John Miller Reeves

August 22, 2022. John Miller Reeves was born in Kerrville, Texas on September 3, 1950. He was the son of the late Royce E. Reeves and Dora Juanita Miller Reeves Maples. “JM” or “Butch,” as he was known to his relatives and childhood friends, was formed by the things he loved: the Hill Country, the scriptures, and his family. John graduated from Tivy High School in Kerrville, Texas in 1968. He began his college career at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. There he met his wife of 52 years, Linda Joyce Zerr Reeves. In 1969, John transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where he was accepted into the Plan II Honors Program. This interdisciplinary curriculum program encapsulated the essence of who John was, an avid learner of literature, sciences, philosophy, and society as a whole. In 1972, John started the Divinity Program at The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. Well before graduate school, ministry, evangelism, and serving Christ in his Church had always been John’s passion. As an eighteen year old convert to the Episcopal Church, John felt called to the priesthood; this vocation never waivered throughout his life. John was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1975, and from that day forward, he would be known as Fr. John to the many whom he would minister to over the next three decades. He served as the assistant rector at St. John’s Episcopal Church in McAllen, Texas.

In 1977, Father John felt called on a different ecclesial path. This calling led him to the Orthodox Church, where he and his family were catechized and received into the Church at St. Seraphim Cathedral (OCA). From 1979-1995 (first as a layman, then as a priest), he founded St. George-the-Great-Martyr Church in Pharr, Texas serving the faithful in both English and Spanish. He was ordained to the holy priesthood in 1981 and elevated to the rank of Archpriest in 1995. In 1996, Father John and his family left Texas and headed to State College, PA to begin a new chapter in his ministry, as the first pastor of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church. Tapping into his missionary research and firsthand experience, Fr. John guided the nascent mission church into a fully self-supporting parish in three short years. During his tenure, he oversaw the expansion of the parish facilities, acquired an administrative and educational building (Trinity House), and founded a new mission in 2008 (The Chapel of the Holy Spirit). Seeking to minister to college students, Father John became the chaplain of the Pennsylvania State University chapter of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF). Together with his wife, Linda, their witness inspired

many students to pursue a seminary education, ordination, and in some instances the monastic life. Father John’s calling to mission work was extended beyond the parish.

In 1998, he was appointed as the Director of the Office of Church Growth and Evangelism (OCA), where he provided missionary training for clergy. Father John also served as an archdiocesan-elected member to the Metropolitan Council (2005-2010), the permanent executive body of the Orthodox Church in America. Father John’s skills were utilized both domestically and abroad. In the United States, he lectured and hosted many Church Growth and Evangelism conferences for multiple Orthodox jurisdictions. He was appointed to the board of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC) from 1994-2000. As well, he was part of various missionary trips to respond to the rise of sectarianism in post-Communist Romania. In 2010, Fr. John had the unique experience of taking a much deserved sabbatical to Finland, Russia, and Alaska, following in the footsteps of St. Herman of Alaska’s missionary journey to America. Some of his fondest memories from this time were serving as a supply priest in Marshall, Alaska.This pilgrimage truly typified Father John’s years as a priest, as he always endeavored to pattern his life and ministry after St. Herman and other missionaries of the Church. Fr. John had an affinity for music. His baritone voice and other musical talents, playing the piano and dabbling in the banjo, were used for many purposes and venues, from the secular in a community chorus to the sacred in church services.

Languages were a lifelong pursuit that Father John enjoyed. He studied French and Spanish in High School. In addition, he studied New Testament Greek in graduate school and taught himself, with various grammar books,conversational Greek, Russian, and Romanian. Next to God, family was paramount to John. He found so much joy in visiting his relatives in the Texas Hill Country. He loved reminiscing about his rearing and family history, as genealogy was of great personal interest and importance. Later in life, his thirst to learn more and understand his roots compelled him to seek out his ancestral homestead and cemetery in Blandford Forum, England. Spending time with his family and learning about the latest endeavors of his children and grandchildren brought him great joy. Fr. John is survived by his wife, Linda, his daughter Elisabeth (Douglas), sons, Patrick (Kelly), Nicholas (Deborah) and Christopher (fiance, Caroline Creasman), and his grandsons, Aidan Michael Craig, Brendan Philip Craig, Cullen Alexander Craig, Ian Michael Reeves, William Matthew Reeves, Evan Thomas Craig, Dylan James Reeves, George Alexander Reeves, and his granddaughter, Natalie Lynne Reeves. In addition, his brother, Robert E. “Bob” Reeves (Janet Goldman), and sister, the late Ceilia ‘Ce-Ann’ Heimann (Rick), numerous cousins, as well as nephews and nieces. Father John’s life and love transformed many communities and individualsover his thirty-five years in ministry.

An excerpt from one of Father’s journal sums up the essence of how he led is life:

You may mourn a while, don’t be mournful.

Grieve, but don’t be grief stricken.

I fear not my end.

It is only the beginning as the Apostle Luke said:

“For me to live is Christ and to die, gain.

So, thanks be to God who giveth us the victory.”

Services for Fr. John will be at St Sava Orthodox Church, Allen, Texas Vigil, on Thursday, August 25, 2022 at 6:30pm. Service, on Friday, August 26, 2022 at 9:30 AM. Interment will be at The Nativity of our Lord Monastery, Kemp, Texas with a mercy meal to follow. Memorials can be given in Fr. John’s Memory to St. Sava Orthodox Church, Allen, Texas, The Nativity of our Lord Monastery, Kemp, Texas, or MD Anderson Cancer Treatment Center- Melanoma Clinic, Houston, Texas.