WHO ARE WE?

St. Elizabeth the New Martyr Orthodox Mission was formed by a pious group of Orthodox Christians from Birmingham, Alabama, in the Summer of 2022. Their chosen location for the new mission: Cullman, Alabama. Located right in the center of Northern Alabama and equidistant between two of its largest cities: Birmingham, and Huntsville, this unique, historically German town is in the perfect spot for a new church, especially when one considers that the closest Orthodox parish is up to an hour away!

When asked for a blessing to start the mission, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas immediately gave his blessing with the declaration that the mission would be named in honor of St. Elizabeth Romanov, which brought the missionaries no small joy: the beautiful German town of Cullman was crowned with a German Saint, and a convert herself, no less!

However, despite all these encouraging factors, there remains one large obstacle hindering our evangelization efforts: our location! We are currently located not in Cullman, but on a private homestead 25 minutes West of Cullman, in the rural township of Jones Chapel. We need to find an appropriate place for our future church if we expect to grow!

WHAT IS OUR MISSION?

Our overarching goal is simple and can be broken down into 3 steps.

Acquire land to build our church. The land should ideally have the following characteristics: have at least 5-6 buildable acres, be in a secluded area and not on a major rural highway, and be no more than 10-15 minutes from the center of downtown Cullman or the I-65 Interstate. "Why so much land, most churches make do with half of that?", you may ask? We hope, with God's help, to have not just a church, a parish hall, and a parking lot, but also a cemetery and perhaps even a humble rectory for futures rectors and their families to stay in.
Build our temporary church and parish hall. Instead of jumping straight to building the final church structure, which could take years, once we have the land we can instead build two affordable barn-like structures, much in the fashion of our current chapel. One building would be the church, and the other would be the parish hall with bathroom facilities. This allows us to start using our land much quicker than if we decided to wait for the final church to be built, not to mention after the final church is built we can easily convert our temporary barn church into housing for a clergyman and his family!
Build our permanent church. After having built the two barn structures, we would then begin saving money to build a church in a traditional Orthodox architectural style.

The scope of this current fundraiser is to fulfill steps one and two, for now, to raise funds to buy land and to set up the barn buildings. It is going to take some time for us to reach step 3, but with God's help we are confident we will one day get to that point.

WHY SUPPORT US?

Out of all the wonderful Orthodox missions in the world you can give alms to, why should you give to St. Elizabeth's?

We Want the Fullness of Our Faith! The clergy and parishioners of St. Elizabeth’s are devoted to keeping the fullness of the Orthodox faith, its dogmas, traditions, liturgics, and spiritual life, all with one goal: to set fire in the hearts of both ourselves and all peoples with love for Christ! We’re not trying to plant a little flower that is here today, all pretty and bright and gone tomorrow, but a strong, fruit-bearing tree with deep roots that will last for generations to come, even up to the very end of the ages. How do we plan to accomplish that? Simply (but not easily!): with our own our personal repentance and bearing our crosses with the patience, love, and humility of the saints.

The First Orthodox Church Within 2025 Square Miles of Cullman! With over 100,000 people in Cullman county alone, St. Elizabeth's is surrounded by people who have never heard of the Orthodox Church. This region is one of many in America that has yet to have the fullness of the Gospel preached to it, and it is a very large region at that!

We Will Honor Your Donation! St. Elizabeth's is made up of many handymen, true Southern gentlemen who know how to save money without skimping on quality. This means rolling up our sleeves and doing the hard work ourselves instead of paying extra for contractors where possible. We won't spend your money on frivolous, wasteful things, we'll always be seeking to get as much mileage out of your generosity as possible, out of respect for God, our church building, and you!

DONATING? WE WANT TO THANK YOU AT THE PROSKOMEDI.

The rector of St. Elizabeth's, Fr. Theodore, wishes to thank you from the bottom of his heart for your donations. Please submit names for commemoration during Proskomedi. These can be submitted here through a givebutter message or to fr.theodore@cullmanorthodox.com with proof of your donation.

Only baptized Orthodox Christians can be commemorated at the Proskomedi. Please use proper, full baptismal names, "Christopher," not "Chris," "Michael," not "Misha." Please use proper titles for nuns, monks, and clergy, not "Father/Mother so and so."

Please adhere to the following scale:

$25-50

Commemoration of one family or five living, and five reposed for two Liturgies.

$50-100

Commemoration of one family or five living, and five reposed for six Liturgies.

$100-500

Commemoration of one family or five living, and five reposed for nine Liturgies.

$500-1000

Commemoration of up to ten living, and ten reposed for nine Liturgies

Commemoration of one family or five living, and five reposed for fourteen Liturgies.

$1000-2000

Commemoration of up to ten living, and ten reposed for forty Liturgies

Commemoration of one family or five living, and five reposed for one year.

$2000-5000

Commemoration of up to ten living, and ten reposed for one year.

Commemoration of one family or five living, and five reposed for two years.

$5000+

Reach out to the rector to set up permanent commemoration of your loved ones.

Building Our Church!

An Orthodox Church for Cullman, Alabama

Team Members