His Eminence Metropolitan Antony – secular John Scharba – was born on 30 January 1947 to John and Dorothy Scharba, the eldest of five siblings.  He was baptized on 23 March 1947 in St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Parish, Sharon, PA.  He graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and then in 1971 completed his studies at St. Andrew Seminary receiving a Bachelor of Divinity – the equivalent of today’s Master of Divinity in most seminaries.  He remained in Winnipeg, having accepted an offer to become the Dean of Residence for St. Andrew College – a residence for both theology students and Orthodox and some non-Orthodox students of the University of Manitoba.

John was ordained to the Holy Deaconate on 1 October 1972 by then Bishop Constantine at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, Parma, OH and then to the Holy Priesthood on 26 November 1972, again by Bishop Constantine, in his home parish of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Sharon, PA.  In 1982 he was tonsured as a monastic with the monastic name Antony – after St. Anthony the Great, whose feast day falls exactly on the Bishop’s birthday.  He was then elevated to the rank of Archimandrite in May of 1983.  He remained serving as pastor of his parish until 6 October 1985, when he was consecrated as Bishop at St. Andrew Memorial Church at the Ukrainian Orthodox Church’s Metropolia Center in South Bound Brook, NJ.

On Saturday, January 26, 2013 - His Eminence Metropolitan Antony was Enthroned as the 4th Metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA in St. Andrew the First Called Apostle Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Silver Spring, MD. He is the Ruling Bishop of the Eastern Eparchy of the UOC-USA and the Prime Hierarch of both the UOC-USA and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Diaspora.

Fr. Anthony loves God and bringing healing, comfort, and joy to His people.  He is married to Pani Matka Tina Marie and they have four children.  Fr. Anthony served as a parishioner, reader, subdeacon, and deacon, at St. Nicholas in Charlottesville, VA (2001-2007), the rector of St. Michael in Woonsocket, RI (2007-2015), and as the rector of Pokrova in Allentown, PA (2015-2019).  He previously served the UOC-USA as a member of the Metropolitan Council (2013-2019) and the Consistory (2013-2019); and St. Sophia Seminary as the Vocation Director (2013-2019), Associate Academic Dean for Distance Learning (2014-2019), and as an adjunct professor (2007 - present).   He has an M.A. in Political Science from The Ohio State University (1996) and an M.Div. from St. Sophia Seminary (2006) and is completing his MAT in Special Education at the University of Georgia.  He is a full-time teacher at Hartwell Elementary School (SPED, Resource Room).  In his free time, he enjoys reading and spending time with his family.  He has two active podcasts: Made to be a Kingdom (w/ Fr. Harry Linsinbigler) with Ancient Faith Radio, and OrthoAnalytika as well as an active YouTube channel.  His websites are OrthoAnalyitka and Academia.edu.  Please see our calendar for dates that Fr. Anthony will be visiting our Parish.

Fr. Anthony is the primary Priest serving at Christ the Savior in Anderson, SC.

Not having been raised in a Christian home, Deacon John followed a number of paths and life choices until a small group of people introduced him to the Gospel and the Reality of Jesus Christ. Even after years of involvement in youth ministry, street ministry and service to the homeless and addicted populations, Deacon John always felt that there was a deeper step that he needed to ‘work out his own salvation’ (Phillipians 2:12). In time, God introduced him to the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. As Deacon John has said, “It was almost like I was finally coming home to a place I had never been, but always wanted to go.”

Deacon John married Sue (Orthodox name Tabitha), was tonsured as a Reader, then a Subdeacon in the Orthodox Church in America, and upon moving to the mountains of Waynesville, NC, joined the UOC-USA and helped start Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church. John was ordained Deacon on April 25th, 2021 by His Eminence Archbishop Daniel with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Antony. Deacon John continues to work with the addicted population, and is active in ministry to the homeless and poor populations of the Waynesville area. He earned his Master’s Degree in Applied Orthodox Christian Studies from St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary in 2022.