In October of 2011, a small group of Orthodox Christians, inquirers, and friends met in Jackson with Fr. Peter Gillquist to discuss starting an Orthodox mission in Jackson, TN. Our numbers were small but Fr. Peter wanted to "strike while the iron was hot!" and let God give the increase (to mix our metaphors). We will always be grateful for the faith which allowed him to see the potential in our unlikely gathering. Soon after, Met. PHILIP gave his blessing to begin planting the mission with the help of Fr. James Mackoul of the missions department and Fr. John Troy Mashburn in Memphis, TN.
Throughout 2012, Fr. James lead bi-monthly services in a classroom of the Evangelical Community Church, teaching catechism and how to read and chant the services. Since 2013, by God's grace, our community has benefited from a beautiful space, generously donated for our use. We prayed regular readers services, and Fr. John and Fr. Don Berge served the Divine Liturgy periodically throughout 2013 and 2014.
On April 27, 2014, Bishop Thomas came to visit the mission and begin the process of selecting a patron saint and registering the mission on the Archdiocese website. On August 10, 2014, Bishop Antoun granted us mission status, and we were officially given St. Nicholas as a patron saint. In December of 2014, we celebrated our first patronal feast.
In January of 2015, Fr. Matthew Snowden was assigned as the full time priest for St. Nicholas Orthodox Christian Mission, and with great joy we established regular weekly services and celebrated a full cycle of liturgical services throughout the year. God knows who and what we need and has given life to our parish all along the way. Our little community built a church
library, painted and donated icons, taught Sunday school classes, formed a growing choir under Jesse Cox, and a variety of different
ministries. We began
St. Brigid's Food Pantry, which has expanded into the successful Little Free Pantry. We offer an annual
St. Nicholas Festival to our community, and participate in our local International Food festival. Fr. Matthew offers a generous pastoral ministry to our parish and greater community. By God's grace, St. Nicholas is a growing, multi-ethnic community with a rich liturgical life and family bond.
Find a timeline of photos and various news stories about our parish below.
2012: Mission Beginnings
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first chrismation in the Jackson Mission , 2012 |
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September 2012: first baptism in the Jackson Mission |
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first baptism in the Jackson Mission |
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2013: Old Humboldt Road
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the new building before renovations
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The first Divine Liturgy in the new building, before renovations |
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catechumen's class |
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renovations in the nave, the altar and iconostasis |
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renovations to the exterior, the extension to the altar with apse |
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June 2013: adding the icon to the front of the building |
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June 2013: The finished iconostasis in the almost finished nave
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August, 2013: Prosfora baking |
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September, 2013: installing the dome |
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St. Nicholas Day party, December 2013: the children gathered around the icon of St. Nicholas to hear the story of St. Nicholas and the three girls from Shelley Snowden |
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St. Nicholas Day party, December 2013 |
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2014
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Pascha Feast and Egg Hunt, 2014 |
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Pascha Feast and Egg Hunt, 2014 |
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Pascha Feast and Egg Hunt, 2014 |
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Visit from Bishop Thomas, April 27, 2014 |
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Visit from Bishop Thomas, April 27, 2014 |
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Blessing of the students, September 2014 |
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Dec, 2014: Churching |
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Dec, 2014: Fr. Don reading to the children about St. Nicholas at our first patronal feast |
2015: New Beginnings
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our first celebration of St. Brigid's feast day! |
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2015: Holy Friday, icon of Christ painted by Gene Snowden
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2015: our first Paschal Divine Liturgy! |
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2015 Pentecost |
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2015: St. Nicholas Day |
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2015: St. Nicholas Day |
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2015: St. Nicholas Day |
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2015: St. Nicholas Day, story time with Larry Austin |
2016: Parish Growth
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Ribbon Cutting with the Jackson Chamber of Commerce
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Dec, 2016: First St. Nicholas Festival |
2017-Present
St. Nicholas Festival, 2017
Holy Week, 2018
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St. Nicholas Day, 2018 |
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St. Nicholas Festival, 2018 |
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The Little Free Pantry has extended the reach of St. Brigid's Pantry |
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Sep. 29, 2018: First visit with Bishop NICHOLAS |
Forgiveness Vespers, 2019
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Mar 2019: First hierarchical Divine Liturgy with Bishop NICHOLAS
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Agape Vespers, 2019 |
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July 2019: New icons on the royal doors |
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Sep 2019: Jackson International Food and Art Festival (St. Nicholas Sampler) Facebook |
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Sep 2019: JIFAF, Jackie with the Spanakopita |
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Sep 2019: JIFAF, Masha with the Pelmeni |
St. Nicholas Festival, 2019
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Mar 2020: Celebrating 5 years with Fr. Matthew! |
Forgiveness Vespers, 2020
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Pascha, 2020 |
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Agape Vespers, 2020 |
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Paschal Feast, 2021: Together again! |