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A History of Saints Peter and Paul |
The community of Saints Peter and Paul is made up of people from all walks of life and from many different national backgrounds. We are united by a common desire to find God and to live for Him and by Him in this world. It began in 1993 when a small group of spiritual searchers in Topeka, Kansas were guided home by the one Spirit, one Lord, and one God.
This handful of men and women had been seeking the truth together for years -- praying, worshiping, and examining the Scriptures and the historical accounts of the Christian Faith. When they finally encountered the worship of the Orthodox Christian Church they knew, like so many thousands of the Saints who have preceded them, that they were home. Together with a handful of cradle Orthodox Christians and other interested searchers in the area, they formed Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Christian Mission.
The parishioners of Saints Peter and Paul have always been energetic and ambitious. In the 28 years since our foundation we have grown from a mission to a parish, recorded a CD, created a board game, hosted a home-schooling program, opened a museum, developed our own food festival, hosted a Parish Life Conference and have baptized, chrismated, married, and entrusted to God's hands many Orthodox Christian souls. We have sent youth on mission trips to Mexico and Alaska, helped feed the poor and house the homeless of Topeka, as well as provided heating wood year-in and year-out for a monastery in Colorado.
Our community has been served by the following priests:
This handful of men and women had been seeking the truth together for years -- praying, worshiping, and examining the Scriptures and the historical accounts of the Christian Faith. When they finally encountered the worship of the Orthodox Christian Church they knew, like so many thousands of the Saints who have preceded them, that they were home. Together with a handful of cradle Orthodox Christians and other interested searchers in the area, they formed Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Christian Mission.
The parishioners of Saints Peter and Paul have always been energetic and ambitious. In the 28 years since our foundation we have grown from a mission to a parish, recorded a CD, created a board game, hosted a home-schooling program, opened a museum, developed our own food festival, hosted a Parish Life Conference and have baptized, chrismated, married, and entrusted to God's hands many Orthodox Christian souls. We have sent youth on mission trips to Mexico and Alaska, helped feed the poor and house the homeless of Topeka, as well as provided heating wood year-in and year-out for a monastery in Colorado.
Our community has been served by the following priests:
- the Reverend Thomas Moffat (1993-1997),
- the Reverend John Mack (1997-2001),
- the Reverend Michael Shanbour (2001-2004),
- the Very Reverend Joseph Longofono (2004-2019),
- and the Reverend Father Nikolai Meyers (2019-present)
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Fr. Nikolai Meyers is a native of Southern California. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Bible and Cross-Cultural Ministry from Manhattan Christian College, Manhattan KS. He earned his Masters of Divinity from St. Tikhon Orthodox Theological Seminary, in South Cannon, PA. He was ordained Deacon in September of 2007 by His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph of the Antiochian Archdiocese at St. Tikhon Monastery in South Cannon, PA, and to the holy Priesthood in July of 2008 by His Eminence at St. Andrew Orthodox Church in Riverside, CA. He served 6 years as Assistant Pastor of St. John Orthodox Church in Memphis TN and concurrently was the priest in charge of St. Paul Orthodox Mission in Tupelo, MS. From October of 2014 to July of 2019 he was the Pastor of St. George Orthodox Church in New Hartford, NY. where he was the Spiritual Adviser for Teen SOYO in the Antiochian Orthodox Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Up-State New York. He now serves as the Pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Topeka, KS. He is married and has 5 children.
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Father Nikolai Meyers
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The parishioners of Saints Peter and Paul are honored to be part of the legacy of Fr. Nicola Yanney's and St. Raphael's work in Mid-America. We are honored to be part of a legacy of the saints that includes the congregations in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, and Philipi, as well as Antioch, Constantinople, Moscow, Anchorage, and all the millions of faithful who have become parishes of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith. Through the intercessions of St. Raphael of Brooklyn, Saints Peter and Paul, the patrons of this community, and of all the saints, may God have mercy on us and save us.