On September 4, 2026, Bishop Matthew of Sourozh, Temporary Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA and Canada, began his visit to the parishes of the Central States deanery.
Before visiting the parish in Redford, the archpastor venerated the holy relics of the Church of St. Sava of Serbia in Merrillville, Indiana. It was in this parish that St. Varnava the Confessor was baptized and began his altar service — the first Serb of American birth, who suffered for the faith of Christ and was glorified among the saints by the Serbian Orthodox Church in 2005.
In Chicago, Bishop Matthew venerated the holy relics of Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Orthodox Church in America, whose first rector and builder was Hieromartyr Priest John Kochurov (+1917). Like the cathedral in New York, this church was consecrated by St. Tikhon in 1903, and its construction was supported and partly funded by the Passion-bearer Emperor Nicholas II.
That evening the bishop arrived in Detroit, where he was met by the Dean of the Central States parishes, Priest Joshua Genig, as well as those accompanying the bishop on the trip: the Secretary of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA, Priest Mark Rashkov, and a cleric of St. Nicholas Cathedral in New York, Hegumen Nikodim (Balyasnikov).
