Clergy Serving At
SAINT Andrew
Reverend Father Peter A. DeFonce
The Rev. Fr. Peter DeFonce was born and raised as a Roman Catholic in Upstate New York and was received by the Sacrament of Holy Chrismation into the Orthodox Church of America by His Beatitude Metropolitan +THEODOSIUS (Lazor) on December 5th, 1993, at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Washington, DC. He graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC with a Bachelor of Science in the Arabic Language and Literature in May of 1994 and completed the Master of Divinity degree at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY in May of 1997. He married Nadezhda Alexandrovna Smirnova, an elementary school teacher from Dzherzhinsky, Russia (a suburb of Moscow), on February 16, 2003, and was subsequently ordained to both the Holy Diaconate (9/21/03) and the Holy Priesthood (12/5/04) by His Eminence Metropolitan +PHILIP (Saliba) of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Having served briefly as an Associate Pastor at St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA, Fr. Peter’s first full-time assignment was as Pastor of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church of El Paso, TX, under His Grace Bishop +BASIL (Essey), from September of 2005 until July of 2006.
Now, after several years serving here in Lubbock on-loan from the Antiochian Archdiocese, Fr. Peter has been incardinated into the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and is officially the Proistamenos of St. Andrew parish. He and his wife, Prva. Nadia, welcomed baby Lydia Ann DeFonce into their life on June 13, 2011 and baby Tatiana Enrichetta DeFonce on August 27, 2018. More recently, Father Peter was elevated to the rank of Protopresbyter by His Grace Bishop +Constantine of Sassima, on November 29, 2022,and subsequently made the interim pastor of St. John Prodromos Eastern Orthodox Church in Amarillo, Texas, in addition to his current responsibilities here at St. Andrew.
Reverend Deacon David Schreiber
The Rev. Dn. David Schreiber is originally a native of Dallas, Texas. He graduated from Texas Tech University in 2004 with dual degrees in German Language and Psychology. He later attended Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas, and graduated with a Juris Doctorate with an emphasis in business and transactional law in 2008. Deacon David was admitted to the Texas Bar and licensed to practice law in 2009.
Deacon David is married to Diakonissa Brandi, who is the author of two books with Ancient Faith Publishing: A Long Walk with Mary: A Personal Search for the Mother of God and Behold a Great Light: A Daily Devotional for the Nativity Fast Through Theophany. They were married in 2007 in Dallas, Texas, and were received into the Orthodox Church by Chrismation on Holy Saturday in 2009. In 2020, they welcomed their son into the world.
Deacon David is a graduate of the Diaconate Program of Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Grace Bishop Constantine of Sassima on October 15, 2023, at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church.
HIS GRACE BISHOP CONSTANTINE OF SASSIMA
His Grace Bishop Constantine of Sassima (Moralis) was born in 1966 in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the son of the late Petros (a refugee from Asia Minor born in Athens) and Sarah (of Mobile, Alabama), and is the youngest of three children.
From an early age, His Grace served as an acolyte at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation in Baltimore, MD under the late Fr. Constantine M. Monios of blessed memory, a mentor who encouraged him to pursue ordained ministry. In 1988, he began his studies at Hellenic College and graduated from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 1994. He was ordained to both the holy Diaconate and Presbyterate in 1996 by the late Metropolitan Silas of New Jersey of blessed memory and was assigned to the Annunciation Cathedral in Baltimore — the same parish where he was baptized and raised — and has served as its pastor to the present day. He was elevated to the rank of Confessor in the year 2000 and to the rank of Archimandrite in 2002, at which time he was also installed as Dean of the Annunciation Cathedral. On July 22, 2022, he was elected by the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Holy and Sacred Synod as the Bishop of Sassima.
With over 1,000 families at the Cathedral, His Grace has worked tirelessly to serve the needs of the parish and the greater Baltimore community. He has established a number of programs for youth and young adults and is the founder of the Annunciation Senior Center. His Grace’s pride and joy, the Annunciation Senior Center affords senior members of the community a safe haven for Christian fellowship while receiving the highest level of care, but has temporarily closed due to Covid. He served as the director of the Chesapeake region’s Camp Good Shepherd and has led four overseas pilgrimages. His Grace currently serves on the Board of Trustees for both Hellenic College Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and St. Basil Academy.
On July 22, 2022, a communication from the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s Holy and Sacred Synod announced the unanimous election of His Grace Bishop Constantine of Sassima (Moralis) as an auxiliary Bishop for the Holy Metropolis of Denver. His Grace’s ordination to the Holy Episcopacy took place on October 15, 2022 at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New York City, NY.
