On October 20, 2002, he was ordained as a celibate priest by Bishop Serapion for St. Paul Brotherhood, joining Fr. Isaac Paul (now Bishop Abraham) as the second member of the order. While serving in this capacity, he also earned two master's degrees in Theology from Holy Cross Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, and a Ph.D. in History of Christianity from the University of Notre Dame, School of Theology in Indiana.[1][2] He also served at St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church in Riverside for several years and was involved in ecumenical dialogue with several other denominations.[1] During this time, he published many books and worked to establish a theology school as well as a central education department for the diocese.