What makes St. Anthony’s unique among Orthodox churches?

• We are Pan-Orthodox which means our members are from many cultural backgrounds whose first language may vary between Arabic, Georgian, Greek, Romanian or the Slavic tongues, to name a few. In 1956, St. Anthony’s was the second church in North America to be chartered as a Pan-Orthodox parish.
• As a Pan-Orthodox church, our services are in English. Sure, you will hear some “Lord have Mercy’s in another language, but English is our primary, and path breaking language (see above).
• St. Anthony’s is a mix of nationalities, old and young, converts, as well as inter-faith marriages. Parishioners come from about 30 towns in the New York – New Jersey metropolitan area.
• It is a parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese. In the Book of Acts, we read that followers of Jesus: “in Antioch, they were first called Christians” (11:26). Our Patriarch is John X of Antioch. In the United States, the Orthodox Church is administered as individual jurisdictions. Each jurisdiction is in communion with one another. The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops has representatives from all jurisdictions.
• We are called Saint Anthony, because he is the patron saint of the parish. St. Anthony the Great, is the Father of Monasticism for the entire Christian World, East and West. He was born @ 250AD in Egypt. When the parish was chartered, in 1956, it was hoped that the missionary zeal of St. Anthony’s would galvanize and bond together the parish’s various cultures as it embraced pan-Orthodoxy and all who would look for the truth of Orthodox Christianity.
• Our church, parish hall and grounds are located at the crossroads of three Bergen County towns: Bergenfield, Englewood and Tenafly.