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In an archpastoral message to the clergy, monastics, and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon announces that Stewardship Sunday will be observed on November 22, 2026. His Beatitude asks the faithful, parishes, and institutions to take up a special collection in support of the work of the Orthodox Church in America and invites the faithful to give as they are able.
Writing at the beginning of the Nativity Fast, Metropolitan Tikhon encourages the faithful to join prayer and fasting with generosity. The Stewardship Sunday offering supports work that parishes and dioceses undertake together, including mission planting, care for clergy and their families, youth and young adult ministry, liturgical music and translation, and Christian education.
In the same message, His Beatitude announces the establishment of the 1794 Society, named for the year Saint Herman and his fellow Orthodox missionaries arrived in Kodiak, Alaska. The Society builds on the work of the Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards and the Stewards of the OCA, with a renewed focus on annual giving and fellowship.
The Society will also help sustain the work of the primatial office and Chancery as the Orthodox Church in America carries out its responsibilities as an autocephalous Church. These include ordering its own ecclesial life, coordinating work across dioceses, maintaining relations with other Orthodox Churches, and advancing the proclamation of the Gospel in North America.
“This support should grow from the stewardship we already practice in our parishes,” His Beatitude writes, “extending our care to the missionary responsibilities we bear together.”
All are welcome to make a gift on Stewardship Sunday, whether or not they choose to join the Society. To learn more about the 1794 Society and ways to give, visit oca.org/1794. His Beatitude’s full archpastoral message appears below.
Archpastoral Message of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon
Stewardship Sunday
November 22, 2026
To the Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the Orthodox Church in America,
My Beloved Children in the Lord,
Christ is in our midst!
In 1794, after traveling thousands of miles by land and sea to preach the Gospel, a small company of Orthodox missionaries arrived in Kodiak, Alaska. Their labors would be marked by hardship and sacrifice. Saint Juvenaly would suffer martyrdom, while others would perish at sea. Saint Herman would spend the remaining decades of his life in prayer and humble service, teaching the faith, caring for orphans, and defending the Native peoples of Alaska. Through their offering of themselves to God and neighbor, the Church took root in these lands.
From these beginnings, the Orthodox Church in America has grown to encompass fourteen dioceses and more than 750 parishes, monasteries, and institutions. This missionary work continues as new communities are established and more people embrace the Orthodox faith. Today, we give thanks to God for the continuing fruit of their labors. Our parishes are welcoming men and women seeking the apostolic faith. New missions are being established, and our seminaries and monasteries are preparing clergy and monastics for lives of service. These blessings call us to receive those whom the Lord sends us and to nourish them in the life of the Church. The mission begun in 1794 continues wherever the Gospel is proclaimed.
The Orthodox Church in America has a particular responsibility in this continuing mission. Rooted in the witness of the Alaskan missionaries and entrusted with the responsibilities of autocephaly, our Church brings together faithful of many backgrounds in a common ecclesial life devoted to the salvation of the people of North America.
Our work serves our parishes every day through grants for mission planting, care for clergy and their families, youth and young adult ministry, liturgical music and translations, and resources for catechesis and theological education. Supporting the primatial office and Chancery extends our stewardship beyond the needs of our own parish to responsibilities that no parish can fulfill alone. By fostering collaboration across dioceses, coordinating Church-wide programs, developing policies that keep our communities safe, and maintaining relations with other Churches and the broader world, we fulfill responsibilities essential to the life of an autocephalous Church and strengthen our common witness to the Gospel in these lands.
On November 22, Stewardship Sunday, I ask our parishes and institutions to take up a special collection in support of the work of the Orthodox Church in America, and I invite each of the faithful to contribute as they are able. This offering will help us continue the mission of 1794, strengthening the preaching of the Gospel and advancing Orthodox Christianity in these lands. As we enter the Nativity Fast, let us join our prayer and fasting with generosity, giving thanks for the faith we have received by helping others come to know Christ.
It is also with gratitude and hope that I announce the establishment of the 1794 Society. For many years, the Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards and, later, the Stewards of the OCA provided valued support for the Church’s work. With gratitude to all who sustained those efforts, we now begin a new chapter through the 1794 Society, which succeeds these earlier programs with a renewed structure and purpose.
Named for the arrival of the first Orthodox missionaries in Alaska, the Society invites you to take an enduring part in the mission those missionaries began. Through annual giving and fellowship, its members will help sustain the common work entrusted to the Orthodox Church in America as a local Church serving these lands. Their commitment will support the continuing mission of 1794, strengthening our Church’s ability to serve its growing communities and to carry the Gospel beyond them.
I invite you to learn more at www.oca.org/1794 and in the accompanying brochure, and prayerfully consider becoming a member. This support should grow from the stewardship we already practice in our parishes, extending our care to the missionary responsibilities we bear together.
The Lord has entrusted something to each of us, and each of us has something to offer. Whether through a gift on Stewardship Sunday or a commitment through the 1794 Society, may our generosity express our gratitude to God and our love for those who have yet to hear his Gospel. Through the prayers of Saint Herman and all the saints of North America, may the Lord make us faithful in the work entrusted to us, for the building up of his holy Church and the salvation of many.
With gratitude for your generous support, and with my primatial blessing and prayers,
Sincerely yours in Christ,
+TIKHON
Archbishop of Washington
Metropolitan of All America and Canada
