PART I — THE BEGINNING
The Rise, Fall, and Future of Christian Orthodoxy in Lubbock, Texas
The Wheel Turns is a documentary history of Christian Orthodoxy in Lubbock, Texas. What began as an effort to understand the history of one Orthodox Christian community developed into a broader examination of the people, institutions, relationships, and events that shaped Orthodox Christianity in Lubbock over the course of several decades. The project draws upon firsthand accounts, correspondence, institutional records, public records, photographs, archival material, and published sources to reconstruct the story as it unfolded.
Part I, The Beginning, establishes the history that existed before the events at the center of the investigation. It begins with Saint Catherine of Alexandria, follows the development of Orthodox Christianity in Lubbock, and traces the circumstances that eventually gave rise to Saint Catherine Orthodox Mission. The story ends on October 6, 2020, when Father Alexander arrived in Lubbock and the history of the mission entered a new chapter.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The purpose of this first installment is not to tell the entire story. It is to establish the people, places, institutions, and circumstances that made the later story possible.
BEFORE SAINT CATHERINE
Orthodox Christianity had already been established in Lubbock for decades before Saint Catherine came into existence. Saint Andrew Orthodox Church, founded in 1975, became an important part of the religious history of the South Plains and eventually served as the setting in which many of the people who would later become connected to Saint Catherine developed their Orthodox lives. Reader Dionysius Redington’s arrival in Lubbock in 1997 continued that history, eventually connecting the earlier Orthodox community to the formation of Saint Catherine.
For the full history of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and the early development of Orthodox Christianity in Lubbock, see The Wheel Turns, Part I, Acts I–II, pp. 5–39.
THE CRISIS REACHES LUBBOCK
The story changed as the worldwide ecclesiastical crisis surrounding Ukraine reached into the life of Orthodox Christians in Lubbock. The dispute was rooted in a much older history, but the decisions of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 2018 and the granting of the Tomos of Autocephaly in January 2019 brought questions of jurisdiction and canonical authority into the daily lives of Orthodox Christians around the world. In Lubbock, those questions eventually contributed to the departure of Reader Redington and his wife from Saint Andrew and the beginning of the small gatherings that would become the foundation of Saint Catherine.
For the history of the Ukrainian ecclesiastical crisis and its connection to Lubbock, see pp. 34–39.
THE BEGINNING OF SAINT CATHERINE
Saint Catherine did not begin as an established parish. It began with people attempting to preserve Orthodox worship after their existing circumstances had changed. During 2019, the community gradually developed an identity of its own, eventually entering ROCOR under Archbishop Peter and beginning the process of establishing a permanent Orthodox mission in Lubbock. At this stage, the people involved were building a parish. They did not yet know what the future would bring.
For the formation of Saint Catherine and the story of the community during this period, see pp. 38–45.
THE THRESHOLD
By 2020, Saint Catherine had become a real community. The mission was still young, but its foundations had been laid and its members had already invested significant portions of their lives into building it. The story had not yet become the investigation that follows in later parts of The Wheel Turns. It was still the story of a community trying to establish itself and find a future.
Then, on October 6, 2020, Father Alexander arrived in Lubbock.
His arrival did not create Saint Catherine. The mission already existed, and its founders had already built the community that he entered. October 6 instead marks the dividing line between the history of the mission’s formation and the events that followed. Part I ends at that threshold.
For the final months before October 6 and the arrival of Father Alexander, see pp. 43–47.
READ PART I IN FULL
THE WHEEL TURNS — PART I: THE BEGINNING
Acts I–III
The complete 47-page first installment is available below.
Download document: The Wheel Turns Part 1
AN OPEN RECORD
The Wheel Turns is intended to preserve a documentary record of a community and a period of significant change. TJP Publications welcomes correspondence from journalists, historians, researchers, clergy, former participants, witnesses, and others who possess relevant documentation or firsthand knowledge concerning the events discussed in the project. Additional documentation, corrections, and substantive responses are welcome.
The investigation distinguishes between what can be documented, what is reported through firsthand testimony, what remains disputed, and what remains unanswered. Where the available evidence does not establish an answer, the project does not attempt to manufacture one.
Part I is the beginning.
THE WHEEL TURNS.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.