American priest speaks about unprecedented growth of interest in Orthodoxy

Jonathan Pageau and Archpriest Josiah Trenham. Photo: a screenshot from Jonathan Pageau’s YouTube Channel

In recent years, Orthodox parishes in the United States have been experiencing unprecedented growth. Archpriest Josiah Trenham, rector of St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, California (Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America), spoke about this in an interview with the popular YouTube channel The Symbolic World.

“I’ve been a priest for 31 years, and I’ve never seen such interest in Orthodoxy as I have in the last four years,” said Fr. Josiah. “Before the pandemic, we were receiving about 20–25 catechumens per year. Today, that number has grown several times over.”

According to him, the growth has been accelerating each year. “Last year at Pascha, when we traditionally perform baptisms on Holy Saturday, we had 110 new converts. We received 62 people into the Church, others needed a little bit more time. But since then we're back up now to about 95 almost 100. I suspect we'll be at 120 or 130 by the time that Easter comes. Those numbers just are continuing to increase.”

Fr. Josiah also shared that he travels across the U.S. 10–12 times a year, conducting spiritual seminars at parishes and universities. “And everywhere, absolutely everywhere I go, the numbers are massive. People are coming to the Church,” he emphasized.

The COVID-19 pandemic, he believes, was a major turning point. “The one thing we can't stand thinking about is death we just can't we have no way to process it in our secular culture secularism has no answer for death. But Orthodoxy does,” he said.

He noted that young men in particular are turning to the Church. “They are searching for truth, stability, and deep meaning—and they find it in the Orthodox tradition, which remains faithful to doctrine and does not yield to external pressures,” he added.

Fr. Josiah’s parish is known for its vibrant missionary and social outreach, as well as a rich liturgical life. The parish operates a school, charitable programs, clubs for large families, and even a small brewery, making it a lively and welcoming place for newcomers.

“People are tired of chaos and are looking for something solid,” Fr. Josiah concluded. “And they’re finding it in the Church. The return to Christ and Orthodoxy is the deepest and most hopeful movement I’ve witnessed in my lifetime.”

As the UOJ previously reported, a Protestant community in England converted to Orthodoxy.

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