Fr. Jonathan H. Cholcher became the Parish Priest at Saint Mark Church in May 2020. Prior to moving to Florida, Fr. Jonathan was the Rector of Saint John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Warren, Ohio, for 14 years, and before that, a full-time teacher and Headmaster of Saint Nicholas Orthodox School in Akron, Ohio, for 6 years.
Born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to Lutheran School teachers, Fr. Jonathan eventually graduated from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. After teaching Ninth Grade geometry for a year while discerning his future vocation, he then earned a Masters of Divinity degree from Concordia Seminary in Saint Louis, Missouri, going on to serve for 10 years as a Lutheran Church Missouri Synod pastor in both Oklahoma and Southern Illinois. In Illinois, Fr. Jonathan was exposed to Orthodoxy while researching a paper he wrote and delivered for a pastors’ conference. Two years later, in 2000, Fr. Jonathan and family were received into the Orthodox Church and moved to Akron, OH, where he began teaching 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades at the newly opened Saint Nicholas Orthodox School.
Ordained to the Diaconate on June 24, 2001, Fr. Jonathan was ordained as a Priest on November 3, 2002, both by Archbishop Job of Chicago at St. Nicholas Church in Mogadore, OH (SE Akron). In addition to his parish duties, Fr. Jonathan was an instructor in the St. Macrina Institute/Late Vocations program of the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America. He was also an instructor for the St. Euphemia the Greatmartyr On-Line Orthodox Academy. For over 10 years, Fr. Jonathan joyfully served as Priest-in-residence at the St. Vladimir Youth Camp in Ohio. He is also a certified Level 1 Catechist in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd early childhood formation program.
Fr. Jonathan’s hobbies include playing piano and guitar, reading classic literature, and brewing good beer. His wife was born in Staten Island, New York, but grew up in Florida to which she always longed to return. They have three grown children, a daughter and 2 sons.
