Keynote Speaker: Bishop Gerasim was born in 1961, in Torrance, California. He graduated from University High School in Irvine in 1979. He studied at both UC Irvine and UC Santa Cruz, focusing on Spanish literature. He speaks fluent English, Spanish and Russian. He entered the St Herman of Alaska Monastery in 1981, was tonsured a monk in 1992, ordained to the priesthood in 1995, and elevated as Abbot of the monastery in 2000. He served as Abbot until August 2009. In 2012 he graduated from St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary magna cum laude with a Master of Divinity degree. He was the class valedictorian and also received commendations for contribution to community life and for his thesis, Russian Icons in a Native Church: Conflict in Culture in Western Alaska. In 2013 Archbishop Benjamin elevated him as Archimandrite. Later that year he was assigned to Saint Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas, Texas, where he serves as cathedral dean. On May 18, 2021, the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America elected Archimandrite Gerasim as Bishop of Fort Worth, Auxiliary to His Eminence Archbishop Alexander and the Diocese of the South. He was consecrated to the episcopacy on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, at Saint Seraphim Cathedral in Dallas, Texas. To read His Grace Bishop GERASIM’s extended biography with details of his journey to Orthodoxy and monastic life please visit, https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/bishops/the-right-reverend-gerasim