Changes

*1998 Feb 6: Fr David Anderson was issued a transfer to Chicago. This was seen as an attack on parish life, as Fr David was one of the most popular priests in the parish; it was also seen as cold, due to Fr David caring, with the help of parisioners, for his invalid mother at the time. After the rejection of an appeal, Fr David applied for a release to the OCA.

::12: A letter was sent from a number of clergy of the parish, signed by 10 priests (out of 12) and 11 deacons (of 17), outlining the problems had with the hierarchy by the parish and why they lost their trust in the hierarchy. It asked for a release to the OCA. A petition was sent from the laity, with 60% of the laity signing their support for the clergy's letter.

:::The clergy and laity at odds with the Archdiocese began to attend St Nicholas Orthodox Church (OCA) in Saratoga, and petitioned to be entered into the OCA. St Nicholas Church begins an extra Sunday service to accomodate the sudden rise (approx. 300) in parisioners. The Ben Lomond group continued to regard themselves as a separate community, and was unresponsive to requests to fill out membership forms and otherwise become a part of St Nicholas, which provoked a letter from Bp Tikhon ordering that all must worship in the same Liturgy.

*1998 Aug 20: Having sued the Ben Lomond Parish Corporation for the property and assets of the parish, the Archdiocese was awarded both, which resulted in the closure of the parochial school (running for seven years).

==External links==

*Lucas, P.C., 2003, "[http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/nr.2003.7.2.5 Enfants Terribles: The Challenge of Sectarian Converts to Ethnic Orthodox Churches in the United States]", in ''Nova Religio'', Vol. 7, No. 2, November 2003. (password protected)