Saturday, February 24, 2018

My first genealogy blog post!

Hey y'all!

I'm Sam Williams and I'm an Orthodox Christian genealogist. My full-time work is in ministry as a Pastoral Assistant in the Greek Orthodox Church.

My hope for this blog is to document my research, to share strategies, and to show the intersection between my love for family history and my Orthodox Christian faith.

So, what's my story?

Well, I grew up in Chesterfield and Powhatan, Virginia where I developed a love for family, faith, and people. Along with my family, I was baptized as a Baptist in 1993. When I was 16 years old, I began attending Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Richmond, Virginia where I became an Orthodox Christian in 2005. To learn more about this part of my story, click here.

I graduated from James Madison University in 2009 after double majoring in International Affairs and Spanish with a dual focus on Latin America and the Middle East. After college, I worked in community development by serving the Latino community through AmeriCorps VISTA in Philadelphia. I received a Master of Divinity in 2013 from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA. I worked for three years as a Youth Director in New Jersey before moving back to Virginia to serve as a Pastoral Assistant.

I've always been interested in people's stories; what has brought them joy, what trials have they faced, what brings them strength? And how have all of these experiences shaped their present?

In future posts, I'll share more of my family's story in the hope that you too can encounter your ancestors by making the past present, today.

Sam

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