Clergy

V. Rev. Fr. Samer Youssef

Father Samer Youssef was assigned to the Church of the Redeemer by His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP in January 2000. This occurred upon the retirement of Father Tom. Father Samer is originally from a suburb of Damascus, Sehnaia, in Syria. Sehnaia is not far from the place where St. Paul, on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians, was blinded and the voice of Jesus said to him “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:3-6). Father Samer graduated in 1997 from Holy Cross School of Theology with a Masters of Divinity Degree. He was assigned to St. Nicholas Cathedral in Los Angeles, where he directed the youth program. He was ordained to the Diaconate by the Laying on of Hands of His Grace Bishop JOSEPH in 1998, and to the priesthood by His Beatitude Patriarch IGNATIUS IV on 25th of July, 1999 at the Archdiocese Convention in Chicago (St. George, The Shrine of the Weeping Icon). After the arson that befell the Church of the Redeemer, Fr. Samer was invited to the Unites States House of Representatives in 2002 as a Guest Chaplain to offer an opening prayer and serve as a witness of forgiveness. In 2017, he received his Doctorate of Ministry from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Fr. Samer is married to Khourieh Julianna and they have three children: Dimitry, Damian and Dominic.

Dn. John Dibs is the son of Mary Dibs and of the late Dr. George Dibs from Southern California. He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by His Grace, Bishop JOSEPH on December 9, 2001 at St. Nicholas Church in San Francisco. John attended St. Luke Church in Garden Grove, Calif. from childhood. He graduated from U.C. Berkeley (B.A., History, 1984) and St. Vladimir’s Theological Seminary (M.Div., 1987). In the past John has served as Western Region and national Teen SOYO president, on the editorial board of The Word magazine, and on the Executive Committee of the SYNDESMOS, the World Fellowship of Orthodox Youth Organizations (1983 to 1986). John volunteered as a parish assistant at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Junuea, Alaska (OCA) in the summer 1984 and was a member of the 1985 St. Vladimir’s Seminary Octet. He served as choir director at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (OCA) in San Anselmo, Calif. in 1991 and 1992, assisted at All Saints Antiochian Mission in Rohnert Park, Calif. from 1994 until 2005, and was a deacon at St. Timothy Antiochian Orthodox Church in Fairfield from 2005 to 2016, when he moved to Silicon Valley for his work. Dn. John is married to Shamassy Irena and they have four children: John, Michael, Gregory, and Maria.