Bishop John (Abdalah) holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Care from Pittsburgh Theological School, a Master of Divinity from St. Vladimir’s Seminary, a Master’s equivalency certificate in Pastoral Counseling from Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Suffolk University in Boston, Massachusetts. Throughout Seminary and following his studies, he also studied Arabic.

Bishop John is a clinical member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He taught Pastoral Counseling in the graduate program at the St. John of Damascus Institute at the Balamand in Lebanon. For 33 years, he served as a priest of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America; he has been Dean of St. George Cathedral in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the past 16 of those years. Before that, he served 16 years in New Kensington, and one year in Little Falls.

Additionally, Bishop John has also edited The Word magazine, has been the Spiritual Advisor for the Antiochian Women, and has served as Dean of the Western Pennsylvania clergy and churches for many years. Bishop John also served for nearly ten years as NAC Spiritual Advisor for the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, and he teaches Priestly Formation for the Antiochian House of Studies, while mentoring the full-time seminarians in the Antiochian House of Studies programs.

Married to Joanne Josephs until her repose on May 25, 2008, Bishop John is the father of Gregory (29) of Worcester, Massachusetts, Joseph (26) of Houston, Texas and Maria (22) of Pittsburgh. He grew up at St. George Orthodox Church in Boston and has two siblings, Ernest of Westwood, Massachusetts and Khouria Janet Shadid of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

On Sunday, December 11, 2011, Bishop John was consecrated as Auxiliary of the Diocese of Worcester and New England, 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 Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Balamand, Balamand, Lebanon. Bishop John’s namesday is September 26 (St. John the Theologian)