“Rugged, pristine, sequestered beauty is what Montana can offer monasticism, as well as access to a spiritual life other than married."
- Fr. Russell Radoicich, Rector,
Holy Trinity Church, Butte, MT
About Us
On April 19, 2012 this beautiful thousand-acre ranch was blessed and placed in a life estate for Saint Peter’s Monastery. It is situated not only to offer a sequestered life for monastics, but also to support the growth of the Church in Montana and throughout the Mountain West. Located in the center of the State, two hours north of Yellowstone Park and south of Helena, it is only an hour’s drive from the Bozeman and Butte airports.
Our Abbot
Papa Ephraim was raised in Boston and converted to Orthodox Christianity when he was 17. After graduating from MIT, he became a monk at Philotheou Monastery on Mount Athos. In 1995, Elder Ephraim invited him and five other monks to Arizona to establish St. Anthony’s Monastery. There he heard the confessions of monks and pilgrims, taught Modern and Ancient Greek and Byzantine chant, and created the Divine Music Project. He also translated several books including Monastic Wisdom, Counsels from the Holy Mountain, Fire from the Holy Mountain, and My Elder Joseph the Hesychast. After serving as Elder Ephraim’s cell attendant for more than twenty years, Papa Ephraim received his blessing to serve as the chaplain and spiritual father for the nuns of St. Nilus Skete in Alaska. In 2023 he served at the Monastery Dependency of Sts. Athanasios and John in Chicago for two years. Then in 2025, with the blessing of His Grace Bishop Maxim of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America and at the behest of his spiritual father, Papa Ephraim accepted our offer to come to St. Peter’s Monastery. His latest publication, The Angelic Life: A Vision of Orthodox Monasticism, is a compilation of Patristic teachings on the spiritual life.
Plans
Inspired by his time at Holy Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos, Bozeman’s award-winning architect, Mark Headley, offered a vision of what St. Peter’s Monastery might look like. His concept unfolds in five phases, allowing for the gradual build-out of the Monastery as monks join the community and funds become available. While raising funds and building out the monastery proper, we will begin construction in the spring of 2026 of a residence for monks and visitors that will eventually serve as a guest house.
Camps
Since 2016 St. Peter’s has offered summer work camps for young people eager to grow in their faith, learn about monasticism in the life of the Church, and help with the construction of the monastery. The camp director is Father David of St. Anthony Orthodox Church in Bozeman and assisted by Father Moses of St. Nicholas Church in Billings.