Parish Clergy
Rev. Fr. Gregory Peterson (retired) with Rev. Fr. Thomas Bartz (Presiding Priest)
Rev. Father Thomas Bartz, Proistamenos (Presiding Priest)
Phone: (361) 883-9843
Email: frthomas.stnicholaschurch@gmail.com
Biography
Fr. Thomas Bartz grew up in Streamwood, Illinois. He was baptized in the Catholic Church as an infant but raised in the Lutheran Church. He and his wife Karen met at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago in 2006. They desired to pursue Bible Translation work. Fr. Thomas received his B.A. in 2008 double majoring in Biblical Greek and Hebrew. Karen received her B.A. in Linguistics in 2010. They were married in 2008 and began further studies at Dallas Theological Seminary in 2010. However, as a result of studying Church History and early Christianity, Fr. Thomas and Karen became Orthodox at Holy Trinity, Dallas in 2012.
He continued working at UPS as he attempted to better discern his calling. He went to Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston and received his M.Div. in 2019. He was ordained to the diaconate in January 2019 and to the Priesthood in July 2019. He was the Assistant Priest at St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church, in Greenwood Village, CO for 3 years before being assigned to St. Nicholas in August of 2022.
In his free time, Fr. Thomas loves studying Scriptures, reading Church Fathers, and Church History. He also enjoys drinking coffee and walking the beautiful beaches in Corpus Christi with his lovely wife Presvytera Karen and his two dogs Gus & Declan.
Rev. Father Gregory Peterson (retired)
Biography
We are delighted to have a retired priest help serve at our growing parish! Father Gregory Peterson is a retired priest (OCA) and is attached to the altar of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church of Corpus Christi with the blessing of Rev. Fr. Thomas Bartz and His Eminence Metropolitan Constantine of Denver. He and his wife Matushka Tatiana moved to Corpus Christi in January of 2024.
Father Gregory was born and raised in Romania. It was there that he married his beloved wife Tatiana in 1980. Soon they welcomed two boys: Cyprian born in 1981 and Paul born in 1982. Matushka Tatiana has impressively earned a Bachelor of Computer Science (BCS) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) while continuing to study, work, and raise a family! Father Peterson served as an Orthodox priest in Romania for over 10 years before moving to Michigan in 1992. While in Michigan he worked as an Automotive Designer-Detailer at Cadillac Motor Car Division of GM. Later, in 2001, he was assigned as a full-time priest to a church in Charleroi, PA. He served the Holy Trinity Church (Orthodox Church of America) in western Pennsylvania for over 20 years before retiring and moving to south Texas in order to be closer to his grown sons. Added bonus: a much warmer climate!
Fr. Gregory loves attending the Orthodox prayer services & Divine Liturgies. He enjoys visiting Orthodox monasteries with Fr. Thomas. He also loves watching his soccer matches as often as possible- especially those from Europe!
Previous clergy
Priests that have been assigned to St. Nicholas:
1950 Reverend Emmanuel Panos
1966 Reverend Constantine Rogakos
1967 Very Reverend Ambrose G. Giannoukos
1981 Reverend Kostas Poulakidas
1983 Reverend Nicholas Pathenos
1987 Reverend Leonidas Soukis and Reverend George Thanos *
1988 Reverend Constantine Dimas
1990 Reverend Christos P. Matos
1999 Reverend David E. Pratt (Navy Chaplain aboard the USS Inchon)
2000 Reverend Stelios N. Sitaras
2012 Reverend John Hayden Haby
2022 Reverend Thomas C. Bartz (August 1, 2022 - Present)
* For 18 months our parish was without an assigned priest. Fr. Leonidas & Fr. George of the Annunciation Cathedral in Houston, Texas, served our parish on a temporary basis.
