America as a Mission Field: What is the Gospel with Fr Martin Ritsi and Fr John Parker

The Missions and Evangelism Ministry (MEM) of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco invites you to a free online presentation as we continue our discussion, America as a Mission Field: What Is the Gospel?

Details

  • Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2026
  • Time: 5:30 PM PST
  • Duration: 90 Minutes

What You’ll Learn

Our previous presentation on this topic featured Father Barnabas Powell and Father John Finley. This upcoming session will continue the conversation with Father Martin Ritsi and Father John Parker, exploring the nature of the Gospel and how Orthodox Christians can approach America as a mission field. Together, we will reflect on what it means to live and proclaim the Gospel within a secular and often fragmented culture. Topics will include:

  • What Is the Gospel? Understanding how the Church’s unchanging message speaks to today’s world.
  • America as Mission Field: Recognizing the opportunities and challenges of evangelizing in a post-Christian society.
  • Unity in Witness: How clergy and laypeople across jurisdictions can work together for the sake of the Gospel.
  • Practical Evangelism: Concrete ways parishes can embody and share the faith locally.

Fr Martin Ritsi

​Father Martin Ritsi is a 1987 graduate of Holy Cross School of Theology, earned his Master of Divinity, and then obtained a Master of Theology in missiology from Fuller School of World Missions.

Following his ordination, he and his family served for four years in Kenya, where he taught at the Makarios III Orthodox Seminary. He then spent six years in Albania, helping rebuild the Orthodox Church after decades of persecution.

Since 1998, Fr. Martin has served as Executive Director of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), where he has expanded the organization’s impact to over 50 countries. Under his leadership, OCMC has developed a career missionary program, built a missionary training and administrative center in St. Augustine, Florida, supported hundreds of mission clergy, and distributed millions of dollars for philanthropic and development projects. With over 35 years of global missionary experience, Fr. Martin remains deeply committed to spreading the Gospel, strengthening Orthodox communities, and sharing Christ’s love with the world.

Fr John Parker

Father John Parker is an Orthodox priest, pastor, and teacher whose ministry has been shaped by evangelism, catechesis, and parish renewal. After serving in youth ministry and pastoral work in the Episcopal Church, he and his family encountered the Orthodox faith and were received into the Church in 2002. He was ordained to the priesthood in 2003 and has since served as pastor of Holy Ascension Church in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, the mission parish through which his family entered Orthodoxy. There, he has helped cultivate a vibrant parish life marked by hospitality, liturgical beauty, strong preaching, and a sustained commitment to welcoming seekers and forming new Orthodox Christians.

Father John has long been engaged in evangelistic work at the parish, diocesan, and national levels. He has written extensively on Orthodoxy for secular and regional publications, taught regularly at the College of Charleston, and spoken widely on missions and evangelism throughout the United States and abroad. He previously served as Chair of the Department of Evangelization of the Orthodox Church in America, where he oversaw church planting initiatives, fostered relationships with Evangelicals and Anglicans, and hosted the Ancient Faith Radio podcast Lord, Send Me.

He is currently in his eighth year as Dean of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, where his work focuses on the formation of clergy and church leaders for faithful ministry in contemporary contexts. His academic interests include the renewal of Orthodox catechesis, which was the focus of his Doctor of Ministry project and reflects his enduring concern that the Gospel be clearly proclaimed and faithfully embodied within modern culture.

In addition, Father John has served for more than fifteen years on the board of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center. During this time, he has led mission teams to Mexico, Alaska, and Guatemala. This long-standing involvement in global Orthodox missions continues to shape his pastoral and theological vision, grounding it in lived encounter, hospitality, and faithful witness across cultures.