About our Pastor
Rev. Father Peter Robichau
Father Peter has, after a long period of wandering, begun to lay roots in the Tar Heel State. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, grew up in Northern Virginia and he lived in coastal Northern Florida, Columbia, South Carolina and the Raleigh/Durham area of North Carolina.
He met his wife in the foreign missions program at Columbia International University (Columbia Bible College) in 1994, and they were married in 1996. A member of the Presbyterian Church (PCA) at the time, he continued his studies at Rose Hill College in Aiken, South Carolina where he was first exposed to a large community of Eastern Orthodox Christians and the theology of the Church Fathers. After one year of study at Rose Hill (an Eastern Orthodox “experiment” in Great Books education which lasted only 18 months), he returned to Columbia, South Carolina where he pursued a career in Information Technology that has lasted over 17 years.
In 1998, after a long period of study and prayer, he and his wife, Christine, left the familiar surroundings of the Evangelical Protestant Church – the only church either of them had ever known – in order to join the Eastern Orthodox Church (Holy Apostles Orthodox Church – OCA – in Columbia, SC).
He and Christine moved to Durham, NC to be closer to family in 1998. While living in the Triangle area for 3 1/2 years, they attended a local parish in the Antiochian Archdiocese (All Saints in Raleigh), and they returned to Columbia, SC for work in 2001. Soon after this relocation, Fr. Peter and Christine would adopt their two oldest children from Ukraine (who were 5 and 6 years old at the time), and their two biological children followed soon after.
In 2005 Fr. Peter was ordained a deacon by Archbishop Dmitri (Royster) of Dallas on June 25. His role assisting with Christian education and parish administration would continue, and in the Summer of 2007, Fr. Peter applied to St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, and was accepted for the Fall Term. He relocated, with his wife and four children, to Crestwood, New York in order to begin his studies.
In the Summer of 2008, Fr. Peter Served as a short-term missionary to South Africa, teaching in villages, churches and in the local seminary in Johannesburg. He spent the summer of 2009 serving the mission community of St. Basil the Great in Wilmington as an interim priest (and getting to know the community). This relationship continued, with Fr. Peter commuting to Wilmington once or twice monthly from New York before being assigned to St. Basil’s as its first resident pastor in June of 2010. He is currently serving as the pastor of St. Basil’s Orthodox Church while also working in the information technology field.
Fr. Peter desires to offer Christ and the good news that is the Gospel to a world that rarely sees its need for Him. He enjoys playing finger-style guiter, surfing, reading and spending time with his family.
Education:
BS Biblical Studies – Columbia International University/Columbia Bible College 2007
MDiv – St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary Cum Laude 2010
Thesis: From District to Diocese – An Examination of the Founding and Missionary Methods of the OCA Diocese of the South.
