The Russian Orthodox Church of the Reigning Mother of God is the only ROCOR Church located in Charlotte, North Carolina. A group made up of immigrants from Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Uzbekistan founded our parish in 2005. In the initial years, services were held in a borrowed Protestant church building. On the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in 2009, we celebrated our first service in our own Church building, the same small temple in which we still presently worship. The patronage of our community was appointed by a vote held by the founding members of our parish. By the Grace of God, our parish has seen (especially in recent years) a rapid increase of English-speaking parishioners. Our clergy, as a result, agreed together that two Divine Liturgies should be held at our parish each Sunday- one in English, and one in Slavonic, starting on St. Thomas Sunday (May 12), 2024. Between the two Liturgies, our humble parish now consists of over 100 people! To learn about the Icon of the Reigning Mother of God, click here.
Archpriest Alexander Logunov is the Rector of our parish. As the Godson of Father Seraphim Rose of Blessed Memory, the son of Nikolai Logunov (the Starosta of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Theotokos in San Francisco in the mid 1960’s under St. John) and Marina Logunov (one of the first Americans to convert to Russian Orthodoxy), he is a living witness to the history of ROCOR. Archpriest Alexander Stepanenko, our parish’s assistant priest, is a native of Chernigov and a graduate of the Kiev Theological Seminary. He has been serving our parish since 2013. Our Deacon, Father Ivan Makarow, was a long-time Reader serving in New York, and was ordained a Deacon in October of 2015.
Click here to see photos of our parish from 2009-present.