With his great-grandfather a priest, his grandfather a cantor, and his father active in church life, Florin, of Romanian descent, thought about church leadership of some kind as he grew up and was asked by his rector to consider priesthood as he left high school. Police work in Law Enforcement and Emergency Service became his career choice. He married and now has three children – Crystal at 17, Michael at 14, and Maria at 13.
During his 19th year on the job, he suffered a severe auto accident. His car rolled both sideways and end-over-end. Doctors called his survival a miracle. Six years in recovery have given him time to reflect on his survival as God’s work. Ordained ministry returned and this time he said yes. When his call was affirmed by his diocese’s board, he chose to meet the bachelor’s degree requirement by finishing three years of college rather than to seek a waiver from it based on his work record.
He is finishing his final year towards a degree in History at the State University of New York in Plattsburgh. While returning to a student’s life was not easy, he finds that he met every challenge that came his way only with God’s help. Much of that help has come through Ana, his wife, who is also on the ordination track.
