Orthodox Christian dating in Oklahoma
Orthodox Christian dating in Oklahoma: Greek, Antiochian and ROCOR parishes in Oklahoma City and Norman, Greek, Antiochian and OCA ones around Tulsa.
Create your profileAn illustration, not a data map.
- Greek
- Antiochian
- ROCOR
- OCA
Short answer
When the Lebanese Orthodox of Oklahoma City bought their first church in 1931, the name St George was already in use: the Greeks of the city had taken it as a brotherhood in 1914 and a chartered parish in 1917. So the newer parish voted for St Elijah. Nearly a century later the two stand about a mile apart on the northern edge of the city.
Seven places are listed below with an address and a link to the parish's own website: four in and around Oklahoma City, three in and around Tulsa, a hundred miles to the north-east.
You are on cana.love, a free site for people who mean to marry. Not everyone on it is Orthodox, and a section below explains how that works.
Orthodox Christians in Oklahoma
St George's own history is short and specific. Greek immigrants formed the Brotherhood of Saint George in 1914, the state granted the church a charter three years later, and the first property, at Northwest 8th and Western, was bought three years after that. The parish moved north to 145th Street in 1984, and it now says that at least half of its members are not Greek.
St Elijah's history gives a date to the day. Its first permanent priest, Father Shukrallah Shadid, arrived from Lebanon on 5 October 1920 and served the Liturgy in his own home until 1931, when the parish bought a small frame church on Northwest 30th Street and dedicated it on 14 September that year.
Orthodox Studies Institute, 2024; national figures, not Oklahoma's
In Tulsa, St Antony, the Antiochian parish, was founded by families from the Middle East and became a parish officially in 1959; today it says quite a few of its members are converts, its priest and deacons among them. Holy Apostles in Bixby, just south of Tulsa, belongs to the Orthodox Church in America, and Norman's Holy Ascension to the Antiochian diocese of Wichita and Mid-America.
What do converts look like nationally? One survey, by the Orthodox Studies Institute, covered twenty parishes across six jurisdictions and fifteen states. For people received from 2013 on, it found two thirds under the age of forty, more of them in their thirties than in any other decade, and 44 percent single on the day they were received.
No count for Oklahoma alone has been published, and none is invented here. The seven addresses below are the part we could check, each against the parish's website on 24 September 2026.
Where the community gathers
The seven places sit in two clusters about a hundred miles apart: Oklahoma City with Norman, and Tulsa with Bixby.
Oklahoma City and Norman
Oklahoma City and Norman hold four. St George and St Elijah are neighbours on the north edge of the city, St George on Northwest 145th Street and St Elijah on North May Avenue. St Benedict, a parish of the Russian Church Abroad, is on Jones Boulevard on the south-east side, and Holy Ascension is on 12th Avenue in Norman, home of the University of Oklahoma, about forty minutes south of St Elijah.
Tulsa and Bixby
Tulsa and Bixby hold three. Holy Trinity, the Greek parish, is on South Guthrie Avenue near downtown, and St Antony is on East 6th Street in the Kendall-Whittier district; Holy Apostles is on South Peoria Avenue in Bixby, about twenty-five minutes south. Stillwater, between the two cities, has an Orthodox parish listed on OpenStreetMap, but its website did not load when we checked, so it has no card.
Cathedrals and parishes worth knowing
Chartered in 1917 and on its present site since 1984; Orthros at ten to nine and the Divine Liturgy at ten on Sunday.
2101 Northwest 145th StreetOklahoma City
OK 73134
Founded in 1920; Vespers on Saturday at five and Wednesday at six, and on Sunday Orthros at a quarter to nine and the Liturgy at ten.
15000 North May AvenueOklahoma City
OK 73134
A parish of the Russian Church Abroad's diocese of Chicago and Mid-America, with Vespers on Saturday at five and the Liturgy at half past nine on Sunday, followed by coffee in the parish hall.
3900 Jones BoulevardOklahoma City
OK 73135
An Antiochian parish with Great Vespers on Saturday at five, the Liturgy at ten on Sunday, and Vespers and a catechism class on Wednesday evenings.
3350 12th Avenue NENorman
OK 73071
Tulsa's Greek parish, with Orthros at half past eight and the Liturgy at half past nine on Sunday, and the Tulsa Greek Festival each year at 12th and Guthrie, by the church.
1222 South Guthrie AvenueTulsa
OK 74119
An Antiochian parish established in 1959, with Vespers on Saturday at five and the Liturgy at ten on Sunday.
2645 East 6th StreetTulsa
OK 74104
A parish of the Orthodox Church in America with Great Vespers on Saturday at five, the Liturgy at half past nine on Sunday and a class for inquirers on Friday evenings.
15710 South Peoria AvenueBixby
OK 74008
Distances that decide everything
A diagram, not a map. Driving times, as in the text.
Tulsa to Oklahoma City is about a hundred miles, an hour and three quarters on the turnpike. Within Oklahoma City, St George and St Elijah are a mile apart and St Benedict is under half an hour away; Norman is about forty minutes from the north side. Around Tulsa, Bixby is twenty-five minutes south. Stillwater is roughly an hour and a quarter from either city.
In practice that makes two separate communities. Someone in Norman and someone in Edmond can meet after Vespers on a weekday; someone in Norman and someone in Bixby are planning a Saturday, and if it goes well, a conversation about which city to live in.
Say where you live, and whether you would move, before anything else. The cana.love form asks both, so that neither of you finds out on the third date.
The Orthodox year in Oklahoma
Five o'clock Vespers
On Saturday evening five of the seven parishes begin at five: St Elijah, St Benedict, Holy Ascension, St Antony and Holy Apostles.
The Divine Liturgy
At ten at St George, St Elijah, Holy Ascension and St Antony; at half past nine at Holy Trinity, St Benedict and Holy Apostles.
Vespers and catechism
St Elijah serves Vespers at six, and Holy Ascension at five with a catechism class at six.
The Tulsa Greek Festival
Three days at 12th and Guthrie, by Holy Trinity; in 2026 it ran from the seventeenth to the nineteenth.
Inquirers in Bixby
Holy Apostles holds its class for people asking about Orthodoxy on Friday evenings at half past six.
Morning and evening in Bixby
In the week we looked, Holy Apostles had a service every morning and every evening from Wednesday to Friday.
Dating across jurisdictions, and with converts
A Greek parish more than a century old, Antiochian ones founded by families from the Middle East, a parish of the Russian Church Abroad and one of the Orthodox Church in America, with converts among them: that is Orthodox Oklahoma. Here is what cana.love does with a mix like that.
Twelve jurisdictions on one list
Among its questions is your jurisdiction, with twelve options: OCA, ROCOR, Greek, Antiochian, Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Georgian, Carpatho-Russian, Albanian, Catechumen and Other Canonical. Each of the seven parishes here matches one, and someone in the Friday class in Bixby can choose Catechumen.
Practice, asked outright
Beyond the name of a church, the form asks about practice: how regularly you attend the Liturgy, whether you keep the fasts, and whether you are looking for marriage. The site can be used in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German or Russian, which may matter in a parish that runs a Russian club.
Checked before it appears
A new profile stays hidden until it has passed review, and so does every photograph: software screens it, and a person decides the cases it cannot. Requests for money are forbidden in the site's rules, and fraud gets an account removed permanently, with no warning first.
Free, and no password
There is no charge, now or later, and no subscription to cancel. Signing in needs no password: the site emails you a one-time link or code.
What cana.love is and is not
cana.love is not an Orthodox-only platform.
Catholics are members, Protestants too, and people who have not yet chosen a church but are looking for a marriage of the same kind. Your settings decide who sees your profile. Orthodox Oklahoma is two clusters of parishes a hundred miles apart, and a site closed to all but one jurisdiction would leave most people there with very few to talk to. The promise the site does make is one you can test: jurisdiction, practice and intentions are on the form, and you can read them before writing back. The company is Cana SpA, based in Chile; the About page gives the rest.
Meeting safely
- Choose daylight and a public place for the first meeting, and settle on a time to leave before you go: coffee hour after the Liturgy, a café in the Plaza District in Oklahoma City or on Cherry Street in Tulsa. Let a friend know where you will be, and on a day that includes the turnpike, when you expect to get home. Your home address can stay private for a while yet.
- About money, there is only one answer. Before you have met in person, send none, lend none and buy no tickets for anyone, whatever the reason given. Report anyone who asks; a single report is looked into.
The community guidelines set out what happens after a report and how a decision can be appealed.
Common questions
Why is the Antiochian parish in Oklahoma City called St Elijah?
Its own history says that when it bought its first church in 1931, St George's Greek parish already existed in the city, so the parish chose the name of St Elijah.
Is there an Orthodox church near the University of Oklahoma?
Yes, Holy Ascension on 12th Avenue in Norman, an Antiochian parish with a catechism class on Wednesday evenings.
Is there a Russian parish?
St Benedict in Oklahoma City belongs to the Russian Church Abroad. In Bixby, Holy Apostles, a parish of the Orthodox Church in America, runs a Russian club.
I am new to Orthodoxy. Where can I start?
Holy Apostles in Bixby has a class for inquirers on Friday evenings and Holy Ascension in Norman a catechism class on Wednesdays; St Antony in Tulsa says that its priest and deacons were converts too.
When is the Tulsa Greek Festival?
In 2026 it ran from 17 to 19 September at Holy Trinity; the festival's own website gives each year's dates.
Can I use cana.love in Oklahoma?
Yes, anywhere from the Panhandle to the Red River, from the age of eighteen. It works in a web browser, with nothing to install.
Next steps
In Oklahoma City, visit St George and St Elijah on consecutive Sundays; they are a mile apart, so it is an easy comparison. In Tulsa, go to Vespers at St Antony on a Saturday and the inquirers' class at Holy Apostles on a Friday. And if you want to know how someone lives the faith before you meet rather than after, make a free profile on cana.love, where those questions come first.
Reviewed on September 24, 2026.