Fr. John A. Peck
Phoenix, AZ USA
Phone: (928) 910-2186
Email: dean@orthodoxacademy.org
Education:
DMin Veritas Theological Seminary
Thesis Project: Successful Pedagogy in Biblical Studies
BTh St. Herman Orthodox Theological Seminary
Major: Orthodox Theology
BA Michigan State University
Major: English
Minor: Organic Chemistry, Psychology
Professional Honors:
Best Domestic Website: EC Media Awards, 2011
Featured Preacher: Sermon Central, Sermoncentral.com, 2011
Featured Speaker: Orthodox Speakers Bureau, 2010
Other Accomplishments
Consultation Committee, International Association for Digital Media and Orthodox Pastoral Care
Preachers Institute Ministry Collection, published by Logos Bible Software, 2015
Permaculture Design Certification, Geoff Lawton’s Permaculture Research Institute, 2015
Amazon #1 Best Selling Ebook, Reading the Bible the Orthodox Way, 2014-present.
Taylor Scholarship award for continuing study in Byzantine Homiletics, 2011
Homiletics Evaluator, Academy of Preachers, 2011, 2012
Creator: First Orthodox Christian online Homiletics Resource and Repository, 2009
Award: Farah Foundation Grant for internet broadcasting, 2005
Award: Ganister Foundation Grant for internet broadcasting, 2004
Creator: First 24 Hour Online Orthodox Internet Radio Network: Incarnation Broadcast Network, 2002
Author & Commentator for Orthodox Study Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers
Creator: World’s First Orthodox Seminary Website: St. Herman Seminary, 1995
Fr. John A. Peck, Dean of GreatMartyr Euphemia Orthodox Theological Academy, is the rector at All Saints of North America Orthodox Church, Sun City, AZ. Fr. John was born and grew up in Detroit, Michigan, the oldest of four children. He grew up attending a Lutheran Church, where a love for God and for Scripture was well instilled. Moving to a suburb before high school, he worked from the age of 12 at various jobs through adulthood.
Attending Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan afforded him the chance to meet Deborah Robertson. A month after they met, he proposed, and they spent the next 3 1/2 years finishing school. There he started a service group called A.R.M. (Actions Reflect Morals) which provided labor for other local charities, helping the poor in various capacities from moving entire households of single moms to caulking windows in the middle of winter to weatherize poor homes – it was a busy time for those involved.
Getting married in 1984, they continued schooling, while starting a family. From stuffing envelopes, factory work, to midnight cashier, to Food Science labs where he made synthetic cow manure (he really did this), Fr. John continued working several jobs as necessary while applying to theological seminaries. While he was always accepted, he could never raise a dime of financial aid. They converted to Orthodoxy in 1992 at St. Andrew Orthodox Church (MP) in East Lansing, MI.
After 13 long years of work, study, and prayer, in 1994, he decided that he would apply to go to seminary one last time, this time Orthodox seminaries, and if it was again impossible to go, he would accept the verdict of heaven in the matter. He was accepted at every Orthodox seminary he applied to, but was told that without about $20,000 in the bank, it would be a waste of time to try. Finally, he heard back from St. Herman Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska. With married housing available (eventually), they sold everything they owned and bought plane tickets, bearing their three children, Nathan (10), Benjamin (5), and 4 month old Joseph to the Seminary.
During his second year of study, Fr. John was told to not only teach several classes at the seminary, but also to begin administrating the seminary, and keep the lights on. By the end of the year, and with the addition of a second annual appeal, donations to the seminary tripled over the previous year. Once his three years were up and the program complete, he was ordained a deacon, and then a priest, and assigned to Fairbanks where he took the parish membership from 3 to 65 in a single year (not significant today, but exceptional then), then Anchorage, then Kodiak, AK. In 1999 he requested a transfer to the Midwest to be closer to his dying father. Afterwards, he served missions and parishes in southern Illinois, and Ohio.
His first work in new media was the Incarnation Broadcast Network, the first 24 hour Orthodox Christian internet radio broadcast in the world (2002). He also established the first Orthodox seminary website in the world (1995), and hosted the first Orthodox Media Guild gathering in Chicago (2004), inviting Orthodox media ministries from around the country to plan how to use their new technologies to reach the unchurched.
Fr. John served as lecturer in Biblical Studies and Practical Liturgics for the Late Vocations programs of the OCA Diocese of the Midwest, and the Northeast Ohio Catechetical School for Theological Studies. He’s also been a Featured Homilist at Sermon Central.com, and a national partner and evaluator for the Academy of Preachers. He wrote “Called to Serve: A Basic Bible Survery for Orthodox Christians,” “Divine Liturgy: A Student Study Text,” and the “Bible Drill/Bible Divas/S.W.A.T.” childrens Orthodox Christian education programs. All of these are still available on Amazon.
After his assignment in Ohio, Fr. John took over as Executive Director of the Helen Foundation Clinics, a medical non-profit headquartered in Mesa, Arizona. From this he became known to the local clergy, and eventually was asked to assume the leadership of the small St. George Greek Orthodox mission in Prescott, Arizona. Within three years, St. George Church in Prescott experienced profound growth and bought the entire complex (Church, offices, House, courtyard, and parking area) of which they were renting only the small Church. Within a quarter mile of the historic downtown Prescott square, St. George began to become more than an old church people walked past. Soon, it became a common sight for Fr. John to appear on local television offering the invocation for the Prescott City Council. He was asked to teach at the local college prep high school, and from there to the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Upward Bound summer program.
During this time, he wrote “The Orthodox Church of Tomorrow,” projecting precisely the current state of the Orthodox Church in the 21st century in America. His collaboration with Fr. Barnabas Powell “Rejecting Rapturemania,” remains for sale on Amazon. He contributed a number of articles for the Orthodox Study Bible and commentary on the Old Testament books of Hosea, Song of Songs, and III Maccabees (perhaps the first Orthodox commentary for this book in existence).
Fr. John published some ebooks, and unexpectedly became an Amazon #1 best selling author. He has written articles for Orthodoxytoday.org, the American Orthodox Institute, The Handmaiden magazine, the Interior Strength blog, the St. Katherine College website, and others. He’s been an occasional writer for Charles Staley’s Staley Training Systems website, and has been featured on the Functional Hand Strength, Theory To Practice, and The Masculine Heart websites.
In 2018, after several years of live Zoom classes, he created the first of its kind New Member Class, and the first Orthodox Online Catechism Course, a robust, organized presentation of the Orthodox faith and practice, utilizing pre-recorded videos, worksheets, audio lectures, and an online Bible survey course as the basic formative process for entrance into the Church. To this day, it is continually used by priests, parishes, and catechumens all over the world, and links to it exist in many places. In 2026, this was followed by the first of its kind, formal post-baptismal Mystagogy course, picking up where the Online Catechism left off, taking the newly illumined through the introduction to the Interior life, the practice of watchfulness, the powers and curative exercises of the soul, and a deeper experience to living the Orthodox Tradition.
Since 2024, he has spearheaded the Annual Arizona Liturgical Practicum, bringing liturgical experts to Phoenix for deeper knowledge and more precise liturgical functioning among clergy.
Currently, Fr. John and Matushka Deborah remain very happily married with three adult sons and a growing number of grandchildren, and as pastor of All Saints of North America Orthodox Church live in the Phoenix, AZ area.