Gregory Stevenson was baptized into the Orthodox Christian faith on February 23, 2025. with sponsors Ben and Vesper Stamper. VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of event.

Laura Callahan was Chrismated into the Orthodox Christian Church at Christ the Savior in January 2025. Standing by her side at the ceremony was proud sponsor Pattie Kopcha. VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of the event.

With her proud parents Mary and Zachary Wolfe by her side, Selah Anastasia Wolfe was baptised into the Orthodox Christian Church at Christ the Savior in November 2024. VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of event.

'Christ the Savior' welcomed Johnathon Michael Wenzloff into the Orthodox Christian Faith with a baptism on November 3, 2024 with his mother Brittney Ann LaBracque and godfather Ronald Michael 'Patrick' Sullivan Jr. by his side. VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of event.

'Christ the Savior' welcomed newly chrismated parishoners Ronan and Samantha to the Orthodox Christian faith on October 27, 2024. Mary Ann Sporcic and Ron Sullivan served as the proud sponsors. VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of event.

Congratulations to newly chrismated parishoners Mike Sereday and Ryan Callahan who were officially welcomed into the Orthodox Christian faith at 'Christ the Savior' on October 6, 2024. VIEW PHOTO GALLERY of event.

Baby Andrew Damu was baptized at Christ the Savior in October 2024 with his proud parents Michael & Christine Damu by his side along godparents Brigid and Dave Solek. Andrew's four sisters Doxia, Isolde, Constantina and Roxanne were very excited for their new baby brother. VIEW a photo gallery of the baptism.

On June 9th, Christ the Savior was pleased to award the following six graduates with annual scholarships from the parish student fund:

Kirill Oleynikov - Kirill graduated from Woodbury Middle School this year with a 3.9 GPA and received the Superintendent Award. He will be attending Taft High School in the fall and aims to earn the presidential award for academic excellence. Kirill is a level 9 gymnast and a musician. 

Thea Oleynikov - Thea graduated from Woodbury Middle School this year with a 3.7 GPA and received the Superintendent Award. She will be attending Nonnewaug High School in the fall with goals to excel in mathematics while continuing to participate in track, cross country, and various NHS programs. Thea is an active member of a Woodbury/Bethlehem leadership and fundraising group called Alliance 

Tim Cole -  This year Tim completed the accredited Artist, Producer and Engineer 101 course at Factory Underground Tech in Norwalk, Conn., earning a Level VI certification in audio production and engineering. In the fall, Tim hopes to take the next level of certification course for audio engineering while continuing his luthiery training. Tim plays gigs throughout the state with several bands. He also volunteers at the Woodbury Food Bank, participates in the Crossover Orthodox Young Adult meetings, and plans to head to Kentucky this summer to help the IOCC with home rebuilds.

Jonathan Daniel Wenzloff  - Johnny graduated Woodbury Middle School and will be attending Nonnewaug High School in the fall. Just a few of his achievements and community service include being a stalwart Boyscout, cleaning the local park for Earth Day, helping with our church’s Easter egg hunt. He also helped with setting up a soap box derby for little kids and built a mini golf course at the senior center. While attending church on Sundays, Johnny keeps an eye on the younger children to help make sure they are safe.

Arden Lille Evangeine Stamper - This fall, Arden will be attending the University of Austin, a new university, as a member of its inaugural class. While her major will technically be Liberal Arts, she plans to continue focusing on French while pursuing Russian and other language studies along the way.  

Alexei Richard (not pictured) - Alex is a graduate of Newtown High School. He participated in several clubs, including Knitting Club, Mental Health Club, and Community Friends Club where he packaged food for local families in need. He is a member of the National Art Honor Society and has dedicated over 15 hours of community service, earning him an extra cord for graduation. Alex won an award for the most growth over four years in the business department, a broad department of subjects including coding and computer science, which he hopes to pursue in college. 

Annual Scholarship Awards 2023

On June 11, Christ the Savior was pleased to award three graduates with annual scholarships from the parish student fund. Hannah Cole is a homeschool student finishing 8th grade, as well as a bronze award Girl Scout and a co-op student of CHANGE (Christian Homeschoolers Acknowledging a Need for God in Education). She is also a founding member of the OCLife ministry at Christ The Savior, as well as the secretary for the Connecticut Homeschool Students for Life. In the coming school year, Hannah plans on improving her guitar, crochet and French mime skills. She is also looking forward to begin studying veterinary sciences.
Timothy Cole is a high school graduate, an Eagle Scout and an accomplished musician. This summer, Tim will be participating in the IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities) home build in Paducah, KY, a town that has experienced severe tornado damage. In the fall, Tim will be taking music production, engineering, and luthiery classes at Factory Underground Tech, a small music school and recording studio in Norwalk, Connecticut.
Having just completed his fourth year studying architecture, Mark Yuschak is a rising fifth year student at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania. In addition to being inducted into the Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society for Architecture and Applied Arts, Mark serves as the assistant choir director at All Saints Church in Olyphant. This summer, he is pursuing an internship with Doyle Coffin Architects in Ridgefield and serving on the programming and scheduling team for our Diocese’s Youth Rally.

Christ the Savior Orthodox Church in Southbury recently presented scholarship awards to two of their college students for the coming school year.

Pictured from right to left is Father Moses Locke, Pastor presenting a scholarship to Mark Yuschak. Mark will be entering his fourth year as an Architecture student, at Marywood University in Scranton, PA.  Also receiving a scholarship, but not pictured, is Alban Stamper.  Alban will be entering his second and final year at Tunxis Community College in Farmington, CT.  There he will be earning an associate degree in fine art with a concentration in photography.

Sunday was also a day to give special recognition to the hard working teachers in the “Live Wires” church school program at Christ the Savior Church in Southbury.  A beautiful potted plant was presented to each teacher in appreciation of their dedicated service at Christ the Savior Church. Pictured from left to right are Sarah Cole, Sandra DiResta, Daniela Polonyova, Father Vladimir Aleandro, and Liana Berry.  Missing from the photo are Rebekah Lee and Ron Sullivan.

With sadness but gratitude for their 23 years of friendship, love and service to our church and its’ family, we wished God’s speed to Chuck and Melanie Ringa as they started their new chapter in South Carolina.

Congratulations to newly Chrimated parishoner Richard Frankonis and his wife Nina.

Congratulations to Amanda and David Dubail on the christening of their son Waylon Michael Dubail!

We welcome Ben, Vesper, Alban, and Arden Stamper to Christ The Savior

The 58th New England Diocesan Assembly hosted by Christ the Savior was a resounding success. In the words of one priest, "Christ the Savior provided the template for hosting this event." A massive thank you to all the volunteers, from planning to cleaning, everything was done with care and attention to detail. Many of the guests remarked about how warm and welcoming the people of Christ the Savior are. In the words of another priest, "I don't want to leave this place, the Holy Spirit is here." May God bless us all, and may His Grace rest upon us. 

Three Saints Church in Ansonia held its "Vacation Church School" this summer from July 12th - 16th, 2021. Thank you to Fr. Patrick Burns for sharing these glorious pictures of our youth enjoying summer camp. Thanks be to God! Thanks be to the priests and volunteers who made this happen.

We were heartened to be invited to share in Great Vespers for the Patronal Feast of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Waterbury, CT on Saturday evening, June 19th. Rev. Moses Locke and V. Rev Vladimir Aleandro served alongside Rev. George Zugravu, along with Deacon W. Demetri Belsito and Deacon Gregory Curran. Fr. Peter Orfankos served as the lead chanter. Glory to God! 

This year’s Scholarship Program was held on Sunday, June 13, 2021. Each year, thanks to the generous donors to our scholarship fund, we are blessed to be able to give awards to graduates from 8th grade and scholarships to new high school graduates and students continuing in college. We congratulate each student and applaud their achievements. We are reminded that we have a group of very talented youth at our church! May God grant many years to all of our students!

Today we welcomed new Catechumen Ricard Frankonis and his wife Nina.

On Sunday June 6th we celebrated the “new birth by water and the Holy Spirit” into the Kingdom of God (Jn 3.5) with the baptism of Vivian Katherine, daughter of Jason and Athena Lavoie along with godparents Mikayla Collins and Mark Yaschak. The family and our church was graced with the visit of family friend and priest Joseph Collins who serves Holy Apostles Orthodox Church of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The Raising of Lazarus (Lazarus Saturday)

By raising Lazarus from the dead before Thy Passion,
Thou didst confirm the universal resurrection, 0 Christ God!
Like the children with the palms of victory,
we cry out to Thee, 0 Vanquisher of Death:
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!
(Troparion of the Feast, sung on both Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday)

Dear Fr Moses,

We pray this finds you well.

On April 14, just six days from today, we will finally deploy to Albania!

Years of prayer and preparation have culminated in this moment! In less than a week we will board our plane and arrive in a totally new country in which to live and work. Predictably, we are really excited. We also feel a bit nervous as you can probably imagine. Most of all, we have a strong sense of reassurance that we are where we are meant to be: following our Lord’s call to serve His people in the mission field, to open a new chapter with all the joys and struggles it will bring.

“If I rise on the wings of the morning, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me.” Psalm 139:9-10

Not only are we travelling with the Lord, but we know we have each of you with us in spirit and in our hearts; we couldn’t feel more taken care of! Each step we take as individuals is really a collective step since we represent all of you in Albania. And after all, you have made our work possible with your support.

For communication, we will continue to use email and Zoom to connect with you all; we look forward to remaining in contact while abroad. Please stay tuned for our next update after Pascha.

Further, we encourage you to follow us on social media if you haven’t already:

Instagram: @withlovesarigianis

Facebook: @sarigianisOCMC

Website: withlovesarigianis. com

Please know we have each of you in our prayers, and we are continually grateful for your support and love. We ask for prayers for our safe travel, and a smooth transition into our new apartment and roles.

Blessed journey through the end of Great Lent and through Holy Week!

With love and gratitude in Jesus Christ,

- Steve & Theophani

To make a donation, visit our official OCMC page HERE or click the link below: Support for Sarigianis Mission

On July 7th, 2019, we celebrated the transition of Pastoral Authority from Fr. Vladimir Aleandro (pastor for 24 years) to Fr. Moses Locke. After the reading of the Akathist “Glory to God for All Things”, Fr. Moses was presented with the parish metrical book (a record of church activities) and a Shepherd’s Crook (which Fr. Vladimir had received during his mission to Turkana). Joining the parish were many visiting clergy (both Orthodox and non-Orthodox) and guests who came to wish Fr. Vladimir well on his retirement and Fr. Moses well on his appointment. Close to 200 people were in attendance, showing the love that is felt for not only both men, but our parish as well.

On June 30th, we celebrated Divine Liturgy. It was an especially meaningful service as it was the last liturgy with Fr. Vladimir as Pastor of Christ the Savior. Fr. Vladimir did a special homily, using the time to help educate us on the preparation of the Gifts. Anne Wilkinson, representing the stewards and parishioners, presented Batushka and Matushka with their official retirement Hawaiian shirts and a gift for their dedicated and tireless service. Fr. Claudio Petrescu, visiting from Romania, also served.

On Sunday, June 9th, we celebrated 20 years of our parish Scholarship Program. This program recognizes our the education of our youth, both in and outside of our teaching ministry. Thank you to Matushka Suzanne, Father Sergius Halvorsen, Sarah Cole, and Don Cole for their tireless work in support of the future of Orthodoxy! And, congratulations to those young members of our parish who have achieved so much in their studies!

The celebration of His Resurrection continues. Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen!

The placing of the epitaphios (plashchanitsa) on the tomb of Christ.

The washing of the feet of the Apostles by Christ, performed by Fr. Vladimir on the feet of men of our parish.

Pictures from our celebration of the Raising of Lazarus from the Dead. (April 20, 2019). Included is our children’s choir and Great Entrance procession.

'Christ the Savior' welcomes the Yale Russian Chorus for an 'Evening of Music' on Wednesday December 18, 2024 at 7 p.m. The concert is open to the public and will feature a mix of Orthodox Christian and traditional Russian songs.