Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

     We have a new Bishop:  His Grace Bishop Alexander (Golitzin)!  His Grace was elected by the Holy Synod of Bishops on Tuesday, March 26, 2016 at its Spring Session to fill the vacant Dallas Diocesan See.  Bishop Alexander succeeds His Eminence, the late Archbishop Dmitri, who in retirement fell asleep in the Lord at the age of 87 on August 28, 2011.

We all will have an opportunity to receive a blessing from and meet Bishop Alexander on Sunday night, April 17, at St. Seraphim Cathedral in conjunction with Pan Orthodox Vespers.   The Diocesan Administrator, Chancellor and Deans of the Diocese will meet with His Grace on Monday, April 18.  More information will be forthcoming, but as an introduction to Bishop Alexander we offer the following biography posted on the OCA website.

     “Bishop Alexander [Golitzin] was born in Burbank, CA in 1948 and was raised at Saint Innocent Church, Tarzana, CA.  He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master of Divinity degree from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary.  He spent seven years pursuing doctoral studies at Oxford University in England under His Eminence, Metropolitan Kallistos [Ware].  During this time, he also spent two years in Greece, including one year at Simonos Petras Monastery on Mount Athos.

“After receiving his D.Phil. in 1980, Bishop Alexander returned to the US.  He was ordained to the diaconate in January 1982 and to the priesthood two years later.  In 1986, he was tonsured to monastic orders.  He served OCA missions in northern California and headed the Diocese of the West’s mission committee.

“In 1989, he accepted a position with the Theology Department at Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, a position that he left at the end of April 2012.  While teaching at Marquette, he had been attached to Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, Milwaukee, WI.  For 22 years, he preached, taught and served at Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, and witnessed to the Gospel and to Orthodox Christian theology at Marquette University.  He helped attract a dozen Orthodox Christian students to doctoral work in theology at Marquette.

“In June 2010, the Bulgarian Diocese initiated a search for a candidate to succeed His Eminence, Archbishop Kirill [Yonchev], who reposed in the Lord in 2007.  In October 2011, the Holy Synod of Bishops elected Archimandrite Alexander as Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese.  He was consecrated to the episcopacy as Bishop of Toledo and the Bulgarian Diocese during a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Saint George Cathedral, Rossford, OH on May 5, 2012.”