To the Reverend Clergy, Monastics, and Faithful of the God-protected Diocese of Alaska:

With the Blessing of His Beatitude, Metropolitan THEODOSIUS, I have been appointed to serve as his Vicar for service in the Diocese of Alaska. I accept this call with humility. It is a great blessing and personal joy to be called to serve in the footsteps of the first missionaries that brought Orthodoxy to our people from the land of Russia.

      I would like to inform you that I will arrive in Alaska on Thursday, June 21. This date will signal beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Alaskan Church. New in the sense that another Hierarch has been chosen to serve the faithful Alaskan people. I accept this call with the conviction that paternal care and love are important and necessary in order to minister to you. I am also aware that, in caring for and loving his flock, a bishop must be kind and loving as a father but also must be firm and committed to the good order of the Church.

      Some may be confused by the fact that I am the Bishop of Baltimore and yet have been called to serve the Church in Alaska. Allow me to clarify this for you. An auxiliary bishop receives the title of a See in the territory of the diocesan bishop whom he serves. His Beatitude is the Archbishop of Washington. Thus, I must possess the title of a city within that diocese. It is as his auxiliary, serving under his guidance and at his direction, that His Beatitude has entrusted me to serve as his Vicar in the Diocese of Alaska. His Beatitude recalls with fondness his days in Alaska and his love for the people he served in the early days of his episcopacy.

      We are all aware that in recent times the life of the Alaskan Church has been unsettled. For me to ignore that would not be realistic. I am hoping that time will heal all wounds, and that love will prevail, and peace will come in the abundance that God desires. I want to make it perfectly clear that everyone will have the opportunity to start on an equal footing upon my arrival. I also want it to be perfectly clear that disorder will not be tolerated.

      Upon my arrival, I will spend the first week in Anchorage and will conduct meetings with the deans an diocesan council so that I may get a better picture of the status of the Diocese. After this I will go to Kodiak where I will venerate the relics of Saint Herman, asking for his guidance in the task that has been entrusted to me. At that time, I will also spend time visiting the seminary. Please know that I am committed to the important work of the seminary, to its growth and to the repair and improvement of its facilities. What a blessing it is to have a diocesan seminary in which the local clergy can be formed to follow in the footsteps of Saint Herman, Saint Innocent, Saint Jacob, and all those who have come before us!

      The week following my visit to Kodiak, I will travel to Sitka and will have the privilege of venerating the Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God. It was a blessing to be present at St. Tikhon's this year for the pilgrimage where this venerable Icon was the guest of honor. I will now visit her home in Saint Michael's Cathedral and venerate her icon, asking her protection for the task that now lies before me.

      In the next few months I intend to participate in all the native conferences. The Pilgrimage at Kodiak and meetings with the Alaska Lands Committee as well as St. Herman's Seminary Board of Trustees are also part of my archpastoral schedule in August.

      Dearly-beloved in Christ: I look forward to my new life with you. Please pray that together we can now move ahead, joining our efforts in living and proclaiming the Trust of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I ask that you also offer your prayers in thanksgiving for all those who have served the Church of Alaska throughout the years. May the Lord reward them for their faith and dedication.

      Invoking the blessings of our Lord and assuring you of the constancy of my prayers,

With love in Christ,

+ Nikolai
Bishop NIKOLAI