Our Clergy

Saint Elizabeth Church is under the local administration of Archbishop Benjamin of the Diocese of the West within the Orthodox Church in America, who descends from the line of bishops (or "overseers" in the New Testament) that stretches back twenty centuries to the Holy Apostles themselves. Archpriest John Strickland—“Father John”—is the appointed rector of the parish. 

Archbishop Benjamin (Peterson)

His Eminence was born in Pasadena, California, and converted to the Orthodox faith after making a high school field trip to a local Russian parish in Los Angeles. A graduate of Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York, he served in California and Alaska prior to his consecration as bishop, and in 2007 he became the ruling Bishop of San Francisco and the West of the Orthodox Church in America. He is an accomplished musician and a devoted companion of cats. 

Archpriest John Strickland

Father John grew up in Orange County, California, of Episcopalian background. Falling in love with Russian history while an undergraduate, he embarked on a career of historical study that resulted in earning a Ph.D. and teaching at several colleges. While living in Saint Petersburg, Russia, for his dissertation research on church history, he began attending a local Orthodox parish and with time was received into the Orthodox Church there. While in Petersburg he also met his future wife Yelena. Together they now have five children.

Reader Vladimir (Bradford) Lawson

Reader Vladimir is a Detroit area native and a thirteen-year military veteran. He is married to Cheryl Magdelena who sings in our parish choir, and has four adult children, two grandchildren, and three cats. Raised Lutheran, Reader Vladimir converted from evangelical protestant Christianity to Orthodoxy in 2014 and was tonsured a reader in 2018. He enjoys teaching and has a great enthusiasm for reading in the divine services of the Orthodox Church.

Reader Fyodor (Jackson) Thompson

Reader Fyodor is a native of east Tennessee and spent ten years in the United States Navy. Stationed at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, he began attending St. Elizabeth parish in 2018, where he soon began reading in the divine services and serving in the alter. He was tonsured a reader on St. Elizabeth’s feast day in 2023.

Reader Steven Hickman

Reader Steven is a native of Georgia, and spent two decades in military service oversees. While stationed in Japan, he began attending Orthodox services on base and eventually converted. Before retiring, he served as a Religious Program Specialist (RP) in the Navy, and with his wife Claire (a counselor in the Marines) eventually settled in Kitsap County to serve at Bangor Submarine Base and other naval facilities in the area. He and Claire have four children.