Long faith journey leads new pastor to Orthodox Church

Deacon Thomas Robert Frisby was ordained into the Holy Priesthood on Jan. 15 by The Most Reverend Dr. Nathaniel Popp, archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, by the mystery of Holy Orders, at Descent of the Holy Ghost Orthodox Church in Merrillville, where the Rev. Frisby is the new parish priest for a congregation that just celebrated 103 years as an Orthodox community.

Bob Frisby spent his childhood and early teens without a church to call home. He was what he calls, "a lay me down to sleep Christian." Bedtime prayers and an occasional foray to church were the extent of his religious upbringing.

All that changed in the autumn of 1974 when Bill, Bob's identical twin brother, was killed in a car wreck while drag racing on a country road in Illinois.

Bill's death set in motion a chain of events that would lead to his parents and his brother, Jack, becoming Christians. Bob Frisby went on to a Baptist college where he met Laurel, who was to become his wife.

She had been raised in the Southern Baptist church. Married in 1980, Frisby became a pastor in the Southern Baptist faith and the couple settled in raising their three daughters.

In 1997, Frisby stepped out of the ministry due to finances and the pressures of raising three teenage daughters, and he became a financial adviser.

He and Laurel continued to be very involved in church ministry, including charismatic, independent churches as well as Southern Baptist churches.

His desire to be back in ministry was accompanied by a growing dissatisfaction with the evangelical/Protestant churches he had attended.

He began to read literature on spiritual disciplines and worship by Roman Catholic authors. He began to realize that what he was looking for was a historical, liturgical church.

His search would eventually lead him to the Orthodox Church.

In 2009, Frisby found the Eastern Orthodox Church of Prescott, Ariz., on the Internet. He quickly realized it was the same church he had found two years prior while doing research while living in Arizona.

Drawn by the beauty of the icons, the fragrance of the incense and the meaningful worship, Frisby knew he found the church he was looking for after meeting with the Rev. John Peck. The liturgy itself took some getting used to, but now it holds great meaning for him.

The best part came when his wife, Laurel, decided to join him on the journey to Orthodoxy.

To make things even more special, the couple's grandchildren, Marcus and Maya, came into the Orthodox Church with them.

For more information about the parish, visit  www.descentoftheholyghost.org.

To nominate someone for this feature, email Kim Cheek-Stanley at kimberly.a.cheek@gmail.com.