From A Manual
of Divine Services
Archpriest D. Sokolof
Holy Trinity Monastery. Jordanville, NY
This might answer some of your clergy questions.
The Clergy.
The persons who take part in the performance of divine services are divided into cele-brants
and church servitors. Only those persons are called celebrants who have received the
grace of the Holy Spirit, through the Sacrament of Orders: they are the bishops, the priests and
the deacons.
The first and highest degree of priesthood belongs to the bishop (Epíscopos, which means
overseer). This name is given to the successors of the Apostles in the service and government
of the Church; with regard to public divine service, bishops are the chiefs or heads of all the
churches situated in their diocese. They dedicate churches, consecrate Antiminses, give authority
for the performance of services in these churches, and appoint all those who hold any office in
them. During services the bishops, as the highest performers of all Sacraments through which the
grace of the Holy Spirit is imparted to men, bless Christians with both hands, and, in their
capacity of chief teachers and enlighteners of the faithful, they also bless them with lightedഊ15
candles the Dikirion and Trikirion. When giving the blessing they compose the fingers of the
right hand in such a manner as to form the name of Jesus Christ in Greek. To accomplish this,
the index is stretched out straight and the middle finger slightly bent, thus representing the letters
IC; then the annular is bent, the thumb is laid across it, and the little finger is slightly inclined,
forming the letters XC. This way of composing the fingers is called nominal. In his capacity of
chiefs over the priests, otherwise called ieréi, a bishop also has the title of Arch-iereus. All
bishops are equal among themselves, owing to their common grace of priesthood. But as the
districts subject to their jurisdiction differ in size and importance, as regarded in earthly king-doms
and empires, there are grades in the titles of bishops: those who have charge only of small
districts, or cities are called simply bishops or Archieréi; those whose jurisdiction extends over
larger cities and provinces have lately begun to assume the title of Archbishop (i.e., chief, first
among the bishops); the bishop of a capital city, otherwise called metropolis, is entitled
Metropolitan; the bishops of ancient capitals of the great Roman Empire (Rome, Constantin-ople,
Antioch) and of Jerusalem the cities from which the Christian faith spread over the
globe have received the title of Patriarch (which means chief over the fathers). A bishop
sometimes has an assistant, who is also a bishop; these subordinate bishops are called Vicars,
i.e., lieutenants. In some countries, as for instance, in our own, the churches are governed by
an assembly of several bishops; such an assembly is known by the name of Synod.
The second degree of ordained priesthood is occupied by the ieréi or priests, who, by the
authority and blessing of their bishops, govern small Christian communities, called parishes,
and have in their charge the parish churches. They bless the beginning of every public divine
service, perform all the sacraments of the church with the exception of ordination, and have
under their supervision all the persons who hold any office in these churches. They also have the
right to give their blessing in the name of the Lord to those inferior to them in spiritual rank, but
only with one hand. All priests are equal as regards the grace of priesthood; but there are differ-ences
among them, according to the importance of the churches and parishes committed to their
care. Some are called simply priests or ierei, others receive the title of archpriests or pro-toieréi,
(i.e., first or senior priest); archpriests have the precedence when they perform
services together with priests of the lower rank. The priests of churches attached to imperial
palaces, to a Patriarchate, and the Synod have the title of presbyter (elder) and the chief priest
of such a church takes that of protopresbyter. Priests who have taken monastic vows are called
hieromonáchi, which means priest-monks.
The deacon holds the third degree of priesthood. Deacon means ministrant. He
ministers to the bishop and to the priests in the performance of the sacraments, but may not
perform them himself, and therefore has not the right to bless in the name of the Lord. At public
divine service he, by the priests blessing, recites the common prayers, reads portions from the
Holy Scriptures, and sees that the worshippers comport themselves decorously. In the degree of
their ordination all deacons are equal; yet there are different grades among them. The senior
deacons of the principal churches are called protodeacons and claim precedence when they
officiate with other deacons; and the chief deacon attached to the person of a bishop receives the
title of archdeacon. If a deacon is also a monk he is called hierodeacon.
Church Servitors (clerics and acolytes) are persons appointed to certain services in a
church used as a place of worship. The highest position among these is that of the subdeacons
or hypodeacons; they assist at pontifical services and therefore are found mainly in Cathedral
churches. After them come the readers and choristers, also called clerics and psalm-readers,
and the sacristans or doorkeepers. Part of the latters duty is to keep the church neat and clean
and to ring the bells. During service they bring out the candlesticks and the censer, and when
they have done with these duties, they take part in the reading and singing. All the church
servitors together make up the church staff, because they are attached to the church. They are
also called clerics or, collectively, the kliros, because in ancient times they used to be
appointed by lot. Sometimes the celebrants are included in the kliros, which then might better be
called the clergy, and is divided into higher and lower. The higher clergy includes the
celebrants bishops, priests and deacons; the lower includes the church servitors.
I think that you can also contact the Antiochian Archdiocese and the OCA, and ask them to inform you if a mission is opened closer to where you are. 
