Bishop Anthony was born Richard Anthony Michaels on the feast day of St. Anthony the Great (1/17/56) to Anthony & Gertrude Michaels and was baptized at St. Symeon the Stylite Antiochian Orthodox Church.
in Ironwood, MI. He was raised with his sister, Joanne, and brother, Craig. Bishop Anthony’s father is Lebanese and his mother is Serbian. As a teenager, he was active in all varsity athletics at Ironwood High School, including as starting quarterback of the football team..
Bishop Anthony earned his B.A. in Literature, Science & the Arts, with a double major in History and English Literature. He graduated as valedictorian and earned a Master of Divinity degree from St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY. He has a reading knowledge of biblical Greek and is currently studying Arabic.
Bishop Anthony taught modern philosophy at Gogebic Community College in Ironwood., before becoming a pastoral assistant and youth director at St. Nicholas Antiochian Orthodox Church in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, for 2 years. He and fellow seminarian Fr. Patrick Kinder held positions of youth coordinators at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Akron, OH, while they toured the country giving concerts and retreats as part of the group KERYGMA. He also spent 2 years in Nashville, TN, at St. Ignatius Antiochian Orthodox Church in Franklin, TN, recording with Fr. Kinder and Fr. Michael Shanbour. His Grace has lectured extensively in North America, speaking to youth groups and church retreats for various jurisdictions beside his own.His Grace was ordained to the diaconate on 9/18/04, and to the priesthood on 9/19/04 at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in West St. Paul, MN, by the laying on of hands of Bishop Antoun. He was able to serve his home parish for 7 months before he was given his next assignment to lead the faithful of St. John Chrysostom Church in Fort Wayne, IN.Bishop Anthony inspired and oversaw the design and construction of the new church facilities in Fort Wayne. On the 6th anniversary of his ordination to the Holy Priesthood, he had the great honor of hosting His Eminence Metropolitan Philip for the consecration of the new church on 9/19/10, and he was also elevated to the dignity of Archimandrite by the laying of the hands of the Metropolitan.On 9/11/11, Bishop Anthony was consecrated as Auxiliary of the Diocese of Toledo and the Midwest, for the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The consecration took place at the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos in the Partriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, in Balamand, Lebanon. His names day is January 17 (St. Anthony the Great).