 
Bishop Nicholas also holds a Master of Divinity degree, awarded with Highest Distinction, from studies undertaken between September 2002 to May 2005 at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts. He speaks Arabic and English fluently. His second language in Syria was French, which he had used, along with Hebrew, Ancient Greek, New Testament Greek, and Modern Greek, to conduct research on theological subjects.
 
Bishop Nicholas was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Eminence Metropolitan Philip on April 23, 2004, and to the Holy Priesthood by His Grace Bishop Antoun on January 9, 2005. Upon graduating from Holy Cross Seminary, he was assigned by His Eminence Metropolitan Philip to St. Philip Antiochian Orthodox Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he served from August 2005 to December 2011. He was elevated to the dignity of Archimandrite by His Eminence Metropolitan Philip on February 14, 2010, and was consecrated to the bishopric as the Bishop of Brooklyn on December 11, 2011 at the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, Balamand, Lebanon.  
 
Bishop Nicholas has visited Mount Athos several times for contemplation and spiritual rejuvenation.
 
He served as Bishop of New York & Washington D.C. and as Assistant of Metropolitan Joseph until August of 2017 when, following the retirement of Bishop Antoun, he became the Bishop of Miami and the Southeast.  We are blessed to have him as our archpastor; Many Blessed Years, Sayidna Nicholas!
 
Bishop Nicholas meets with his flock every Sunday afternoon via BAND: https://band.us/band/79085310
Our Priest

Fr. Anthony loves God and bringing healing, comfort, and joy to His people.  He is thankful to His Grace, Bishop Nicholas for his blessing to serve at Christ the Savior and to its faithful for all their love and support as he leads and ministers to them.  
Fr. Anthony is married to Pani Matka Tina Marie and they have four children.  Fr. Anthony served as a lay leader, subdeacon, and deacon at St. Nicholas in Charlottesville, VA (2001-2007), the rector of St. Michael in Woonsocket, RI (2007-2015), and as the rector of Pokrova in Allentown, PA (2015-2019).  He began filling in part-time at Christ the Savior in August 2019, when he and his family moved to nearby Hartwell GA to take care of his family, and as the full-time priest in January of 2023.  
Fr. Anthony has extensive teaching, academic, pastoral, and leadership experience, something he brings to bear in his service at Christ the Savior.   In his free time, he enjoys listening to audio books and spending with his family.  He has two active podcasts: Made to Be a Kingdom (with Fr. Harry Linsingigler for Ancient Faith Radio) and OrthoAnalytika.  His CV is available at academia.edu
Gallery

(37 images)