The community of Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Christian Church in Butte, Montana was honored to receive His Grace, Bishop Maxim as the keynote speaker for the Orthodox MontaNIKA Conference held June 8th – 11th. The conference commenced Thursday evening with a wonderful banquet dinner. His Grace led the faithful in Orthros prayers the following morning and then joined the attendees for breakfast in the parish hall. Friday and Saturday were dedicated to the speakers and their presentations. The theme of the 
conference was “Seek First the Kingdom of God,” and His Grace provided a soul enriching presentation on the meaning of seeking first of the kingdom of God in light of eschatology and the Orthodox ethos of the Church. Friday evening His Grace was invited to dinner at La Casa Toscana Italian restaurant and was joined by Fr. Russell Radoichich, Deacon Ananias, Subdeacon Matthew, Denise Horn (the parish president), and the parish council. His Grace attended Great Vespers Saturday night with the parishioners of Butte and conference attendees, which was followed by a wonderful closing banquet dinner and joyous fellowship, ending with an evening social and music hospitality event performed by some of the musicians from Holy Trinity.
The Feast of All Saints commenced on Sunday morning with the arrival of His Grace at the parish, greeted by the children bearing flowers, the rest of the members of the Holy Trinity community, and the conference attendees. His Grace led the Divine Hierarchical Liturgy, which was concelebrated by with three priests 
and three deacons, together with a subdeacon and two readers. During the Little Entrance of the Divine Liturgy, His Grace, Bishop Maxim elevated Father Russell to Protopresbyter and awarded him the Cross. It was an honor for all the members of Holy Trinity to participate in such a special event and see their priest become Protopresbyter-Stavrophore.
After the reading of the Gospel, His Grace spoke to the people about the saints (“the great cloud of witnesses”) and the significance of unity granted to us by the Holy Spirit, giving the faithful hope that He who heals all our diseases can bring unity to such a fractured and divided world, which was the essential meaning of seeking first the kingdom of God through the acquiring of the Holy Spirit. All the faithful were inspired by His Grace’s homily, and this Gospel message culminated in the faithful partaking in the mystical unity of the Immaculate Body and Precious Blood of Christ in the Eucharist.
After the celebration of the Liturgy, the faithful participated in the 40-day memorial service for Father Alex Vukovich’s brother John. After the services, all the faithful joined His Grace in what was called a Serbian-Butte Brunch with famous Butte pasties and Serbian sarmas in the hall that was accompanied with joyous fellowship. The participants of the conference, together with all the faithful of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, were grateful to have the precious gift of their Hierarch’s visit, elevating their priest to Protopresbyter and awarding him the Cross, and blessing all with His Grace’s illuminating talk as the highlight of the conference that guided everyone into understanding how to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” by His Grace rightly dividing the word of truth so that He who distributed the tongues of fire may call us all to unity.
Holy Trinity Orthodox Christian Church and all the conference attendees look forward to His Grace, Bishop Maxim’s next visit and ask for His Grace’s prayers and blessings for the Holy Spirit to descend upon this humble community and continue to bless the faithful.
