Clergy in the Orthodox Church are ordained according to Apostolic Tradition through the descent of the Holy Spirit and the laying on of hands.

Please contact our church office if you would like to schedule a pastoral or hospital visit, catechism, the Holy Sacrament of Confession, Baptisms, Weddings or to meet with one of our clergy.

Parish Clergy

Rev. Fr. Nicholas Mueller

Presiding Priest

Contact: Frnickm@groca.org

Fr. Nick was raised in Roseville, California where he attended St. Anna Greek Orthodox Shrine in Roseville, CA with his family.

Fr. Nick is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature and Minor in Creative Writing. He graduated from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA in 2015 with a Masters of Divinity. Fr. Nick and Presb. Dena were married in August 2015. He was ordained to the Holy Diaconate on December 18th, 2016, and the Holy Priesthood on the Feast of St. Anna, July, 25th, 2017 by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco.

He worked at the Department of Religious Education of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese from 2015 - 2019. During this time he served as a deacon and later as a priest at Taxiarchae/Archangels Greek Orthodox Church in Watertown, MA.

Presb. Dena graduated with a Doctorate in English Literature in May 2019. She currently serves as the executive director at the Berkeley Institute. Fr. Nick was assigned to Ascension Greek Orthodox Cathedral October 1, 2019.

On September 17th, 2023 Fr. Nick assumed the responsibilities of presiding priest of Ascension Cathedral.

Fr. Nick and Presb. Dena have two children Symeon and Elias.

Rev. Fr. Thomas Zaferes

Contact: frtomz@groca.org

Rev. Father Tom Zaferes has been serving Ascension since 2009. Prior to that, he served parishes in Northridge, CA; Chattanooga, TN; San Antonio, TX; and Syracuse, NY. He graduated from Hanover College with a Composite Major in Political Science and Theology. He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. He has served on the board of OCMC and led a Mission Team to Ghana. Father Tom also served on the Archdiocesan Council and the Archdiocesan Presbyters Council. He currently serves as member of the Metropolis Council and chairs the Audit Committee. Father Tom is married to Presvytera Julie, an RN, and they have four children and one grandchild. He finds great joy in teaching the faith, leading Bible Studies, reading and mentoring.