On St. Thomas Sunday, May 1st, Archbishop Peter made a pastoral visit to St. Jonah Orthodox Church in Spring, Texas. During the service, he ordained Joel Dunn a Reader, and ordained Gregory Solis a Reader, then a Subdeacon, and then a Deacon. Both were ordained to serve the Holy Cross Mission in Corpus Christi, Texas.

The number of ROCOR parishes has grown at an accelerating rate in Texas. In 1990 there was only one parish in the entire state (St. Vladimir in Houston), and today there eight more parishes: McKinney (the Dallas area), Spring (the Houston area), Georgetown (the Austin area), San Antonio, College Station, Lockhart, Lubbock, and Corpus Christi.

Earlier this year, Archbishop Peter travelled to Texas to bless the newly constructed Churches in San Antonio and in Georgetown. Both parishes have greatly expanded their capacity with these new buildings, and are experiencing a great deal of growth as a result.