Clergy

Father Stephen Karcher, Presiding Priest

Voice: (775) 825-5365
Email: fatherstephen@att.net

Fr. Stephen was born and raised in South Orange County, California. His religious experience throughout his youth was nominally evangelical-protestant.

After high school, he attended UC Irvine, majoring in Classics. His desired to learn the Greek so that one day he would be able to read the New Testament in its original language.

It was also during this period that Fr. Stephen became spiritually restless and longed to find Christianity’s deeper roots. His search led him to the historic Orthodox Church, where he found a deep spirituality, sincere and powerful prayer, wisdom, consistency in scriptural interpretation and a regular and true way of worship.

Fr. Stephen and Pres. Olga were married in 1988. And, in 1997, when they were presented with an opportunity to study in Greece, they immediately sold their home, packed up their small family, and moved to Thessaloniki. After five years, Fr. Stephen completed a degree from the Pastoral Theology School at the Aristotle University.

Following graduation, Fr. Stephen was ordained to the priesthood in the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on October 24, 2002. His first liturgies were served in the Holy Land at the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Gethsemane, the ancient Lavra of St. Savvas, and back in Thessaloniki at St. Haralambos.

Upon returning to America, he was briefly assigned to the St. George Church in San Francisco as an assistant priest, then in June 2003, Fr. Stephen was sent to a mission parish in Escondido, California, that served a handful of families. After some years, Fr. Stephen was blessed to begin serving within the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco and was assigned as assistant priest at St. Paul Greek Orthodox Church, in Irvine, CA.

In December of 2010, Fr. Stephen, Pres. Olga, and their family of five boys and two girls moved to Reno, NV, where Father had been assigned to serve the parish of Saint Anthony.

Father Deacon Danilo Simich

Ordained at Saint Anthony in Reno on January 14, 2024, Deacon Danilo is a 2022 graduate of Diaconate program at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. He previously completed the St. Stephen’s Course of Studies in Orthodox Theology, a program of the Antiochian House of Studies.

Deacon Danilo has lived in Reno for 30 years and has been involved in the community of Saint Anthony in various capacities, including serving on the Parish Council as Treasurer for three terms, leading the church music ministry, and serving as a tonsured reader.

Deacon Danilo studied at San Jose State University in San Jose, CA where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Operations. Over the years, he has worked on various domestic and international airport planning and development projects as an airport executive and project manager.

Deacon Danilo is married to Diakonissa Maria del Carmen for 44 years.  They have three children and three grandchildren.

See photos from Deacon’s ordination day here https://www.saintanthonyreno.org/the-ordination-of-deacon-danilo/