P. O. ERA (PRE-ORTHODOX)

Fr. Joseph Hirsch was born in Kansas City, Missouri on April 9, 1944 and grew up there, attending the University of Missouri and receiving a B.A. degree in English language and literature in 1965. While in college he met the former Paulette McKinley; they married on July 2, 1966. After graduation, he taught for two years in the Kansas City Public Schools while Matushka was a social worker with the Jackson County Welfare Department.

Upon graduation he was assigned to the Redeemer Episcopal Church in Kansas City where he served for five years during which time the parish grew from 75 to more than 250 members. He served the Episcopalian Diocese of West Missouri as an Examining Chaplain with the duty of approving prospective candidates for ordination. In 1972, he was employed as a part-time teacher at St. Therese School, a position he held full-time after leaving the Episcopal ministry in 1975.

CONVERTING TO ORTHODOXY

In the summer of 1975, Fr. and Matushka together with their two sons Joseph IV(born 1971) and David(1972), applied to Archbishop John (Garklavs) of the Chicago/Minneapolis Diocese of the Orthodox Church in America to be received into the Holy Orthodox Church. To their surprise, about 38 of their fellow Episcopalians, mostly from Redeemer Parish, chose to follow their example and requested to be received into Orthodoxy as a parish with Fr. Joseph as their priest.

Archbishop John examined Fr. Joseph, and on Sept. 6, 1975, ordained him as a Reader, Subdeacon and Deacon at a Divine Liturgy served at Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Kansas City, Kansas. Prior to the ordination, the Hirsch family and 34 former members of the Episcopal Church were received into the Holy Orthodox Church by Chrismation. At this service, Archbishop John served entirely in English for the first time in his life and was assisted by seven priests from the O.C.A. as well as the Serbian and Greek jurisdictions. The next day,almost the entire new parish of St. Theodore of Tarsus traveled to Madison, Illinois where Archbishop John ordained Fr. Joseph to the Holy Priesthood in the presence of Bishop (now Metropolitan) Theodosius.

FORMING A NEW ORTHODOX COMMUNITY

For almost a year, the new parish met in a classroom of the school where Father was employed while they purchased two and a half acres of land and built a small 25 x 60 foot church. The new church was dedicated on the first anniversary of the parish by Proto-Presbyter Alexander Schmemann. It was consecrated in February 1977 by Archbishop John, who brought the Miraculous Icon of Our Lady of Tikhvin for the occasion, and officiated at the baptism of the Hirschs' third son, Benjamin. Father served St. Theodore's for nine years, during which time they completed a large two-story parish hall and retired their debt. He served the Diocesan Council as Religious Education Chairman being elected to the Council for two consecutive three-year terms. He also served four years as Budget Chairman of the Diocese and for one term as a judge for the Spiritual Court. He addressed the Sobors (All American Councils) in 1975, 1977 and 1983 as an invited speaker. He conducted retreats and workshops in dozens of parishes as a member of the National Department of Religious Education and of the Metropolitan's Ad Hoc Committee on Clergy Salaries. He was also a founding board member of the Missouri Citizens for Life. In 1977, Archbishop awarded him the Nebedrinik (Shield).

In 1976 Father wrote the booklet "Living God's Way" on the subject of stewardship for Orthodox Christians. This booklet is now in its fourth edition. In 1982 he was asked to write a stewardship manual for the O.C.A. which is still in print.

REVIVING AN "OLD" ORTHODOX PARISH

In the summer of 1984, Bishop Boris of Chicago, who was acting Bishop of the San Francisco Diocese, offered Fr. Joseph the assignment of Rector of our Transfiguration of Christ parish. On July 22 of that year, Father, Matushka and the boys arrived in Denver to take up their new life. The parish responded to their arrival with love and enthusiasm, and immediately undertook a serious renovation of the rectory. In the winter of 1994, Matushka Paulette was asked to take over the direction of the parish choir. David has served as parish youth director; he and Joseph have been church school teachers; Joseph sings with the choir, and Ben and his brothers have been church camp counselors and are tonsured readers.

Matushka has been an officer of the neighborhood's Globeville Civic Association for 12 years, having served as president for nine and as VP in charge of zoning and codes issues for the past three. She has been instrumental in the many positive improvements the neighborhood has experienced in these years.

Presently, Joseph is a high school science teacher in the Boulder Valley Public School System. He is married to Dr. Cecilia (Merloi) Hirsch, an intern physician at Denver's St Joseph's Hospital. They have a daughter, Daniela Philothea, who was born in 2001. Joseph is presently treasurer of the Parish Council. David was married to the former Mirela Balasha of Bucharest, Romania, in 1998. He is a graduate of the University of Denver School of Law and is an attorney and financial planner employed by First Investors. He is also an adjunct Professor at Regis University and a frequently consulted expert on Asian History, Philosophy and Marshall Arts. David and Mirela have a son, Andrew Alexander Hirsch, who was born in 2000. Ben is a graduare of thee Business School of the University of Colorado. He is employed by the Sherwin-Williams Corporation and also serves on the Parish Council.

Fr. Joseph received a Kamilavka from His Grace Bishop Boris in 1985, and a Gold Cross from His Grace Bishop Tikhon and the Holy Synod at the 90th Anniversary of Holy Transfiguration in 1988. He was made an Archpriest on the occasion of Father and Matushka's 25th wedding anniversary in July 1991, and was awarded the Palitza in 1998. At his twenty-fifth ordination anniversary, he received a Synodal Gramota and was awarded the Jeweled cross by Bishop Tikhon and the Holy Synod in the Fall of 2001. He has served several terms on the Diocesan Council and is presently the Dean of the Rocky Mountain Deanery. He served two consecutive terms as the representative of the Diocese to the Metropolitan Council in New York.