History of the Parish
Holy Mother of God parish was founded as Holy Protection Orthodox Church in 2001 by Fr. Ljubomir Kupec of Houston, who is the rector of the large St. Vladimir’s Church off Tidwell in Houston, Texas. In those days, services were held two or three times per year. A parish council was formed and a beautiful chapel was erected within a single-wide trailer off the back parking lot of Halina’s European Skin Care Spa. In 2007, Fr. Cassian Sibley, rector of the Theotokos of the Life-Giving Spring parish in Bryan, Texas, began serving Liturgy once a month in this chapel. In October 2008, Fr. Aidan (Keller) began serving Liturgy regularly in the chapel.
By summer of 2010, with the blessing of Archbishop Peter, we had met our goal of acquiring a permanent place of worship, and in early 2011 regular services began at the current church and Orthodox Center at 1701 Peridot Road in Pflugerville, four blocks from Austin, which we call our “Stage 2” church. In January 2012, Archbishop Peter blessed our new church and celebrated a hierarchical Liturgy with four priests and two deacons. Archbishop Peter celebrated at our church in October 2013.
In December 2020, we purchased a larger property in Georgetown, TX on which a church building was already built. During the first half of 2021, we renovated this building and made it suitable for Orthodox worship.