Benjamin Peterson (born Vincent Peterson (born June 1, 1954)) is the current Archbishop of the

Orthodox Church in America The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) is an Eastern Orthodox Christian church based in North America. The OCA consists of more than 700 parishes, missions, communities, monasteries and institutions in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In ...

Diocese of the West since 2007.

Early life and biography

Peterson was born Vincent Peterson in

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on June 1, 1954. He was baptized into the Orthodox faith on April 27, 1972. He enrolled in Saint Vladimir's Seminary, graduating with a Master of Divinity in 1978. Before entering the clergy, he was chairman of the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Liturgical Music and served as choirmaster at several parishes in

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, and in

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. On November 15, 1987 Peterson was ordained to the deaconate by Bishop Tikhon, and tonsured a rasophore monk in the following year. Later, he was further tonsured to the rank of lesser schema by Archbishop Herman at Saint Tikhon Monastery in

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. He was sent to the Diocese of Alaska in 1999 to serve as dean of the Saint Innocent Cathedral in

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, and later as administrative dean of Saint Herman Theological Seminary in Kodiak, where he was elevated to the rank of

archimandrite The title archimandrite (; ), used in Eastern Christianity, originally referred to a superior abbot ('' hegumenos'', , present participle of the verb meaning "to lead") whom a bishop appointed to supervise several "ordinary" abbots and monaste ...

Bishop

In January of 2004, Peterson was transferred to Los Angeles where he served as Chancellor of the Diocese of the West and reassigned to the Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral. In March of 2004 he was elected to the episcopacy and given the position of Bishop of Berkeley, Auxiliary to the Diocese of the West. He was consecrated on May 1, 2004 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in

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. Following the retirement of the previous bishop, Bishop Tikhon, Peterson would serve as temporary administrator of the diocese on November 14, 2006. He would be nominated for the position of bishop in January 31, 2007 was canonically elected in March and consecrated October 2 of that same year. He was elevated to rank of Archbishop on May 9, 2012. On June 8, 2014 he visited

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, reflecting on its

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and Slovak heritage as well as expressing hope that the diocese will continue to grow. In addition to his roles, he also served as administrator of the Diocese of Alaska from 2008 to 2009, and as ''

locum tenens A locum, or locum tenens, is a person who temporarily fulfills the duties of another; the term is especially used for physicians or clergy. For example, a ''locum tenens physician'' is a physician who works in the place of the regular physician. ...

'' from 2009 to 2014.

Health and retirement

In April 2021, he announced he was diagnosed with early stages of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

. On December 8, 2024 he announced his upcoming retirement, taking affect on July 15, 2025. Under his tenure, the diocese has grown by 18% since being enthroned.

References

{{catimprove, date=April 2025 Orthodox Church in America 1954 births Living people People with Parkinson's disease