By Angela Curio Leader-Telegram staff

August 30, 2025

EAU CLAIRE — Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop Nathanael Symeonides visited Eau Claire on Saturday, August 30. It was the first time an Orthodox bishop has visited the city. 

He said he had wanted to visit Eau Claire and the St. Nicholas Orthodox Mission in the city for quite some time, but “I kept putting it on the back burner.” 

“When I realized I was going to be in Minnesota for a month, [I realized] there’s no excuse now. This is a great opportunity to go spend time with people, learn from them, and recommit to them to be honest with you. Make this more than a special occasion but a regular meeting that I hope to have with these people.” 

The Greek Orthodox Mission community in Eau Claire has been meeting at the Episcopal Church at least since the 1940s, though the exact date the community formed is a bit unclear. In the last four years, it has seen substantial growth due largely to adult converts from outside the Orthodox communion. 

“What’s happening here at this mission is not unique to the mission in Eau Claire,” he said. “It’s happening in many of my churches and I think it’s probably happening around the country. They’ve been discovering Orthodoxy more and more and that has led them to start coming in, learning more, becoming seekers.” 

The bishop said he attributes the increased interest to COVID. 

“I think when people experience any crisis, let alone a global pandemic that shut everything down, all of a sudden you can start asking deeper questions,” he said. “The world suffered a lot during the period of the pandemic but it was an opportunity to discover what is meaningful.” 

After celebrating the Orthodox religious service, called the Divine Liturgy, in Christ the King Episcopal Cathedral, the metropolitan not only met and socialized with members of the St. Nicholas Mission, but with clergy from outside the Orthodox communion. 

The Very Reverend Tyler Richards, Dean and Rector of the cathedral, received a gift of an icon of Christ from the Orthodox metropolitan. He also received, on behalf of Episcopal Bishop Matthew Gunter, a chalice. Both gifts were to express friendship and appreciation for the mission being allowed to share the space for so many decades. 

During the luncheon reception after the service, Bishop Gerard Battersby of the Catholic Diocese of La Crosse joined in the festivities and socialized with the metropolitan. 

“It’s important to me to meet with local religious leadership, especially Catholic bishops in these cities,” he said. “We have so much in common. They’re good brothers. They want to help our community grow, and for me, personally, it’s great to have the presence of other bishops in my life. We may not be in communion with one another, but I see them as brothers who are shepherds, who are leading their flocks like I am leading my flock.” 

When he spoke about his hopes for the Eau Claire mission, he said, “I’d like to see the church grow and be here for the people of Eau Claire, a church not just for the parishioners but a church that sees everyone as people of God and is welcoming and supporting and loving everyone. So that’s what I’d like for the mission to become, not just an internal group that meets for itself, but a church that is there.”