On the weekend of October 24-25, Bishop Peter visited St. Jonah Church in Spring, Texas (Houston), to perform the Blessing of the New Church Building.  The parish was also blessed to have the Kursk-Root Icon present for the services.  Joining Bishop Peter were: the Rector of the Parish, Fr. John Whiteford; Fr. Martin Swanson; Fr. John Filipovitch; Fr. Lubomir Kupec; Fr. George Dahdouh; Fr. Sergei Kapitan: Protodeacon Vadim Gan; and Deacon Vsevelod Gontzov.  During the Divine Liturgy, Bishop Peter ordained Innokenty Reichert to the Deaconate to serve the Parish.  Following the Divine Liturgy, the Parish Sisterhood organized a festive banquet for all those in attendance. 

Bishop Peter blessed the new church building, which is the Phase II church of the parish's building project.  Construction began on May 9, 2010 on the 1900 sq. ft. church building.  With God's help, the Phase III Church will be completed by 2025 for the centennial celebration of St. Jonah.

Photos of the Church Blessing may be seen here>

Photos from the construction progress over the year may be seen here>