Fr. Damaskinos Issa has served as the pastor of the Nativity of the Theotokos Antiochian Orthodox Church in Hunt Valley, Maryland, since 2016. He is also an Assistant Professor of Liturgics at the Antiochian House of Studies.

He holds a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University, where his dissertation and research focused on liturgical hermeneutics and apocalyptic literature. He also holds a Master of Theology from Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, a Bachelor of Divinity from St. John of Damascus Institute of Theology at University of Balamand, and a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Damascus University.

Fr. Damaskinos has taught courses and offered lectures on Orthodox liturgical theology, the Divine Liturgy, hymnography, and the spiritual life of the Church. His work focuses especially on helping the faithful understand the liturgy not simply as a service to attend, but as the life of the Church that forms, heals, and transforms the Christian person.

He and his wife, Kh. Ramia, are blessed with two children, Michael and Sophia.