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In 1954, he was ordained to the priesthood within the [[Metropolia]]. After his ordination Fr. Dmitri founded St. Seraphim Church in Dallas. He continued his missionary activities among the Mexican-Americans. In 1965, he was contacted by Bishop Jose (Cortes y Olmos) of the Mexican National Church who with his flock had become interested in becoming Orthodox. Fr. and then Bp. Dmitri presented their situation to the Holy Synod of the Metropolia. After many visits and exchanges, Bp. Dmitri presented his report recommending acceptance of the Mexican group into the Orthodox Church. After consideration, in February 1972, the Holy Synod, now of the Orthodox Church in America, accepted the Mexican group with formation of an Exarchate in Mexico, with Bp. Dmitri as Exarch.
During 1966, Fr. Dmitri attended [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York)|St. Vladimir’s Seminary]] in New York while concurrently teaching Spanish at Fordham University. In 1969, [[Archimandrite]] Dmitri was elected to the episcopate. Then on [[June 22]], he was consecrated Bishop of Berkeley as vicar to Abp.[[ John (Shahovskoy) of San Francisco]]. The consecration of Bp. Dmitri was the first consecration of a convert to the episcopate in America. In 1970, Bp. Dmitri was assigned as Bishop of Washington, vicar to Metropolitan [[Ireney (Bekish) of New York|Ireney]]. On [[October 19]], 1971 Bp. Dmitri was elected Bishop of Hartford and New England while continuing as the Exarch of Mexico.
With the formation of the [[Diocese]] of Dallas and the South, Bp. Dmitri was elected its first ruling bishop in 197x and was charged with the development of the diocese, which at the time consisted of a few churches in Florida and Texas and several missions. In 198x, Bp. Dmitri was elevated to the rank of Archbishop. Under his leadership the Diocese of the South has grown to approximately 60 [[parish]]es and missions (as of 2005). Bp. Dmitri continues lead one of the most vibrant dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America.