On Great Saturday, April 10/23, 2022, 8 adult Baptisms were performed at Holy Ascension Russian Orthodox Church of Sacramento. These were people of varying ages and backgrounds who longed to be united to the Body of Christ.

Seven of the newly illumined are members of Holy Ascension Church, and one is a member of All Saints of North America in the Lodi/Stockton area, a mission headed by Priest Elijah Drake. 

On Palm Sunday, April 4/17, 2022, another four new members of Holy Ascension Church reentered the Orthodox Church from an apostate condition. They had been Baptized in infancy, but passed many years away from the Church in sectarianism. These four people, with the blessing of Archbishop Kyrill, our Ruling Bishop, were received back into the Holy Orthodox Church through the Mysteries of Repentance and Holy Communion.

May all of these new members of our community, joined through Baptism and Repentance, be Born again (John 3:6). May they be built up upon the foundation of the Holy Apostles and Prophets, that they may not be overthrown. May God implant them as plants of truth in His Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, and may they not be plucked out. May they increase in piety and may God’s Name be glorified in them and through them (from the priest’s prayer read before the blessing of the water). May they “walk in the newness of life” (Rom 6:40) obatining God’s Heavenly Kingdom in peace and joy!