Frequently Asked Questions

Where are you located? We are located at 528 North Hickory Avenue in Bel Air, Maryland. Our church is directly across the street from the American Legion building.

Can non-Orthodox come to the services? Absolutely, yes! Everyone is welcome, whatever their current religious affiliation or nationality.

Will I be welcomed if I’m not Ukrainian or Russian or Greek? Yes! While the patrimony our our church is Ukrainian, our parish is made up of families from many different backgrounds — Ukrainian, Russian, Greek, English, etc. Some of these parishioners are converts to the Orthodox faith, others come from Orthodox families and grew up in the Faith. Our church family is also made up of all different types of people — children, singles, families, young and old. When we stand before God, in church, we do so simply as Orthodox Christians.

What does “Four Evangelists” mean in your church’s name? Our name comes from the patrons of our church, the Holy Four Evangelists and authors of the New Testament Gospels: St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John. The name Four Evangelists Orthodox Church is less cumbersome than “Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Orthodox Church”.

When are your services? Generally, our services are: Saturday Vespers at 6PM, the Prayers of the Hours before the Sunday Liturgy at 8:45AM, and the Sunday Liturgy at 9AM. We also gather at times for special feast days, for example. Our calendar will indicate those dates and times.

Is there someone I can speak with if I have a question? Yes! If you will be in attendance with us at a service you can speak with Fr. Gregory, our pastor. If you have a question you would like to submit via email, you can do that here.

Are the services in English? Yes. Our services are entirely in English. Every once in a while on certain occasions such as Pascha (Easter), for instance, there may be a few responses said in other languages, but our services are conducted in English.

To which jurisdiction or larger church body does your church belong? Our church, Four Evangelists Orthodox Church, is part of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA. The UOCUSA is a canonical (i.e., we’re in communion with the other Orthodox churches throughout the world) Orthodox Church who, along with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A., is under the care of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.