About Us - Our History
By the year 2000 several Edenton residents had taken an interest in the Orthodox Church, having learned that in the South new missions had begun opening that were attracting mainly converts.
On six Sundays throughout that year and the next, ultimately ten members from three Edenton churches made trips to visit services at the two new Orthodox churches in Raleigh, All Saints' and Holy Transfiguration.
By early 2002 this interest from Edenton had come to the attention of Dr. Thomas Keyhayes, an Edenton native and recently retired Episcopal priest who, with his wife, had converted to Orthodoxy and was living in Georgia.
Enthusiastically accepting his offer to teach, the Edenton group arranged publicity and reserved the Barker House for the four evenings of March 18 through the 21st; and Dr. Thomas Kehayes presented a series of talks introducing the Orthodox Church.
The response to the talks inspired leaders to establish a mission station in Edenton. After a thorough study of the Orthodox jurisdictions during the rest of the year, it was decided to seek affiliation with the Orthodox Church in America.
On December 14 and 15, 2002, a representative of the Edenton group met at Holy Transfiguration Orthodox Church in Raleigh with its rector Fr. Edward Rommen and with the Most Reverend Dmitri, Archbishop of the Diocese of the South, during his visit there. With Archbishop Dmitri's blessing, Fr. Edward agreed to begin teaching an inquirers class in Edenton.
On February 2, 2003, Fr. Edward began his visits to Edenton on alternate Sunday evenings, to the Chowan Life Center, to lead Vespers and to teach the class. Under the leadership of Fr. Edward and Mo. Ainee, his wife, the group began to learn to sing the services.
As Fr. Edward's responsibilities in Raleigh gradually increased, on March 21, 2004, Fr. Andrew Davis, a semi-retired priest attached to Holy Transfiguration, agreed to take responsibility for the Edenton Mission Station and the biweekly Sunday visits.
Under Fr. Andrew's leadership, the group continued its growth in Orthodox worship until it was able on August 29, 2004, to progress from a biweekly Sunday evening vespers to a biweekly Sunday morning Divine Liturgy.
Great progress came on July 23, 2006, though the initiative of Julian Miller, the generosity of St. Anne's Catholic Church, and the encouragement of Fr. Andrew. On that Sunday the services at the Chowan Life Center were replaced by services at St. Anne's Hall every week, with the Typica, or reader's service, being initiated for the Sundays when the priest was not present.
The next advance began with the generous offer on May 7, 2007, by Tom and Peggy DiMartino to allow the Mission Station to rent and adapt for a church their historic railway depot, located on east King Street near its original site. Through much hard work securing a zoning permit and through great generosity of many friends, the Edenton Mission Station was able to take possession of the building on October 2, 2007.