Peter E. Gillquist

Fr. Peter E. Gillquist (1938-) is an archpriest in the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, and is chairman of the archdiocese's department of missions and evangelism. He is chairman of Conciliar Press (Ben Loman, California), and is the author of numerous books, including "Love Is Now," "The Physical Side of Being Spiritual," and "Becoming Orthodox." He is project director of the Orthodox Study Bible, and since 1997 has served as the National Chaplain of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.

Gillquist grew up nominally Lutheran. He attended the University of Minnesota where he received a B.A. in journalism and was active in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. While at university he became involved with the Campus Crusade for Christ evangelistic organization and became a born-again Christian.^[1]

Gillquist pursued graduate studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and at Wheaton College.^[2] After graduating, he became a leader in Campus Crusade for Christ organization and started a ministry at the University of Notre Dame in the 1960s. After several years with Campus Crusade, Gillquist worked for three years at the University of Memphis, then for eleven years with Thomas Nelson Publishing in Nashville.^[3] In 1975 he served on the Overview Committee for Nelson's New King James Version of the Bible.^[4]

While still on staff at Campus Crusade, Gillquist and some of his colleagues began studying church history, and came to the conclusion that the Orthodox Church was the only unchanged church in history.^[1] In 1973 Gillquist and his colleagues in Chicago established a network of house churches throughout the United States, aiming to restore a primitive form of Christianity, which was called the New Covenant Apostolic Order. Researching the historical basis of the Christian faith, Gillquist and his colleagues found sources for this restoration in the writings of the early Church Fathers. This led the group to practice a more liturgical form of worship than in their previous evangelical background. In 1979, the Evangelical Orthodox Church (EOC) was organized.

A desire for Apostolic Succession led most members of the EOC to join the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America in 1987 after a lengthy and considerable search. Gillquist and other EOC leaders traveled to Istanbul to meet with the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople but were unable to complete any substantial progress toward their goal. However, they were able to meet with the Patriarch of Antioch during his historic visit to Los Angeles. After further discussions, Gillquist and the group of 20 parishes were formally received into the Church of Antioch and became known as the Antiochian Evangelical Orthodox Mission, lasting until 1995 when it was disbanded and the parishes put under the standard diocesan framework of the Archdiocese.

Gillquist and his wife Marilyn (married in 1960) reside in Santa Barbara, California, and have six children. [1]

• Gillquist, Rev. Peter E. Becoming Orthodox: A Journey to the Ancient Christian Faith. Ben Lomond, CA: Conciliar Press, 1989. (ISBN 0-9622713-3-0)
• “Reverend Speaks on His Conversion”, North Texas Daily, 2/25/2005