Fr Jeremiah was born and raised in Southern California. He was raised in the Evangelical/Non-denominational stream of Protestantism. After graduating high school, he entered California Baptist University for his undergraduate studies, earning a BA in Graphic Design and Digital Media upon graduating in 2009. During his time at CBU, he desired to get more serious and engaged in his faith. Apart of this process was to work towards gaining a greater understanding of his Protestant theology. This led to him to attending a more theologically serious Southern Baptist church, with some Reformed theological leanings. To add another layer to this time, in the spring semester of his junior year, he took a class on the rise of Islam and its interaction with Christianity entitled "The Cross and the Crescent." This class just happened to be taught by the local Orthodox priest. It was through this class, as well as conversations with friends inquiring about the Orthodox Church, that he began to learn, for the first time, a little about the Orthodox Church. After the semester ended and with his interest piqued, Fr Jeremiah scheduled regular coffee meetings during the summer with his Orthodox priest-professor to inquire about Orthodoxy, but it wasn't until mid-August- eight months since first learning about the Orthodox Church- that he actually attended an Orthodox Christian service. But, once he finally did, he knew there was something real and substantial there that he would never find in the Protestant world he was raised in. Two months later he was enrolled as a catechumen, and was baptized into the Orthodox Church the next year on Holy Saturday 2009- two weeks before he would graduate from CBU.
After graduating, he had a difficult time figuring out what direction he wanted to go in life. Eventually, he began working at a local bank, working there for four and a half years before leaving for seminary. In 2012, he began courting his wife, Presbytera Katherine, and they were married in March 2013. Following their marriage, Father and Presbytera, in consultation with their spiritual father, began to earnestly discern if Father should work towards attending seminary and ordination to the Holy Priesthood. This process led the young family to uproot their lives and move to New York to attend St Vladimir Orthodox Theological Seminary in 2015. While at seminary, he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on December 11, 2016 and, almost a year later, on November 26, 2017, to the Holy Priesthood. After three years of study, he earned his Master of Divinity, graduating from St Vladimir Seminary in 2018. Later that summer, he was given his first assignment as Assistant Priest at St George Orthodox Christian Cathedral in Wichita, KS. Despite knowing his time would be limited in Wichita, it still came as a shock when he was assigned two years later as Pastor of St Sophia Orthodox Church in Dripping Springs, TX. And so, in August 2020, the Phillips family once again uprooted themselves- hopefully for the last time- to the Hill Country of Central Texas, where he is praying for a long and fruitful ministry at St Sophia.
Father Jeremiah and Presbytera have been blessed with five children thus far in their marriage.
His Grace, Bishop BASIL (Essey) was granted his request to retire in October 2022. The Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America is currently awaiting a new bishop to be appointed to the diocese, which will most likely happen after the election of a new metropolitan for our North American Archdiocese.
His Eminence, the Most Reverend Saba Isper is the Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East and the Holy Synod of Antioch elected His Eminence to lead the Archdiocese during its extraordinary session on Feb. 23, 2023, in Balamand, Lebanon.
His Eminence will lead and oversee the Archdiocese's parishes, missions, departments, institutions and organizations in the United States and Canada from the headquarters in Englewood, New Jersey. The auxiliary bishops aid him in his administration across the continent.
Metropolitan Saba was born in Latakia, Syria in 1959. He holds a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Tishreen in Latakia, and a bachelor's degree in theology from the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand. His Eminence is fluent in Arabic and English.
Prior to his election as Metropolitan of North America, His Eminence cofounded The Hauran Connection with the Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America. This charitable project enhances Orthodoxy in this ancient Christian land in the face of strife. More than $1 million has been raised since 2007.
Developmental projects and charitable endowments for the Bosra Archdiocese under Metropolitan Saba include a medical clinic in As-Suwayda, dormitories for 150 university students in As-Suwayda and Daraa; 48 studios for retirees in The House of Love; the Bethany Spiritual Retreat Center in Kharaba; Bread for All that distributes food to the poor regardless of religion; ongoing agricultural projects; and The Good Samaritan, a multifaceted charitable organization for parishioners displaced or affected by the recent Syrian war.
His Eminence was ordained a priest in 1988 and elevated to the dignity of archimandrite in 1994. He pastored St. Michael the Archangel Church in the Archdiocese of Latakia until 1998. During that time, Metropolitan Saba edited and published the Orthodox Christian magazine Farah geared toward children and families.
In 1998, Metropolitan Saba was elected and consecrated as an auxiliary bishop to His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius IV of thrice-blessed memory. In 1999, His Beatitude and the Holy Synod of Antioch elected him as metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Bosra, Hauran and Jabal Al-Arab in Syria.
Simultaneously with his pastoral and episcopal duties, from 1995-2006, His Eminence served as instructor of Pastoral Care and Introduction to the Old Testament at the St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology in Balamand.
His Eminence established a publishing house in the Bosra Archdiocese, the Al-Arabiya magazine for adults, and continued issuing Farah for children. An English version has been produced since 2010. Metropolitan Saba authors weekly articles on his Facebook page and has written on various topics in Al-Noor, Patriarchal and Al Arabiyamagazines. He has authored a number of books in pastoral life and theology.
Metropolitan Saba has also translated a number of titles from English to Arabic, including works by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev and Protopresbyter Thomas Hopko.
His Eminence's patron saint is St. Saba (Sabbas) the Sanctified, commemorated on Dec. 5.