Fr. Theodore Ehmer
Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church
Macon, Georgia
Biography
Fr. Theodore was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 29th, 1982. He lived in Pittsburgh through much of his childhood before moving to Denver, Colorado because of his father’s work. In college, he moved to Georgia and lived here before and after getting married (in 2010) to his lovely wife, Presvytera Stacey. Fr. Theodore’s undergraduate studies were focused on Meteorology and History Education. Both during and after completing college, he worked at various airports (including Denver International and Hartsfield-Jackson) supplying the weather information to the pilots and air traffic controllers.
In the fall of 2011, Fr. Theodore and Presvytera Stacey departed Georgia for Boston to attend Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology from which he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 2015. He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Eminence Metropolitan ALEXIOS on January 17, 2015 and to the Holy Priesthood on March 15 (the Sunday of the Holy Cross in Lent), 2015. Before coming to Macon, he served as the Assistant Priest at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Charlotte, North Carolina for three years. In the summer of 2018, Fr. Theodore was assigned as the Presiding Priest of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox in Macon. Since arriving in Macon, we have had the blessing of two sons: Joachim (born in 2018) and Basil (born in 2020).
What are your biggest joys in being a priest?
There are two joys that I would like to highlight. First, it is a great joy and honor to serve at the Holy Altar in the Church. The liturgical life of the Church is an incredible inheritance that we have received from our forefathers, and it is such a joy to be able to facilitate that liturgical life in our Holy Cross community in Macon. Second, one of the biggest joys that I experience in my priesthood is seeing the flame of faith flicker alive in someone, especially someone who may have been lukewarm in their approach to Christ and His Holy Church previously. To expound upon that, when I see one of the youth of the Church start to take their life in the Church seriously, it is also a great, great joy!
What is the biggest challenge in being a priest?
For me, I think the biggest challenge in being a priest is the reality of being present and ministering to people day-today in wildly different situations. I may not experience this daily quite as much in Macon, but this was very common when I served as the assistant priest in Charlotte at the Cathedral there. It was very common for me to go from the cemetery praying a trisagion, to a baptism, to the reception, to an emergency call at the hospital one after another. Walking side by side with people in their joys, their pains, their suffering, etc., is something which is a great honor but is also something which can be a challenge for the priest to stay grounded for the sake of those he is ministering to. I believe this is where fervent and frequent prayer and confession are important in the life of a priest so that he doesn’t bear all the burden but can leave these things at the feet of Christ.
What are some of your hobbies outside of the church?
I enjoy both watching sports (especially my favorite soccer team – Ajax Amsterdam and all the Pittsburgh sports teams) and participating in sports. In particular, I have a great love for soccer and continue to play it in my spare time. The weather, which used to be my profession, is something that now falls into the hobby category for me – in fact, we had a tornado recently in Macon. Right after the tornado had passed (well, after I had accidently driven through the tornado), I spent many hours driving around and surveying the damage and trying to gauge the track of the tornado! I also enjoy using the Flight Simulator on my computer, something that I have done since I was in my early teenage years. Piloting is something that I have always been interested in throughout my life.
What board game are you amazing at and why?
I don’t know if I would say “amazing” but certainly one that is in my wheelhouse is Scrabble. Those theology and meteorology books sure come in handy when it comes to lots of obscure vocabulary! Also, I miiiiight have memorized a whole lot of those twoletter words in the Scrabble Dictionary!
Fr. Theodore with his wife, Presvytera Stacey, and their two children, Joachim and Basil.