Fr John is not only our current Rector, but is also the founding priest of The Sign. He came to Montreal as a young priest in 1973 to serve at the OCA's established Russian parish, Ss Peter & Paul Cathedral. While Ss Peter and Paul used primarily Slavonic in services, there was a small but growing group within the parish who saw a place for an English service in Montreal. In 1978, Fr John and the group received a blessing from Archbishop Sylvester to begin an English Mission for which the chosen name was "The Sign of the Theotokos". Through the dedication of Fr John and the founding members, The Sign has grown to become a well known and established parish in Montreal. He was born in 1944 in Nazi-occupied Poland, the son of a Russian Orthodox priest, Igor Tkachuk. At the end of WWII the family made their way to the Displaced Persons camps in Germany and later immigrated to the United States. His childhood was spent in San Francisco, Milwaukee and Cleveland where his father served parishes. He then graduated from Iona College and St Vladimir's Seminary and was ordained a priest in 1969.
In addition to his years of service to The Sign, Fr John has been very active in the Archdiocese of Canada, serving first as the Archdiocesan Secretary/Treasurer and then as the Dean of Quebec and Chancellor of the Archdiocese for many years. Currently Fr John is one of two Archdiocesan representatives to the Metropolitan Council of the OCA. He has also been a leader among the Orthodox clergy in Quebec as an active member of the Orthodox Clergy Association of Quebec (OCAQ) and has served numerous terms as an officer of the association.
Fr John has both US and Canadian citizenship. His love for the US, which took in his family after WWII, led him to serve as a chaplain in the US Air Force Reserve for 20 years. He was attached to Plattsburgh Air Force Base in upstate NY and then Hanscomb AFB after the base in Plattsburgh was closed. He retired with the rank of Major in 2003.
As a student at St Vladimir's Seminary in New York, Fr John met his future bride, Masha Schmemann, the youngest daughter of Fr Alexander Schmemann. They married in 1969 upon his graduation from seminary and two months prior to his ordination. Fr John and Masha have one daughter, Vera, and now have three grandchildren, Justin, Lexi and Peter. As is the case for most priests’ wives, Masha and Fr John have worked as a team in their ministry. For many years Masha was the Choir Director for The Sign. She turned the position over to our current Director, Lesley-Ann Judge, a number of years ago but continues to fill in when needed. Masha has been very active in all parish activities, helping wherever possible. Masha has also been a leader among all Orthodox women in Montreal and was the motivating force in the creation of the “Orthodox Christian Women” (OCW) group in Montreal which has organized a one-day conference on Orthodoxy (open to both men and women) every year since 1992. Outside of church, Masha has taught for many years at a private English elementary school near Westmount called "The Priory". For the past few years she has worked at the Priory in an administrative position.
Fr Gregory was an active member during the early years of The Sign prior to his going to St Tikhon's Seminary. He is officially attached to the OCA French parish in Montreal, St Benoit, but is frequently asked to help out at Greek and Antiochian Orthodox parishes in Montreal. However, when Fr Gregory has no other commitments, he likes to serve at The Sign where his wife, Farah, and two sons, Jonah and Elijah, often come even when he has to serve elsewhere. Both Fr Gregory and Farah have degrees in Library Science and Fr Gregory works during the week as the Manager of the Anglican owned bookstore, The Diocesan Bookroom.
Subdeacon Anthony has been serving in the altar at The Sign since 2000 and was ordained a subdeacon in January 2005. He has two children, a son Brent (12 yrs old in 2006) who serves with him in the altar, and a daughter, Elizabeth (ten years old in 2006) who assists other girls in holding the communion cloth. After consideration by its Board of Directors, Subdeacon Anthony was appointed the Director of the Canadian Centre for Ecumenism in August 2006.
Fr Cyprian (aka Dr Robert Hutcheon) recently left The Sign in August 2006 to serve as the Acting Rector of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. But he was such an integral part of The Sign for so many years that no website for The Sign would be complete without him. Fr Cyprian (then known as “Bob Hutcheon”) first came to The Sign in 1979, one year after its founding. At the time he was a member of the United Church of Canada but was received into the Holy Orthodox faith in 1980. Four years later in 1984 he was ordained a Deacon and in 1991 was elevated to a Protodeacon. He continued to serve as a Protodeacon at The Sign until his ordination to the priesthood in January 2005. He has also been appointed the Archdiocesan Dean to assist Bishop Seraphim in administration and pastoral visits around the Archdiocese. Outside of The Sign, Fr Cyprian has served the Montreal community for many years as a highly respected pediatrician. He was selected as the first head of the palliative care unit at the Montreal Children’s Hospital. He left that position to pursue a Masters and then Doctorate in theology at St Paul’s University in Ottawa. Fr Cyprian’s compassion and pastoral care will be greatly missed at The Sign and he will remain in our hearts always.
Fr Lambros was also a long time member of The Sign and was ordained a Deacon at The Sign in 1991. He served as a Deacon in the parish with Fr (then Deacon) Cyprian until December 2000 when he was ordained a priest and was asked to serve at a large Greek parish in Montreal. He is currently the priest at Sts Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Montreal. Fr Lambros is a Greek who was born and raised in Constantinople (modern Istanbul). He studied in Greece and then immigrated to Canada where he continued his studies and is a well respected scholar with numerous publications in Greece. Fr Lambros and his wife, Christina, have two grown children, Seraphim and Despina.