OUR LEADERSHIP
Our Pastoral Leaders
Our clergy are ordained under to the authority of the Orthodox Church in America to pastor and minister to the faithful of our community.
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Bishop Gerasim of Fort Worth & Locum Tenens of the Diocese of the South
Spiritual Father & Hierarch
Bishop Gerasim (Eliel) was born in 1961, in Torrance, California, and raised in Palos Verdes. He studied Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, later shifting his focus to Spanish literature. He later received his Master of Divinity degree from Saint Vladimir’s Seminary in 2012.
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His Grace was tonsured as a monk in May 1992 and ordained to the diaconate and priesthood in 1995. In 2000, he was elected Abbot of St. Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina, CA, a position he held until 2009. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he made frequent pastoral visits to the Diocese of Alaska and to various countries such as the Republic of Georgia, Ecuador, Brazil and Serbia. In September 2013 he was assigned to Saint Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas, Texas, where he serves as cathedral dean. On May 18, 2021, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America elected Archimandrite Gerasim as Bishop of Fort Worth, Auxiliary to His Eminence Archbishop Alexander and the Diocese of the South. He was ordained to the episcopacy on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, at Saint Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas, Texas.
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On July 23, 2026, following Archbishop Alexander’s retirement from the Diocese of the South, he was appointed by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, as Locum Tenens.
Father John Cox
Rector
Father John Cox is from Knoxville, TN and was previously the rector of Holy Dormition Orthodox Church in Norfolk, Virginia. He and his wife, Matushka Photini, have four children. Father John has been the rector of Holy Ascension since September 1, 2021.
Staff
Who facilitate and assist with ministry in our parish.
Elias Rehmet
Administrator
Elias Caleb Rehmet serves as the Church Administrator of Holy Ascension Orthodox Church. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas and an M.Div. from Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Elias is an Orthodox composer, arranger, and lecturer with a specialization in Ancient Greek and Church Slavonic. His work combines scholarly expertise with a deep commitment to the living tradition of Orthodox sacred music.
Olivia Joan Rehmet
Choir Director
Olivia Insignares Rehmet is a Charleston native mezzo-soprano with a passion for choral, chamber, operatic, early, and world folk repertoire throughout the Lowcountry. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the College of Charleston and an M.Div. with a specialization in sacred music from Saint Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Olivia has performed on six professional recordings with the Grammy-nominated Saint Tikhon Choir and the PaTRAM Ensembles.
Olivia has served as choir director at Saint John the Baptist in Mayfield, PA; Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre, PA; and Saint Innocent of Irkutsk Cathedral in Anchorage, AK. She currently teaches Lower School music at Christ Our King School in Mount Pleasant and co-leads Harmonia, a liturgical children’s choir for students in grades 4–8.
Attached Clergy
Retired or with additional vocations.
Other Leadership
Hospitality Coordinator: Brandy Barna hospitality@holyascensioncharleston.org
Director of Children’s Ministry: Elena Barna churchschool@holyascensioncharleston.org
Head Church School Instructor: Nina Parker churchschool@holyascensioncharleston.org
Bookstore Manager: Joan Hagan bookstore@holyascensioncharleston.org
Event Coordinator: Timothy Shaw events@holyascensioncharleston.org
President of Saint Lydia Sisterhood: Ava Parker sisterhood@holyascensioncharleston.org