Pacific Coast Chapter of the Fellowship of St. Moses the Black

06/17/2026

Here are some reflections for Juneteenth, when we commemorate the "sad joyfulness" of the day when Texans were finally told of the end of the era of slavery, as practiced during the first 300 years of the colonies that were to become the United States of America. But the next 150+ years would bear the tell-tale wounds of that sin, and new forms of hatred emerged that continue to harm children of God in this country.

ST. MOSES PRAY FOR US, AND FOR HEALING FROM OUR SAVIOR OF THE WOUNDS INFLICTED BY AMERICAN SLAVERY!!

The four tenets of unseen warfare for racial healing:
a) We realize that no matter how well-intentioned, we have blind spots about race and will unwittingly hurt people or situations—thus we welcome feedback;
b) As Orthodox Christians we know that we all stand in need of repentance and we rely on God to help us grow in humility, non-covetousness, freedom from anger, and in all the virtues;
c) We embrace this striving for our whole lives, knowing that the work of racial healing is ongoing;
d) We pray for this without despair or giving up hope.

Make a beginning—take responsibility for things we have done AND HAVE NOT DONE, increasing responsibility and agency accomplishes will of GOD (St. Paisios blamed himself for divorcing couples far away, didn’t pray well enough, this way)
I NEVER JUDGE ANYONE -- like ST MOSES
Blindspots are hard, but part of shared struggle—this UNITES US to all
ST. MOSES—“if we’re on the watch for our own faults we will not be distracted by others’ faults”

AND APPLY TO EVERYDAY LIFE (PRINCIPLES) keep relationships healthy, love flowing--zero resentments

This is antithetical to everything we’re seeing now in the secular world, False saviors; “program happy” (Fr. Alexii). These secular solutions are bad for COMMUNICATION. Since we communicate with people we don’t even know, expression focused on us and communication focused on the other. We want to have communication (not expression exclusively) and this means we have to consider how we are perceived.
So if there is a hurt that pertains to race, remember St Pauls words; avoid criticism, frame it as "when you do x, it reminds me of y". This is not intention focused, more problem solving approach. Do not use defensiveness.

Above all remember the tools of spiritual warfare--to remember God is in control, and to trust Him and seek to do His will, and to pray fervently.

Please remember to pray for all members of the FSMB, our respective parish communities, and the Church and our nation.

A special prayer request for (Descent of the) Holy Spirit Orthodox Christian Mission in Santa Maria, CA and Father James.

Blessed Juneteenth.

06/03/2026

All are invited to this Juneteenth celebration. Hosted at Saint Nicholas, Greek Orthodox Church in New York.

As we approach the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, we are called to both honor the revolutionary legacy of our forefathers and reaffirm our commitment to seek […]

06/01/2026

04/25/2026

https://desertfathersdispatch.org/2022/06/30/how-christianity-came-to-africa-hebrew-preparation/

As in the Levant, Christianity in Africa has roots in the Israelite/Jewish religion. The story of Noah’s descendants populating the earth has the descendants of Ham settling Egypt and points …

04/13/2026

Christ is risen! Blessings on the day of our Savior’s glorious third-day Resurrection!

04/08/2026

As we approach the middle of Holy Week—and look forward to Holy Unction and Thursday and Friday services—let us fight the good fight. If we fall down, let us remember these words of Abba Moses. We must be ready to lament our Lord.s death, in order to celebrate what we know in our deepest spirit is His glorious and victorious resurrection.

The lessons from Moses begins with a particular struggle he had with lustful thoughts. So great were his temptations that he fled his cell and ran to his spiritual father, Abba Isadore. The elder p…

03/11/2026

Special Lenten Meetings for our Chapter. All Zoom links will be posted in the EVENTS section, or contact us via email [email protected]:

Friday, 3/13 Akathist for Healing 5:45PM (PST)
(Zoom with Holy Spirit Orthodox Mission in CA)

Friday, 3/20 Akathist to the Sweetest Lord Jesus 5:45PM (PST)
(Zoom with Holy Spirit Orthodox Mission in CA)

Tuesday, 3/24 Lenten Book Reading 5:45PM (PST)
(Zoom ) Become All Aflame: African Saints through Lent

Tuesday, 3/31 Regular Meeting/ Lenten Book Reading 5:45PM (PST)(Zoom ) Become All Aflame: African Saints through Lent
THIS WILL replace regular meeting for 1st Tuesday of APRIL , due to Holy Week Lamentations services

Send a message to learn more

03/09/2026

JOIN US ON 3/24 for a special LENTEN BOOK READING gathering on ZOOM. We will meet on Zoom at 5:45pm (PST) to share our favorite saints from the first half of the book, and talk about their inspiring stories. We love the title of this book!

"Become All Aflame: Lent with African Saints," by Deacon John Gresham (and other contributors)

Available on Amazon.com: Books (Kindle for $13)

ZOOM LINK:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89559819414?pwd=EBnGboWRaUHy1idyIt9kx7kGILBSbS.1

03/01/2026

PART 2 (TRIBUTE TO FR. MOSES BERRY, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT of THE LORD)

He continued to listen the Akathist’s words—“[T]he wise children did not adore the golden idol, but went themselves into the flame and defied the pagan gods… .” Fr. Moses then saw on the iconastasis the icons of St. Moses the Black and St. Cyprian of Carthage. His initial reaction was to cynically believe that these were exaggerated representations to “fool” the locals in the predominantly Black neighborhood. The priest, however, patiently explained to him that these were real saints of the Orthodox Church. “[I began to understand that] God has no respect of person. I saw for the first time [ the icons] weren’t appealing to our senses, artistically. In Christ, there is no freeman or bondman, no black or white. Salvation is for mankind, not those little things that we cling to tenaciously that drag us to hell.” The searching finally ended, and at last “Karl” Berry found the otherworldliness he had been looking for.
There were the difficulties that came, not only with being a convert to Orthodoxy, but also with prejudices that would sometimes rear up as insults and exclusions. Ultimately, despite these, Fr. Moses would become the first African-American priest in the OCA. This new beginning within the Church was very much a homecoming for Fr. Moses, and he eagerly wanted to share the fullness of the Church. He especially wanted to share it with people of color—or, as his mother used to say-- “all the flowers in God’s garden.” Toward that end, he and a small group of other Orthodox Christians founded the Fellowship of St. Moses the Black (“FSMB”) in 1993.
Fr. Moses, frequently referred to as a “one man racial reconciliation committee,” was very influential in his efforts to educate, in every sense of that word. “We’ve made certain progress as it relates to men [during the Civil Rights era] but we still don’t know how to acknowledge and remember the past.” When he inherited his family homestead in 1998, Fr. Moses established the Ozarks Afro-American Heritage museum, and became its chief curator. The museum’s heirlooms, as precious as they are, were never as important to Fr. Moses as connecting the Ancient Orthodox Church in Africa to the African-American spirituality of—what Fr. Moses referred to as the “Unbroken Circle.” “The Unbroken circle,” Fr. Moses would say, “ has Christ as the centerpoint, and it is the same distance from the center outward to everyone.”

Not surprisingly, like its founder, the FSMB is focused on outreach and education about the Ancient Orthodox Church, by bringing awareness to communities of color, along with a message of reconciliation. The divisions in our American society that have disrupted meaningful outreach. Racial reconciliation is essential for unity; not just any kind of unity—the true unity that Christ brings, by reconciling us to Himself and each other. The ministry of the FSMB is fundamentally about, as Fr. Moses would say, “inviting everyone to the banquet table.”

“Our job is to invite [everyone] to the feast. That’s our job. Don’t say,” I’m a this” or “I’m a that.” If we’re not more than that, my goodness. [A]re we becoming strivers for otherworldliness or are we going to be like others? The wisdom of this world is ordinary, and produces ordinary people and they are far away from that which the world longs for. It’s not too lofty to think of yourself as being a saint in training. You embody the Kingdom of Heaven, as brothers and sisters.”
After serving as an Orthodox priest for twenty-four years, Fr. Moses reposed peacefully at home on the Berry family homestead, on January 12, 2024. Hieromonk Alexii Altschul said of Fr. Moses at his funeral service, “No seed is sown in the earth except it comes again bearing much fruit and as a result we take this seed of God that is about to be planted in the earth tomorrow, that will come again with much fruit. Pouring out great grace and comfort through the Holy Spirit […].” Like the sycamore tree that stands next to Theotokos Unexpected Joy Church, which sheltered many under its branches for so long, Fr. Moses’s love and servitude protected his many spiritual children. He is now laid in the consecrated ground of Holy Resurrection Cemetery, the same old cemetery on his ancestral homestead—neither slave, nor pauper, nor Indian—but servant of Christ. Memory Eternal.