CHICAGO, IL [DOM] – On the evening of April 30, clergy wives of the Midwest Diocese were invited to a Zoom to hear three retired clergy wives talk about their lives over decades of service in the Orthodox Church in America.
Matushka Karen Wojcik grew up in the Protestant Church and knew almost nothing about the Orthodox Church. What she did know was that she wanted to marry the man who would become Father Theodore Wojcik. It was that wish that brought her into the Orthodox Church.
Both a quick learner and a person of many skills, she willingly took on the role of Matushka and found herself developing a profound love of Orthodoxy. With this foundation, she was able to help her husband grow the numbers of parish members, lovingly teach and guide those members, and nourish a harmonious spirit within the community.
She wasn’t afraid to forgo those parish activities that didn’t appeal to her, even if some people “expected” the Matushka to take part. Being her own person was the only way to serve the parish well, which she did for many years. Her example was part of the inspiration for two of their three sons to become priests.
Matushka Valerie Zahirsky came to Saint Vladimir’s Seminary as a member of the Armenian Church. As she and seminarian Michael Zahirsky grew closer, she decided to join the Orthodox Church in America, and remembers the day when Father Alexander Schmemann formally received her in the seminary chapel.
She spoke about the joys of marrying and raising children as a clergy wife in the Orthodox Church, but also about making hard choices when it comes to following the Church’s teachings, especially during Lent. Should all “fun” activities be curtailed, or is that too rigid? Parents can only try to find a balance, and hope to do their best.
Matushka Vera Proctor described growing up in a large and vibrant Serbian Orthodox community. Seeing how members readily helped and cared for each other prepared her for parish life. She and her husband, Father Jonathan, modeled that same loving care, which benefited their children and their parishioners.
A different opportunity to serve came in the form of FOCUS Minnesota, which she worked to develop, and then ran for fourteen years. (FOCUS stands for Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve.) The group concentrates on everyday needs in the Twin Cities, especially basic sustenance. To this end, she has handed out bagged sandwiches on the street. Over the years, she developed a wonderful volunteer staff and there is a part-time employee.
Now retired, she says that the hardest and never-ending task was finding support for the group. But she believes that FOCUS is there to this day because God wants it to be, and because it is determinedly indoing His work.
