A few days before Holy Friday, our mission parish, St. Mark the Evangelist Orthodox Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, received a donated Crucifix for use during its Holy Week services. As is the custom during Holy Week, a Crucifix is carried out into the sanctuary during Holy Friday Matins at the singing of the XV Antiphon: “Today, He who hung the earth upon the waters…” and during Vespers, the Corpus is removed from the Cross, wrapped in white linens, and symbolically taken to the tomb (the altar upon which the bloodless sacrifice is offered at each liturgy during the year).

On April 8, 2010, the Junior League of Raleigh sponsored a Career Fair in collaboration with the Brentwood Boys and Girls Club here in Raleigh. At this event, various professionals representing a broad variety of careers were available to speak to children aged 6 to 16 about their future career plans. Fr. Anastasios was invited to represent priests.

Welcome to the website of St Mark the Evangelist Orthodox Mission Church in Raleigh, North Carolina!

St Mark's Orthodox Mission is a new Orthodox community located in the heart of the Triangle area.  The Orthodox Church is the same Church mentioned in the New Testament, and we maintain many of the ancient traditions that were lost by others.  Orthodoxy emphasizes right doctrine and right worship; there is no artificial boundary between theology and spirituality in our Church.

We are a small but growing community which began in 2006 when Fr Anastasios, prior to his ordination, began to hold Reader's services (services without a priest) with his family, with the blessing of our bishop, His Eminence Metropolitan Pavlos of North and South America.

We were blessed in November 2007 to have our first liturgy when His Grace Bishop Christodoulos visited from New York.  In April 2008, Fr Anastasios was ordained a deacon, and in June 2008, a priest. Now, we are fortunate to have Divine Liturgy every Sunday in our chapel.

The Orthodox Church is a unique Church, which has avoided some of the serious problems that currently plague other churches.  If you are seeking a traditional way of worship that is still spiritually strong and where your relationship with God is nurtured both in the context of a community and individually, then please contact Fr Anastasios for further information. His email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

For an introduction to the Orthodox Church, and to read a growing number of articles explaining in greater detail Orthodox beliefs and practices, please see the section of our website Orthodoxy.