Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church Sts. Peter and Paul Russian Orthodox Church was organized and founded in 1916 by a group of faithful who had originally been part of the membership of the Greek Catholic parish in Arcadia. During this time, the Arcadia parish was experiencing considerable dissent and turmoil over what is now termed the "Orthodox Movement". Several Greek Catholic parishes were leaving the Unia and returning to the true Orthodox Faith of their ancestors. This movement was propagated by St. Alexis Toth, a former Uniate Priest, who himself embraced Orthodoxy. When it seemed very certain that the Church in Arcadia would remain within the Greek Catholic Rite of the Roman Catholic Church, the original group of founders of SS Peter and Paul Church left to organize their own parish. The circle of faithful unanimously resolved at a parish meeting in June, 1916 to petition Archbishop Evdokim of the Russian Orthodox Missionary Diocese of North America to appoint for them a resident priest. In response, the Archbishop appointed Fr Vasily Levdar, who began his assignment on July 2, 1916.
Through the years, the parish grew as long as the coal mines were operating in and near Urey. The closing of the mines, deaths, and mixed marriages with other faiths have all contributed to the decline in membership of the parish. SS Peter and Paul Church began to be serviced by the priest at St Nicholas Church, DuBois, Pennsylvania, in the early 1980s. By ca.1984 Bishop Kyrill of Pittsburgh, PA, took steps to stabilize the life of the parish by officially combining it administratively and spiritually with St. Nicholas Church. Since then the small parish has enjoyed a full Liturgical schedule and activities such as Church School & Adult Education classes, fund raising projects, and most recently, the renovation and renewal of the church building. On August 16, 1997, a new Altar Table (Prestol) was consecrated by His Eminence, Archbishop Kyrill along with the newly renovated Temple. It is our prayer that this will be a "new beginning" and that the Lord will "preserve this Holy House until the end of the world" as we pray during the Liturgy of St Basil the Great. (Parish information courtesy of "The Orthodox Church in America.") |