Alumni News

The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) announced March 30, 2020 the appointment of Archpriest Thomas Soroka as Project Manager for the Departments of the Orthodox Church in America. With the blessing of His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon, Fr. Thomas will plan, coordinate, and oversee the work of the different ministry departments of the Church. 

“The coordination of the work of the ministry departments is crucial as we work to implement the vision set by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon in his work Of What Life Do We Speak,” said Archpriest Alexander Rentel. “Father Thomas is well known throughout the Orthodox Church in America and brings to the job a wealth of real-world experience gained from senior management positions at Accenture, Bank of New York Mellon, and PNC Bank.”

In his appointment, Fr. Thomas will remain the rector of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, McKees Rocks, PA where he has served since July 2000. Father Thomas is married to Matuska Joni Soroka and they have three daughters.

Father Thomas studied in St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s "Collegiate Division" from 1982 to 1984 and holds two degrees from Duquesne University. He is a member of the Archdiocesan Council of the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania and frequently speaks on church growth and parish revitalization. Father Thomas is well known also for his work for Ancient Faith Radio where he hosts a live call-in show, Ancient Faith Today, and two podcasts, The Path and Sermons at Saint Nicholas.

“I’m greatly honored and humbled to be entrusted with this blessed work and very excited to help develop impactful and necessary resources to support our parishes and faithful in their church life,” said Fr. Thomas.  “At every decision, our work will be guided by the question, ‘How can we support parishes so that they can focus on their ministry to thrive and grow?’ I want to hear from parishes and leaders about their needs and how the Departments can best serve them. Our clergy and faithful have so many outstanding ideas to ensure that our parishes and people are equipped to do the work of ministry and I can’t wait to start tapping into that.”

To learn more about the work of the department ministries click here, and to contribute to their work click here.

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(This article has been reprinted from OCA.org)