Our Parish
Saint Mary of Egypt is an Orthodox Christian parish on the East Side of Kansas City, ordered around worship and committed to the formation of the whole person and the service of our neighbors.
The parish belongs to the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of New Gracanica and Midwestern America, under the pastoral care of His Eminence Metropolitan Longin. Our worship follows the Orthodox tradition, and our services are open to everyone.
Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Luke 14:23 · The parish mission
Clergy & Council
Fr. Turbo QuallsRector
Fr. Turbo moved to Kansas City in 2015 with his wife, Popadija Julianna, and their five children. He was ordained a deacon that year, a priest in 2018, and has served as rector since 2019.
Fr. Nicholas OlsenPriest
Fr. Nicholas serves at Saint Mary of Egypt and teaches Catechism I on Wednesday evenings. A full biography is coming soon.
Dcn. John FlowersDeacon
Dcn. John serves at Saint Mary of Egypt and leads the Inquirer’s Class on Wednesday evenings. A full biography is coming soon.
Parish Council: Marina Miller, President; Jason Copling, Treasurer.
Our History
- 1987A group of Christians on Kansas City’s East Side began serving their neighbors, forming Reconciliation Services at 31st and Troost under David and Thelma Altchul.
- 1993The community was received into the Orthodox Church. David was later ordained a priest as Fr. Paisius.
- 2000The parish, worshipping in a storefront church dedicated to Saint Mary of Egypt, joined the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of New Gracanica under Bishop Longin.
- 2012After the repose of Matushka Michaela, Fr. Paisius took monastic vows as Hieromonk Alexii and later founded the Holy Archangel Michael & All Angels Skete in Weatherby, Missouri.
- 2015Fr. Turbo Qualls came to Kansas City with his family to do social work and was ordained a deacon.
- 2019Fr. Turbo, ordained to the priesthood in 2018, became rector.
- 2020The parish moved to 38th and Chestnut, and the convent began its work there. The George Washington Carver Farm began nearby at 37th and Chestnut.
- 2021Mount Tabor School of the Liberal Arts opened its doors.
Our Patron
Saint Mary of Egypt is one of the Church’s great examples of repentance. Her life was written down in the seventh century by St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, from the account the monks of Palestine had handed down.
Born in Egypt, Mary left home at twelve and spent some seventeen years in Alexandria living a life of lust, seeking pleasure rather than money. When she joined a crowd of pilgrims sailing to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, she went along for her own ends. But when she tried to enter the church to see the Cross, an unseen force held her back at the door again and again, while everyone around her passed inside.
Realizing that her own sins barred the way, she wept and prayed before an icon of the Mother of God and promised to change her life. Then she was able to enter and venerate the Cross. Hearing a voice tell her she would find rest beyond the Jordan, she received Holy Communion at the Church of St. John the Baptist beside the river, crossed over, and went into the desert with three small loaves of bread.
She lived there alone for forty-seven years. For the first seventeen she struggled against fierce temptations and the memory of her old life, overcoming them through prayer and tears; after that she lived in deep peace, sustained by God.
Near the end of her life she was found by Zosimas, a devout monk who had gone into the desert for Lent. She told him her story and asked him to bring her the Holy Mysteries the following year on Holy Thursday. When he came, she crossed the Jordan walking on the water, received Communion, and asked him to return in a year. When he did, he found her body, with a message that she had died the same night she received Communion. A lion dug her grave, and Zosimas buried her and carried her story back to his brethren.
The Church remembers St. Mary on April 1 and on the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent, when her life is read to the faithful as a sign that no one is beyond the mercy of God.