Due to the order of Washington State’s governor, Jay Inslee, that all State employees be vaccinated against Covid, or be fired, it looks like I will no longer be allowed to serve as Police and Fire Chaplain for Vashon Island. After some twenty years serving the people of this island, as well as our fire department personnel and members of the Sheriff’s Department, it looks like I will be forced to step down.
The advice of many holy monastic elders of the Church, as well as the research of many medical professionals I admire, this island will be deprived of the spiritual support and comfort that has come with my role as chaplain. Sadly, I just got the new chaplain decals for our new Toyota, itself donated toward the support of my role as a chaplain.
I have never received any kind of renumeration for my role as chaplain, and am not reimbursed for gas used in callouts. Even the chaplain decals are something the monastery has payed for.
I ask my readers to pray for a miracle, that, if it be God’s will, I will be able to continue serving as a chaplain.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
What a tragedy. I will be praying for that miracle.
My prayers as well Abbot! We need Salt and Light more than ever in our Country’s diminishing Christ Honoring Society , May Christ have mercy upon us His Bride , May we be given grace and strength to stand for the Truth 🙏🏻 May that municipality stand together and petition the governing authorities to allow you to continue to serve as a Chaplain.
I am baffled! On what grounds?
On the grounds that Abbot is a practicing Christian. May God strengthen His church for the developing persecution of all believing Christians.
What is the order from the governor?
You certainly have my prayers, Father
Tryphon, to continue this most important and necessary work to help those in real need.
I am ignorant…what is the specific order by Governor Inslee that forced Abbott Tryphon to no longer be able to be a volunteer first responder chaplain?
We must show proof of vaccination for COVID.
And you decided not to be vaccinated.
That was your decision not to meet a public health requirement.
Your are responsible for your own decisions and you must take responsibility for your decision to no longer be a volunteer Chaplain.
Larry, from a Christian standpoint the fact that the “vaccine” is derived from aborted fetal cell lines is enough reason to not take it.
you’re quick to judge. Abbot Tryphon, very righteous of you not to take this demonic vaccine! May God grant you the strength to face the already coming trials
Love in Christ
For those of us who are not familiar with the Governor’s order would you be kind enough to elaborate.
We must show proof of vaccination for Covid.
Why does Satan seem to be winning with this fight? I will offer prayers for your return to your Chaplaincy duties. You do such good work for the entire island. I will also add you to my church’s prayer chain as well. God bless you, Fr. Tryphon!
The Very Rev. Abbot Tryphon
” And we know that all things work together for good to them who are called according to His purpose”.
Something good will come out of this.
His mercy and tender loving kindness endures forever.
Glory be to God in the highest.
With love in Christ,
Anthony Arger
I’m greatly saddened by this. I see more and more of an overt attack on Christianity and now it is organized from our government, unabashedly bold. While it now seems fashionable to accept “Socialism” even “Communism”, it is not surprising that the reticle is leveled on people of faith and their LEADERS. Thank you, Abbot Tryphon for your life of leadership. May God bless you and your leadership and inspiration. Scotty/Sioux City
How anyone can see this as an attack on any of the teachings of Christ is beyond me. Nothing within Christianity says do not protect others from illness or disease as best you can.
First of all don’t take this the wrong way but are you Christian? and Orthodox? I only ask as I do not know you and of course others are not going to see this in the same way. But for us using a product cultured on cell lines derived from aborted babies is a sin, and we have an obligation to listen to and heed experienced Christians in the Church such as the holy monastic elders many of whom have advised against taking it. As such when the state starts mandating it, even in limited settings, this is problematic for us as is the development of so called “Covid passports” which in some countries now restrict ones ability to even buy essential goods or to attended the Holy Liturgy, this itself along with the approach of many states makes us question the Covid jabs. Also as they have a number of side effects especially for teenage boys/young men, and we do not know the long term effects of them due to their experimental nature we do have a Christian duty to stand up to pressure being exerted upon people to take them which should only be by free choice.
Secondly, Covid jabs (most are not vaccines in the conventional sense) protect the individual from illness or disease – at least upto six months when their effectiveness starts to drop significantly- they do not protect others from illness and disease. The jab is designed to stop you getting severely ill from Covid, not stop you getting it at all nor from spreading it to others. Whilst they have some secondary effect in preventing catching the disease (thus avoiding passing it on) the fact that it can still be caught and that the jabs lead to more asymptomatic case and a false sense of security the effectiveness of vaccines against spreading the disease to others is minimal if existent.
Fr. Tryphon, This is tragic. Your message didn’t state the actual reason you were asked to step down but I can only assume it has to do with certain mandates?. What a loss…for now. Perhaps some people in power coming to their senses will help change this decision? Lord please hear our prayers!
Praying 🙏 ☦️
May God assist you to continue to be of service and may the good Lord assist everyone who is struggling due to these mandates.
Can you help us understand why they are asking you to step down? Is this a COVID related decision that has broad implications to you ? Is this a part of an Executive Order from the governor? Is this related to some mandatory requirements that now exist for chaplains that you are unable to meet? It would be helpful and perhaps useful in considering what action to pursue if you could provide a more complete context for what has happened and why. God bless you and as you are very well aware God has this way of using whatever happens for His glory if we remain willing to cooperate and mold ourselves even further to His likeness (with His Grace). This may be another Cross that can be illustrative or His Love … although that may be quite hard to see without the eyes and ears of faith. God bless you and the monastery
I, like many fellow chaplains, refuse to get the vaccination, believing they are dangerous. I am not resigning as chaplain, but like state employees that are refusing the vaccination, I will be terminated.
Why do you believe the vaccine is dangerous?
Bless,
What was the order from the gov.? And what did the advice from the elders as well as the research from the medical professionals tell you? Please let us know what happened that has forced you to leave the chaplaincy. You are in our prayers.
Fr. Daniel
Our governor has ordered all public employees to be vaccinated, or face being fired.
Father
Bless
Thank you for your reply. I think the time will come when we will have decide to become witnesses (martyrs) to our Faith. May the Lord give us decernment and strength.
Fr. Daniel
What order? Why did the governor do this? thanks
The governor is doing this for the same reason President Bidden has ordered all public employees, and individuals working in companies with over one hundred employees, to get the vaccine. Welcome to Marxism.
Bingo Father! It’s all about control, and the power derived from such. Just reading some comments here one can see how the propaganda and gaslighting is working like a charm!
I’m so saddened , and in many ways disgusted with “sheeple” –
Forgive me Father, don’t wish to rant on your blog , yet the situation is so frustrating.
May He help us to be more loving, and controlled…
Dear Father Tryphon:
What was the reason for this? Does it have to do with covid vaccinations? Do they just want to retire you and get someone who is more “ecumenical”? I’m confused
Sincerely,
Boris Tartakoff
There is no other person on this island that is willing to take on the role of chaplain. I have been doing this without help for almost twenty years, stepping up the the need because no one else would. It has everything to do with the vaccines, for our governor has enacted a law requiring every state employee to get the jab, or face being fired. Although I do not, and have never, received money from my fire department, since all the department staff are required to get the vaccine, so am I. I’m not the only chaplain in this state who is refusing to get the vaccines.
Father,
Be patient and do not despair. For it is sometimes, as you well know, those circumstances which we fear are the worst thing in the world to happen that prove in the end to be the best.
Perhaps it may be that this “No” is only a “not just yet”.
Perhaps there are reasons hitherto unknown to you that preclude you from acting just now.
If it is true, as the Apostle notes that all things are lawful for us – after all what regard has the Almighty God for the ways of man- but that not all things are expedient to our salvation, then it seems to me that the crux of the modern angst is not the vaccine itself, but what the question of the vaccine reveals to us about our own hearts.
If i am not wrong that is the real question that God has posed to mankind by means of this plague.
He has essentially slapped us upside the head and asked us to ask ourselves a really difficult and uncomfortable question: Do we really love our brothers, and , therefore, God for Who and What He is? Or do we merely love ourselves and the image of who and what WE WANT God to be?
The Apostle Paul made two very controversial and EXTREMELY IGNORED statements: 1) that he would willingly go to hell if it meant his non-believing Jewish brethren would be saved, and 2) that he would willingly never eat meat again if it meant he would never cause his weaker brother to sin.
What are we willing to do for our brothers?
One side shouts that if you love your brother then you will be vaccinated; the other side screams that if you love your brother then you will resist the autocratic actions of the government.
It seems to me that the truth lies somewhere in between and in the end amounts to this: we do not know how to love our brother, and we are not so sure how much we love God.
If the one sin that we could just avoid is judging our brothers is that not something?
So maybe Father right now is not the time because God requires your attention, and wants to spend some time alone with you in your own heart for awhile.
All Blessings and Grace be upon you frome God the Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, by the Power of the Holy Spirit.
Please note my response to Nathaniel.
I have an excellent religious exemption research paper and cover letter if you want me to forward it to you. Second, a federal judge has already canned the NY law for health workers, CA and WA may be next. Let me know.
I have already submitted a document asking for religious exemption. It is one the State of Washington has offered, but is so wordy we all know it is designed to allow the State to fire individuals who do not conform. Our local chaplaincy organization is not expecting any chaplains who do not conform to the State’s directive, to be able to remain in chaplaincy service.
Could you explain WHY you refuse to be vaccinated?
It is sad that our governments are so eager to embrace such heavy-handed measures. From the earliest days of this pandemic I told my wife, watch, this will be used by the devil to divide us even further. And it has. Even worse, with all of the stay-at-home orders it even separated Catholics from the holy Eucharist. Consider how many Irish Catholics for example were at one point locked out of their churches, begging and pleading for a solution that would allow them to receive the sacraments, to no avail. The devil seeks division. This pandemic and man’s proposed solution to it could not have divided this nation more perfectly. My family all had the illness itself, and thank God we were all able to get through it. I count it as a blessing, because God saw fit to naturally let us fight this off with our own antibodies, and so far we have been able to refuse this madness of a vaccine. Keep strong; we will be praying for you.
Can you say more about why you are declining the vaccine?
What is the position of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church on vaccinations? I think I read that Met. Hilarion in Moscow declared it to be a sin to not get the Covid-19 vaccination. I know that almost all the Greek hierarchs up to and including the Ecumenical Patriarch are very pro vaccine.
What is the position of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church on vaccinations? I think I read that Met. Hilarion in Moscow declared it to be a sin to not get the Covid-19 vaccination. I know that the Greek hierarchs up to and including the Ecumenical Patriarch are very pro vaccine.
There are a great many holy monastic elders, and esteemed bishops who are apposed to the vaccine. Many elders, including Saint Paisios the New, prophesied about the dangers of this vaccine, and told us that this was the precursor to the Mark of the Beast.
Fr. Tryphon, could you elaborate on whether you think the vaccine has negative spiritual consequences?
Some say it has a demonic nature, others say it is simply government overreach, and still others say it is harmless. It has been hard for me to discern which it is. My wife is a medical professional required to take the vaccine and most likely all subsequent boosters, so we would need to come up with an exit plan for her if it does have negative spiritual consequences. I want to make that decision from a clear-headed point of view and not from fear or uncertainty. If this is indeed a matter of faith then it seems that no faithful Orthodox Christian will be able to practice medicine, and many will be left struggling to pay off the enormous amounts of student debt it takes to get a medical degree in this country.
Dear Father Tryphon, In all humility and love –and begging your forgiveness if I offend– I ask you: what is more important? Holding on to your feelings about the vaccine, or serving the good people of Vashon Island who need you?
Yours in Christ,
Mat, Betsy
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/vaccinate-or-repent-russian-church-says-amid-hundreds-daily-covid-19-deaths-2021-07-05/
Friend – thank you for posting this.
I am a afraid the article linked to is not true, the Russian Orthodox Church has not issued any official statements to this effect. These are the opinions of only one Metropolitan (Hilarion) and were said not to all but rather recounting his words to one man who had refused to help his mother get the jab.
Hello Father, I take it this has to due with “vaccine”(gene therapy) mandates? Just more insanity. Will pray for intervention in this matter.
Be blest.
Having read the comments, it seems astonishing that so few understand the Abbot’s objections regarding the vaccines. Why are the governments around the globe being so particularly aggressive about this and even bullying citizens into losing their livelihoods? Why are so few questioning this? We Orthodox Christians know of the elders centuries ago who foretold of how the governments would some day use a new disease as a reason to seize draconian control of the populations, and simultaneously persecute objectors. At the moment I do not know of any other synod that has made a statement, but this one may shed some light on the matter for those who do not understand the deeply moral and ethical issues at stake. It seems that these shepherds have done their research and truly care about their scattered flocks.
https://ibb.co/HFVQPgF
Those “shepherds” are old calendarist schismatics not in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Church so their synod is not valid, and their argument is only true if they also reject most of modern medicine.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/throughcatholiclenses/2021/01/if-any-drug-tested-on-hek-293-is-immoral-goodbye-modern-medicine/
Thank you for your comment, Robert. As I understand, they do not reject modern medicine, nor science, and accept all other historical vaccines, but not the ones mentioned in the statement, for the reasons listed.
One of their bishops said that within the next few years, once the negative irreversable effects begin to become apparent upon the multitudes who rushed to be vaccinated without questioning the mandates of the civil authorities, there will be extensive regret and great lamentation. That seems to echo the words of the elders regarding these times.
But what is their history, and from which main body are they in schism?
This is so heartbreaking to hear. For those of you commenting in favour of this vaccine you need to think again! Anything done in fear, coercion, or by force is NOT Christ like nor is it American! We still are a free country and have the right to choose what is best for our own bodies! To allow any government to make decisions regarding anyone’s personal health is lunacy and needs to be stopped, (Especially over a virus with a 98+% survival, and not to mention the many serious adverse issues and deaths related to this vaccine) Or be prepared to have all freedom erased. How quickly we have forgotten the Nuremberg Code! You’re in my prayers. Stay strong and fight the good fight.
You’re on to it ,Lisa, many have swallowed the bait for a disease with a 99.7% survival rate – garden variety flu territory. This isn’t February 2020 any longer , we know this wasn’t the “great plague”(not even close) commentators hyped on the TeeVee – and that’s the real plague , fear, along with intimidation and peer pressure.
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” – Ben Franklin
Friends, it does great violence to the soul these arguments about the vaccine. I found that out the hard way. Whether one is pro or con. It divides the Body of Christ.
Apocalypse thinking is dangerous. I tend to go by Hamlet’s rule: “If it be now, it is not to come. If it is not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.”
The readiness involves living a repentant and noetic life.
My spiritual father directed me to withdraw from the war. I have largely done so and had a renewal in my spiritual life that through asking forgiveness of my own sins makes me more ready. If that repentance leads me to vax or not to vax, that is between God and me. The Church is not one on this matter.
This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.
2 Chronicles 7:14
Forgive me, a sinner
What I don’t understand about this is that, although the Gov. stated “all State employees be vaccinated against Covid, or be fired”, you also stated you receive no compensation for your role. Are you actually a state employee? How so, if you receive no compensation or other benefits? (I commend you for not taking the shot. Would that more had the courage to follow conscience rather than the crowd.)
Although chaplains are not paid, due to the idea of the separation of church and state, we do have to have formal acceptance by our departments for the role of chaplain. So, although we do not receive compensation, we are in essence, employees of the departments we serve.
Lisa – “anything done if fear, coercion, or by force…….” Whoever said those who took the vaccine, took it out of fear, coercion, or by force? The government never forced anyone. There are sects where those who refuse will have certain consequences, but there has not been any force.
John – “we know this wasn’t the “great plague”……….” The great plague was in 1665. Of course there were more deaths. I think medical science has slightly advanced since then.
You have our prayers Father, pray for us too.
How to proceed:
Remove the decals from your vehicle immediately.
Make sure that anyone who wishes to call or refer you for spiritual counsel and prayer has your phone number.
Continue to be of service as an Orthodox Christian priest, and NOT as in connection to the atheist governing authorities.
You may call yourself a retired chaplain, if you wish to refer to your former nexus with the state in that capacity.
The grace of the Holy Ghost, and the prayers in the Book of Needs will still be every bit as efficacious, despite the lack of certain decals which were once on your Toyota.
I have always served this island as an Orthodox priestmwonk, however the chaplaincy made it possible to serve the spiritual needs of people who, for the most part, had no spiritual support. Anyone on this island who would seek my help can simply call the monastery, or come by during our visiting hours. However, over the past twenty some years, most of the tragic situations involved 911 dispatch. The people I lended support were individuals who would not have had a minister, priest, or spiritual leader to call upon, but dispatch did. As a chaplain I would be the one who stood at their door with a death notification of a loved one from a city far away, having been approached by another agency for the task. I was the one who showed up at their door after the death of a spouse, or the loss of a child. I was the one who lended support following a suicide, or death in a traffic accident. The list goes on. Calling myself a “retired chaplain” will mean nothing to people who don’t even know they need support.
ROCOR has 2 bishops who have set forth epistles in this regard: Archbishop Peter (Chicago and Mid-America), and Bishop Luke (Holy Trinity Monastery, vicar Eastern American Diocese). Both links to their statements below. I think the crux of the matter here maybe Vl. Peter’s just statement: His Eminence stated: “the question of vaccination is not an ecclesiastical one – those who wish to be vaccinated may do so, just as those who do not wish to be vaccinated should not be forced to do so.”
Why do we need to force someone? Why not mandate weekly tests? Then all are accounted for, and no one needs to abandon their loved positions/jobs…
https://www.chicagodiocese.org/news_210316_1
https://orthodoxlife.org/editorial/thoughts-concerning-covid-19-vaccines/