Holy Week 2025
For Holy Week 2025 we will welcome Fr. Bill Bartz to San Angelo and to our Assumption Parish to lead us in the beautiful services of this blessed week.
FATHER WILLIAM J. BARTZ, CAPT, CHC, USN (Ret)
Father William J. Bartz, son of Father and Mrs. George Bartz, was born in Scranton, PA and
raised in Akron, OH. He graduated from Hellenic College with a Bachelor of Arts in 1975; received a direct commission to be an Ensign in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps in May 1977; graduated from Holy Cross School of Theology with a Master in Divinity with Distinction in 1978; and was ordained a Priest in the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in March 1982.
His active duty service began in 1984. He served at three Navy commands: Naval Station Norfolk, USS Biddle CG 34, and USS Carl Vinson CVN 70. His assignments also included eight Marine Corps commands, beginning in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and continued in Okinawa, Japan; Quantico, Virginia; and Norfolk, Virginia. He served as the Chaplain in a Battalion, Regiment, Group, Base, Division, and Force. He graduated from the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, receiving a Master’s in Strategic Studies.
During his last five years on active duty, he was the most senior Orthodox Priest in the US military. The Navy Chaplain Corps selected him to be the 2010 recipient of the John H. Craven Award, a peer-nominated and peer-selected Award by Navy Captain Chaplains, recognizing his exemplary servant-leadership among Chaplains.
After retiring from the Navy at the rank of Captain, he served as the Chancellor (Executive Assistant) of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Detroit from August 2011 to August 2013.
Father Bartz was appointed by the Chairman of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America to be the Endorsing Agent for Military Chaplains in November 2011. The Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese appointed him to be the Endorsing Agent for Institutional Chaplains in February 2012.
On 1 September 2013, Father Bill became the Presiding Priest of Holy Trinity Church in Carmel, Indiana (Indianapolis area). Under his leadership, the Parish successfully retired its $1 million mortgage, and completed the entire interior of the Church, including iconography, flooring, pews, liturgical furniture, and sound system (totaling $2.5 million). Holy Trinity Church was elevated to the dignity of a Cathedral in November 2018.
Father Bartz retired from the active parish ministry on 1 August 2019 and moved to the Richmond, Virginia area. He continues to serve as the Endorsing Agent for Military and Institutional Chaplains and assists parttime at Saint Elpis Church in Hopewell, Virginia. In July 2022, he received the ecclesiastical Office of Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the most senior rank of a married priest in the Orthodox Church.
Father Bill is married to the former Emily V. Mamalis, daughter of Father and Mrs. James Mamalis. They have three children and five grandchildren.
