[Archbishop] Dmitri [Royster] made that Knoxville trip to ordain yet another priest in his diocese, which grew from a dozen parishes to 70 during his three decades. The 87-year-old missionary died last Sunday (Aug. 28) in Dallas, in his simple bungalow ”” complete with leaky kitchen roof ”” next to Saint Seraphim Cathedral, the parish he founded in 1954.
Parishioners were worried the upstairs floor might buckle under the weight of those praying around his deathbed.
The future archbishop was raised Southern Baptist in the town of Teague, Texas, before moving to Dallas. As teens, Royster and his sister became intrigued with the history of the major Christian holidays and began visiting a variety of churches, including an Orthodox parish. The services were completely in Greek, but they joined anyway ”” decades before evangelical-to-Orthodox conversions became common….
I never met Archbishop Dimitri, but he was a great influence to me in 1982 and since then. It was extraordinary to me that a bishop would publish a diocesan newspaper with a regular column titled “The Doctrine of Christ” in which he wrote on theology. In order to inspire his flock to greater faith. Raised in ECUSA I had been used to just the opposite. It took my breath away. I know people from across the US who consider him their father in Christ. He is missed by many in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox recognize that God has made a person a “saint” from the local level on up, not from some central authority downward. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to find him venerated beginning in the southern US and tomorrow everywhere. His books, published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press include The Parables of Christ, The Miracles of Christ and commentaries on Romans and Hebrews.