The mission parish of St. John the Baptist, originally located in Reno, NV was blessed to welcome His Grace, Bishop Maxim to serve the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday, July 7th. This feast day of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is the Mission Church’s Kresna Slava. Bishop Maxim was assisted by local Priest, Protopresbyter James Barfield, and Protopresbyter William Weir of Holy Assumption in Fair Oaks, with Deacon Dragan Stojanovich of St. Sava in Jackson, CA.

It is difficult to imagine the celebration of a Divine Liturgy amidst the distractions of a well-stocked, eclectic array of furniture, artworks, musical instruments, dolls and the normal things one would find in a large thrift store, but we did it. It became immediately apparent to us all that the presence of the Holy Spirit was in our midst as we felt the spiritual grandeur of the Divine Liturgy uplift us. This overcame any distractions that our presence might have suffered among the eclectic and distracting array of merchandise and antiques. The distractions seemed to morph into a sea of color that did not affect the strong feeling of faith, unity and fellowship generated by the joyous but solemn celebration of the Liturgy.

Despite a history of Serbian miners living and working in Nevada in years past, this was quite likely the first Orthodox Liturgy ever served in Carson City, Nevada’s capital. It was a joyous and spiritually rewarding experience for all of us who had the privilege of attending.

When the Liturgy was nearing its conclusion, Bishop Maxim and the assisting Clergy stepped down and blessed the Slavski Kolach in Honor of St. John the Baptist. Then the Choir and people concluded the service by singing the Troparion to St. John. Bishop Maxim gave the closing benediction and blessing which was followed by an immediate general procession to the nearby storefront that will shortly become the home of the Mission in Carson City. Bishop Maxim blessed the space with Holy Water and discussed the future of the Mission. Simultaneously, there was a flurry of “busy bees” moving things out of the way and preparing the Slava feast as the head table and two other long banquet tables were quickly set up near the area where the Liturgy had just been celebrated. Final preparations were made for the celebratory meal.

Fr. James’ delicious salmon burgers and the innovative and tasty side dishes were served and enjoyed by all. There was much discussion about the warmth and positive spiritual impact of the service. The setting which initially seemed to distract seemed to fade into the background. We reflected on Bishop Maxim’s words describing the continual call to repentance announced by St. John, the Forerunner. St. John described repentance as the condition for one’s reception into the Kingdom of God which is “at hand”. The Bishop also recalled the flowers mentioned in the Gospel lesson from Matthew and pointed out that repentance is the most beautiful flower humanity can offer. He likened St. John’s continual focus on Christ with the burning desire of the earliest Christians as expressed in the Aramaic prayer “Marantha” (Come, O Lord), asking the Lord to come to us quickly.

The celebration ended with congratulatory comments from Bishop Maxim and Father James followed by a closing prayer. We look forward to holding the Slava in our new home next year. In that regard, Bishop Maxim suggested that we maintain our Mission in Reno at the Bookstore and Chapel with monthly

Liturgies and rename the Mission in Carson City. The name of the newly canonized, American born Serbian missionary, Fr. Sebastian Dabovich was suggested and appeared appropriate to many present. This would change the date of our Slava or perhaps we would have one in Reno for St. John and one in Carson City honoring St. Sebastian, who knows what the future holds!

Photo Credit: Djakonica Victoria Stojanovic, Jackson, Calfornia