Greetings in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Our Fellowship was created in the early years of this new century by a group of dedicated Orthodox Christians, both ordained and lay, in order to offer an Orthodox response to the growing environmental crisis of our day. Since that time, we have offered numerous publications, organized conferences and lectures, and published an occasional newsletter. Most useful to our constituency, however, has been our website. Interested parties from all over the world – scholars, activists, critics, and persons of faith (both Orthodox and otherwise) would utilize it in order to explore our unique and exhaustive collection of scriptural and patristic writings that, in some way, reference God’s good creation and our responsibility for it, as well as contemporary essays and news items. After a considerable hiatus, we now present the website to you in a new format that we hope you will find easy to use, helpful, and informative. Considerable effort has been made to verify and provide references for every important quote that is offered. We are grateful to the Farah Foundation for their generous support,which made this project possible.
A few words about our founding inspiration and purpose: The motto for our group is “Proclaiming the Ecological Mission of the Orthodox Church as the Reconciliation of All Things in Christ.” We felt that this came the closest to describing the Orthodox Christian vision of the world transfigured through Christ, as well as the invitation to each one of us to understand our calling in life in relation to our ultimate goal, union with God. The Church, as Christ’s spotless Bride, is our Mother, who gives birth to us spiritually, beginning with the baptismal font, and then send us out into the world to offer witness and service in the name of Jesus Christ. In witnessing to the transforming presence of God in the world, our specific focus with regard to the environment is to draw attention to the continuing abuse and degradation of God’s good creation which has been brought about by human selfishness and sin, as well as our ignorance of, and then denial of, the long-term harmful and life-threatening consequences of our technology-based civilization.

Through our work over the years we have endeavored to accomplish the following goals:

  1. to inform and educate regarding the nature of the environmental challenges that face us, to offer appropriate responses, and to show why it is important for us as Orthodox to do so;
  2. to explore and explain the teachings of our faith that call us to care for God’s creation, as obedient servants;
  3. to offer practical means to make our parish properties and our homes more environmentally friendly; and
  4. to call public attention to environmental degradation, and its detrimental impact, both on people today, and on generations yet unborn.
With love in Christ, through whom “all things were made” (John 1:3),

Rev. Protopresbyter Christopher H. Bender,
Chair of the Steering Committee

Read A Statement of Orthodox Responsibility for Creation to find out more!

Yosemite, 2015

History and Membership

Endorsed by the Standing Committee of Orthodox Bishops of America in 2006, in part with the support of His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Amisso of blessed memory (Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church, Johnstown PA), the Orthodox Fellowship of the Transfiguration is a pan-Orthodox organization open to membership by all Orthodox Christians in good standing of canonical Orthodox Churches in North and Central America. Its work originally grew out of efforts by its executive director, Frederick W. Krueger, on behalf of Christian approaches to environmental issues in the US, and by Fr. John Chryssavgis, as the North American-based environmental advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, among others.

OFT Advisory Board

HE Metropolitan Sava
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

HE Archbishop Serafim (Kykotis)
Patriarchate of Alexandria
Alexandria, Egypt

HG Bishop Demetrios of Xanthos
Ret., (former ecumenical office, SCOBA)
Saint Augustine, Florida

Fr Michael Ziebarth
Martin’s Ferry, Ohio

Fr Alexander Karloutsos
Director of Public Affairs for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and pastor
Orthodox Church of the Hamptons
Long Island, New York

Fr. Dr. Robert Popichak
Pastor, Holy Ghost Church (Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Slickville, Pennsylvania

Fr Chad Hatfield
Chancellor, St. Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood
Yonkers, New York

Ms. Natalie Kapeluck Nixon
Director, Office of Youth Ministry
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Board of Directors

HE Metropolitan Nathanael
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Very Rev Fr Dr Christopher Bender
Dean, Cathedral of Saint Nicholas
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Terence Baz
Pastor, Assumption of the Holy Virgin Orthodox Church
Orthodox Church in America
Clifton, New Jersey

Rev. Fr. Sergei Kapral
Ecumenical officer
Orthodox Church in America
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Rev. Fr. Stephen Osburn
Rector, St. Mary’s Holy Dormition Orthodox Church
Orthodox Church in America
Calhan, Colorado

Andrew Stoiko
Board Member
Detroit, Michigan

Dr. Christine Nellist
Board Member
London, United Kingdom

Diane Chakalis
Board Member
Columbus, Ohio

Frederick W. Krueger
Executive Director
Santa Rosa, California

Dr. George Nassos
Glenwood Springs, Illinois

Dr. Gayle Woloschek
Chicago, Illinois