Apostolic Succession
from St. Stachys, Apostle of the Seventy, to the present time
in the line of
The Most ReverendGarland F. Byers, Jr., J.D., D.D.
Bishop to the Nations, under Apostolic Commission
1.Saint Stachys, Apostle of the SeventyC Osent by Christ among the Seventy about A.D. 30 (Luke 10:1)
named in Scripture: greeted by St. Paul as “Stachys my beloved” (Romans 16:9)
first bishop of Byzantium, A.D. 38
This line of apostolic succession extends from the Apostle Stachys, about A.D. 30, to the present day, a span of 1,996 years as of 2026.
The succession from St. Stachys to St. Vladimir, Metropolitan of Moscow, follows the lists of bishops kept by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Russian Orthodox Church: the same lists by which the Eastern Orthodox Church traces its own apostolic succession to St. Stachys and St. Andrew, the First-Called.
St. Stachys, whom St. Paul greets as “Stachys my beloved” (Romans 16:9), is honored as an apostle of the Seventy by the Eastern Orthodox Church, which keeps his feast on October 31, with the Apostles Amplias and Urban, and numbers him among the Seventy Apostles honored together on January 4. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople holds him as the first bishop of Byzantium, set over that church by St. Andrew, and places him at the head of its list of bishops.
Consecrations to the office of bishop were made, one to the next, through the churches named below.
Some bishops in this line are also honored as saints. The marks beside their names concern holiness of life only. They do not bear on the validity of any consecration: every bishop listed holds his place in the succession equally, whether or not he is honored as a saint.
- St.
- Saint: one whom a Church publicly honors as having lived a life of heroic holiness and as now being with God, and whose memory it keeps in its calendar. In the early Church saints were recognized by the acclaim of the faithful and their bishops; later, by formal canonization in the Roman Catholic Church and glorification in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
- Bl.
- Blessed: in the Roman Catholic Church, one who has been beatified, the formal step that precedes canonization as a saint.
- C
- Honored as a saint or blessed by the Roman Catholic Church.
- O
- Honored as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
- C O
- Honored as a saint by both the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Churches.
- Red
- Martyr: one who gave his life for the faith.
The Churches do not always agree on who is a saint. One may honor a person whom another does not, and the marks show which Church honors each.
Constantinople
The see of Byzantium, later Constantinople, which holds St. Andrew the First-Called as its founder and St. Stachys as its first bishop. The patriarchs from Onesimus, who succeeded St. Stachys, to Nicholas II Chrysoberges, in whose time the first metropolitan of Kiev was sent to the newly baptized people of Rus’.
- 2.Onesimus54
- 3.Polycarp I69
- 4.Plutarch89
- 5.Sedecion105
- 6.Diogenes114
- 7.Eleutherius129
- 8.Felix136
- 9.Polycarp II141
- 10.Athenodorus144
- 11.Euzois148
- 12.Laurence154
- 13.Alypius166
- 14.Pertinax169
- 15.Olympianus187
- 16.Mark I198
- 17.Philadelphus211
- 18.Cyriacus I214
- 19.Castinus230
- 20.Eugenius I237
- 21.Titus242
- 22.Dometius272
- 23.Rufinus I284
- 24.Probus293
- 25.St. MetrophanesC O306
- 26.St. AlexanderC O314
- 27.St. Paul IC O Martyr337
- 28.Eusebius339
- 29.Macedonius I342
- 30.Eudoxius360
- 31.Evagrius370
- 32.Demophilus370
- 33.St. Gregory of NazianzusC O379
- 34.St. NectariusC O381
- 35.St. John ChrysostomC O398
- 36.Arsacius404
- 37.St. AtticusC O406
- 38.Sisinnius I426
- 39.Nestorius428
- 40.Maximian431
- 41.St. ProclusC O434
- 42.St. FlavianC O Martyr446
- 43.St. AnatoliusC O449
- 44.St. Gennadius IC O458
- 45.Acacius472
- 46.Fravitta489
- 47.Euphemius490
- 48.Macedonius II496
- 49.Timothy I511
- 50.John II518
- 51.Epiphanius520
- 52.Anthimus I535
- 53.St. MenasC O536
- 54.St. EutychiusC O552
- 55.John III565
- 56.St. John IVC O582
- 57.Cyriacus II596
- 58.Thomas I607
- 59.Sergius I610
- 60.Pyrrhus638
- 61.Paul II641
- 62.Peter654
- 63.Thomas II667
- 64.John V669
- 65.Constantine I675
- 66.Theodore I677
- 67.George I679
- 68.Paul III688
- 69.Callinicus I693
- 70.Cyrus706
- 71.John VI712
- 72.St. Germanus IC O715
- 73.Anastasius730
- 74.Constantine II754
- 75.Nicetas I766
- 76.St. Paul IVC O780
- 77.St. TarasiusC O784
- 78.St. Nicephorus IC O806
- 79.Theodotus I815
- 80.Anthony I821
- 81.John VII837
- 82.St. Methodius IC O843
- 83.St. IgnatiusC O847
- 84.St. PhotiusO858
- 85.Stephen I886
- 86.Anthony II893
- 87.St. Nicholas IC O901
- 88.Euthymius I907
- 89.Stephen II925
- 90.Tryphon928
- 91.Theophylact933
- 92.Polyeuctus956
- 93.Basil I970
- 94.Anthony III974
- 95.Nicholas II984
Kiev
The metropolitans of Kiev and all Rus’, the first of them sent from Constantinople, to St. Peter, who moved the metropolitan see to Moscow.
- 96.St. MichaelO988
- 97.Leontius992
- 98.John Ic. 1008
- 99.Theopemptus1037
- 100.St. HilarionO1051
- 101.Ephraim1055
- 102.George1062
- 103.John II1077
- 104.John III1089
- 105.Nicholas1097
- 106.Nicephorus I1104
- 107.Nicetas1122
- 108.Michael II1130
- 109.Clement1147
- 110.Constantine I1156
- 111.Theodore1161
- 112.John IV1164
- 113.Constantine II1167
- 114.Nicephorus II1182
- 115.Matthew1201
- 116.Cyril I1224
- 117.Joseph1236
- 118.Cyril II1247
- 119.Maximus1283
- 120.St. PeterO1308
Moscow
The metropolitans and patriarchs of Moscow, and, from the eighteenth century, when the Church of Russia was governed by the Holy Synod, the archbishops and metropolitans of Moscow, to St. Vladimir.
- 121.Theognostus1328
- 122.St. AlexiusO1354
- 123.St. CyprianO1381
- 124.St. PhotiusO1408
- 125.Isidore1437
- 126.St. JonahO1448
- 127.Theodosius1461
- 128.Philip I1464
- 129.Gerontius1473
- 130.Zosimus1490
- 131.Simon1495
- 132.Barlaam1511
- 133.Daniel1522
- 134.Joasaph1539
- 135.St. MacariusO1542
- 136.Athanasius1564
- 137.St. Philip IIO Martyr1566
- 138.Cyril1568
- 139.Anthony1572
- 140.Dionysius1581
- 141.St. JobO1587
- 142.St. HermogenesO Martyr1606
- 143.Philaret1619
- 144.Joasaph I1634
- 145.Joseph1642
- 146.Nikon1652
- 147.Joasaph II1667
- 148.Pitirim1672
- 149.Joachim1674
- 150.Adrian1690
- 151.Joseph (Volchansky)1742
- 152.Platon (Malinovsky)1748
- 153.Timothy (Shcherbatsky)1757
- 154.Ambrose (Zertis-Kamensky)1768
- 155.Platon (Levshin)1775
- 156.Augustine (Vinogradsky)1818
- 157.Seraphim (Glagolevsky)1819
- 158.St. Philaret (Drozdov)O1821
- 159.St. Innocent (Veniaminov)O1868
- 160.Macarius (Bulgakov)1879
- 161.Joannicius (Rudnev)1882
- 162.Leontius (Lebedinsky)1891
- 163.Sergius (Lyapidevsky)1893
- 164.St. Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky)O Martyr1898
America
From Evdokim, consecrated at Moscow in 1904 and later Archbishop of the Aleutians and North America, each bishop consecrated by the one listed before him.
- 165.Evdokim (Meschersky)1904
- 166.Aftimios (Ofiesh)1917
- 167.Sophronios (Bishara)1928
- 168.John Chrysostom (More-Moreno)1933
- 169.Perry Nikolaus Cedarholm1949
- 170.Nils Bertil Alexander Persson1971
- 171.Samuel Guido, Jr.2004
172.Garland F. Byers, Jr.2013
Holy Orders
- Ordination
- August 17, 2008, by the laying on of hands, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Orthodox Chapel, Palmerton, Pennsylvania.
- Consecration to the Holy Order of Bishop
- April 20, 2013, by the laying on of hands during the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Orthodox Chapel, meeting that day at American Legion Post 16, Slatington, Pennsylvania.
- Principal consecrator
- The Most Reverend Samuel Guido, Jr.
- Co-consecrators
- Bishop Bradley A. Varvil
Bishop Michael Byus
Bishop James Thompson
The certificates of ordination and consecration, with photographs of the consecration, are presented on the About the Bishop page.
Service
Consecrated to the Holy Order of Bishop on April 20, 2013, within the Lutheran Orthodox Church, Inc., in which he subsequently served as Archbishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina. Bishop Byers is no longer affiliated with that body.
Doctor of Divinity (honoris causa), conferred by the Lutheran Orthodox Church, Inc., April 20, 2013.
