Welcome to Saint Paul's Orthodox Christian Church!

St. Paul Orthodox Christian Church is a recently formed parish family whose members come from a number of other Christian denominations. We were all drawn to Orthodoxy because it professes and practices an ancient and unchanging faith in Jesus Christ. The faith of our parish family is the same faith that was shared by the Apostles and has been passed on to us; it is the faith of our fathers. For us the Truth of Jesus Christ does not change from decade to decade -- it is timeless and eternal. Catch a glimpse of who we are in the video on this page.

St. Paul is the first Western Rite Orthodox Christian parish in Houston. We are a parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP, and the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America, shepherded by His Grace Bishop BASIL. Our parish priest is Fr. Richard Petranek.

The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church can trace her roots directly, and without interruption, to the Apostles Peter and Paul.  And it was in Antioch in the first century AD that the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called 'Christians' (Acts 11.26).

What is the Western Rite?

Most people are unaware that before the Great Schism of A.D. 1054, all of England was Orthodox!  Thus the way we worship, our prayers and hymns while Orthodox, are rooted in and taken in part from the ancient liturgy of the West.  The Western Rite of the Orthodox Church proclaims the same eternal and unchanging faith and beliefs as that of our Eastern Rite brothers and sisters.

Lutherans, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics and Methodists would certainly recognize parts of the liturgy while Baptists and Presbyterians would be familiar with many of our hymns.