We are a community in the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church in the United States and, as such, are in full communion with the Pope and the Bishops of Rome. Our community is Byzantine Catholic and is guided by our parent Church, St. Basil the Great Byzantine Catholic Church. The Byzantine Catholic Church, of the Ruthenian tradition, is one of the 24 Churches that embody the Catholic Communion of Churches.
Below are ways you can connect with us, as well as our leadership team(s) and a brief history of the Waco Community.
Waco Clergy & Leadership
Christ came to serve, and not to be served (Mt 20:28). Our Leadership team hopes to embody Christ to our community in liturgy, orthodox teaching, hospitality, and charitable service to our community members and the greater Waco area.
Pastor
Fr. Elias Rafaj, originally from Chicago, is the Pastor of St. Basil the Great parish in Irving, TX. St. Basil’s has three outreaches (Waco, Austin, and Tulsa, OK), of which Fr. Elias is the Pastor. He comes to Waco once a month to celebrate Divine Liturgy and other Liturgical Services.
Assisting & Visiting Clergy
Deacon Candidates & Local Leadership
Andrew Clayton is the founding member of the Waco Byzantine community and has lived in Waco with his wife (Renee) and six children since 2005. Originally from Spokane, WA, he attended Gonzaga University where he met his Renee, and pursued his PhD in Political Science at Baylor University. He is currently a professor of Political Science at Baylor University and McLennan Community College. Beginning in 2023, he entered the diaconate formation program for the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.
Michael Bracelin is originally from Oregon and joined the Marine Corps in 2003. Michael is married to his wife Angela and has three children. Michael earned his undergraduate degree in History, as well as his MBA and Master of Theological Science (MTS) at Franciscan University of Steubenville, and EdD from Boston College. Currently, Michael works for the Baylor Law School and is an adjunct professor of theology (online) for Franciscan University. He entered the diaconal formation program in 2023.
Community Steering Committee
The Steering Committee was established in 2023 by Fr. Elias Rafaj; its mission is to grow the community into an official Outreach, Mission, and eventually a full Parish, to serve the Waco community and spread the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Members: Andrew Clayton (lead), Renee Clayton , Michael Bracelin, Angela Bracelin, Bob Huschak, and Marnie Huschak
Finance Sub-Committee
Members: Bob Huschak (Lead), Michael Bracelin, and Andrew Clayton
Website & Media Sub-Committee
Members: Michael Bracelin (Website, YouTube), Andrew Clayton (Facebook), Renee Clayton (Instagram)
Our History
Our community began with the family of Renee and Andrew Clayton, who are parishioners of St. Basil the Great in Irving, Texas. The Clayton family moved to Texas from Washington in 2005 and made the trek to Irving a couple of times a month. Before 2020, Fr. Daniel Forsythe came to Waco occasionally to serve the Liturgy for the Clayton family and a Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic family from Canada stationed at Fort Hood. These liturgies had no regularity and were twice occasioned by the baptisms of children from these two families.
The Waco Byzantine Catholic community officially started in August 2020. Fr. Christopher Andrews, O.S.B., in consultation with Andrew and Renee Clayton, decided to offer a monthly Divine Liturgy in Waco, Texas. The community initially started with the Clayton family and occasional visitors from around Waco, meeting at the Ave Maria Chapel at St. Jerome Catholic Church. In August 2021, Fr. Elias Rafaj became the pastor of St. Basil the Great and continued to serve the Divine Liturgy in Waco once a month. As the community grew, we moved to the chapel of St. Peter Catholic Student Center near Baylor University in November 2021. Our community has enjoyed the hospitality and ongoing support of the Diocese of Austin, then led by Bishop José Vazquez, and the administrator of the Catholic Student Center, Fr. Henry Finch.
In 2023, a steering committee was created to help grow the community, consisting of the Clayton, Medcalf, McKean, Huschak, and Bracelin families. In that same year, our community sent three young men in the Deacon Program through the Archeparchy with a formation completion timeframe of 2026. The 2022-2026 deacon candidates consist of founding member Andrew Clayton, as well as Aiden Medcalf (who arrived in late 2020, but returned to Dallas in late 2024), and Michael Bracelin, who began his diaconal formation in Virginia before moving to Waco in 2023. Fr. Henry, aware of the need to locally support local Eastern Catholics, received his bi-ritual faculties in April 2024.
During the 2024 Great Fast, recognizing that our community needed a space for ECF and hospitality, we moved to the RET-KAT foundation building off of Franklin Avenue. This was only made possible through the generosity of Robert Tunmire, President and CEO of the Catholic Men’s Leadership Alliance.
In early 2025, realizing that we genuinely needed to be back in a traditional church building, we moved to St. Mary of the Assumption parish in Waco in May 2025 with the support of the Diocese of Austin and the pastor of St. Mary’s, Fr. Joe Geleney. The first Divine Liturgy at our new home was attended by 110 members and guests, and served by Fr. Elias and Fr. Craig Anderson from St. Basil’s.
While the McKean family moved away in early 2026 to take on the Lord’s work in establishing a new Byzantine Catholic outreach in central Indiana, we have grown from one family to seven regular families (households), and we consistently have over forty attendees for every Divine Liturgy. Our community looks forward to growing and spreading the joy of the Gospel and Eastern Catholic traditions to the people living and visiting Waco for many years to come!
