Previous Priests who Helped Build our Church
Father Ernesto Obregon
The V. Rev. Fr. Ernesto M. Obregón was born in Cuba, sent to the USA as a refugee child and grew up in north-central Ohio. He was drafted during the Viet Nam era and served in the Army as a Medical Laboratory Specialist. After discharge, he finished his Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology at Kent State University (KSU), a Master of Arts in New Testament and Theology at Ashland Theological Seminary (ATS), and a Master of Arts in Philosophy at Cleveland State University (CSU). He met his wife of over 40 years, Presvytera Denise, at KSU. They and their children served as missionaries in Bolivia and Perú for 10 years, 1990-2000, where Fr. Ernesto was ordained as an Anglican priest. Upon their return, Fr. Ernesto served as the Hispanic Missioner for the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama.
In 2004, Fr. & Presvy. converted to Orthodoxy. Fr. Ernesto was ordained an Orthodox priest in 2007, and served a mission parish in Melbourne FL from 2007-2010. Fr. Ernesto returned to Birmingham in 2010, and worked at the VA hospitals in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa until his retirement. During this time period he finished a Master of Science in Management from the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT).
Between 2018 and 2025, Father Ernesto has provided the Holy Services diligently for our church, despite being a retired priest. His dedication to our parish and our community has been the foundation for the growth we see today. Father Ernesto served Christ with each person that he helped baptize or chrismate, with every confession and prayer heard, travelling hundreds of miles each month to provide guidance and care for his parishioners.
On the 3rd of August 2025, Father Ernesto passed the baton to the newly ordained Father Jeffrey, who had been our deacon (Simeon) for the previous 3 years.
Father Ernesto’s Orthodox blog can be found here.
Father David Bleam
The V. Rev. Fr. David Bleam is from Southeastern Pennsylvania and is married to Kh. Nora. They have three children. He was ordained to the priesthood on February 13, 2006 by His Grace, Bishop THOMAS at his home parish, St. Philip’s Antiochian Church in Souderton, PA.
He is a graduate of St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary and is currently studying for his Doctor of Ministry degree through Pittsburg Theological Seminary.
Father David’s homilies can be listened to here.
Archpriest Andrew Moore
Father Andrew Moore graduated from Georgia Tech in 1960 with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and in 1969 graduated from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, GA with a Master of Divinity degree.
Ordained in the Presbyterian Church in August of 1969, he and Khouria Dannie then began their ministry at Bethel Presbyterian Church in Kingsport, TN. From 1972 to 1975, they founded and served in an inner-city ministry known as The Way, in Kingsport. In 1979, after resigning the pastorate of Woodlawn Presbyterian Church in Mableton, GA, Father Andrew and Khouria Dannie, with a few families, founded St. Stephen Evangelical Orthodox in the inner-city neighborhood of Grant Park in Atlanta, Georgia.
Along with other EOC churches throughout the country, St. Stephen was received into the Antiochian Archdiocese in February of 1987. Father Andrew was ordained in the Orthodox Church by Metropolitan PHILIP on February 22, 1987 and was assigned as pastor of St. Stephen Orthodox Church. St. Stephen moved to Hiram, Georgia in 1988, where God has graciously granted them a peaceful and fruitful community resting on twenty-five beautiful acres of land.
Father Andrew and Khouria Dannie have been married for more than 50 years and have been blessed by God with six children and seventeen grandchildren. The Lord has further extended His kindness to them through many spiritual children and fellow-servants in Christ.
Father Andrew’s Blog can be read here.