Reverend Deacon
Basil Long

Education:

• Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 1972

• Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, Mississippi State University, 1975

• Master of Arts in Applied Orthodox Theology from the University of Balamand, 2005

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Deacon Basil was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi of devout Presbyterian parents. His birth was on Good Friday, which in 1950 was the same Holy Day in both the Eastern and Western calendars, surely a sign of things to come! In college, he was involved in Campus Crusade for Christ and later was an associate staff member of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. In the 1970’s he became a part of a Bible study group of young adults in Jackson who were seeking a return to the faith and worship of the New Testament church. There, he met and married Shamassy Josie, in 1977; they have three adult daughters.

The bible study group eventually became one of the Evangelical Orthodox churches (as recounted in Fr. Peter Gilquist’s book, Becoming Orthodox). In 1987, the Long family was chrismated into the Holy Orthodox faith by Bishop Antoun, at which time Deacon Basil was also tonsured as a Subdeacon.

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In 1989, after forming a technology company with other partners, Deacon Basil relocated the company and his family to Austin, Texas, where they became members of St. Elias Orthodox Church under the pastorate of Fr. James Kenna. Fr. James immediately put Sh. Josie and Subdeacon Basil to work, and in 1995 asked them to help form a “Northwest Mission” which is now St. John the Forerunner Orthodox Church in Cedar Park, Texas. Sh. Josie served as the choir director for St. John from its beginning until her retirement in 2017. Subdeacon Basil was ordained to the Holy Diaconate by Bishop Basil in 2005 and continued to serve at St. John until his retirement in 2017.

Deacon Basil and Shamassy Josie moved to Wimberley, Texas in 2018.

 
Getting to know Dcn. Basil:

• He has many favorite books, but perhaps the most influential are those many writings by Fr. Alexander Schmemann, and especially his Journals.

• His (current) hobbies include fixing anything that is broken, improving things that aren’t, and restoring mid-century stereo consoles.

• His favorite Bible verse is Proverbs 3:5,6, written on the flyleaf of a Bible given to him by his parents as a teenager:
  Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
  And lean not on your own understanding;
  In all your ways acknowledge Him,
  And He will direct your paths.