Archbishop will attend Sunday services
as New Jesrey parishes gather
By:John Patten and Michael Redmond
Manville will host the head of the Orthodox Church in America on Sunday, as New Jersey parishioners of the church continue Lenten celebrations.
His Beatitude the Most Blessed Herman, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada, will preside at vespers at Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church (OCA) on Washington Avenue at 4 p.m., Sunday.
According to Father James Parsells, rector of Saints Peter and Paul Church, Orthodox parishes from throughout New Jersey gather at different churches through the weeks of Lent, which continues until Orthodox Easter, May 1.
While the combined services normally draw about 150 celebrants, the Rev. Parsells said having the head of the church in North America the metropolitan present could draw a bigger crowd.
"What makes this so significant and special is the national head of our church who hasn’t been here before is coming," he said.
Accompanying the metropolitan to Manville will be the St. Vladimir’s Seminary Chorale from Crestwood, N.Y., which will sing the vespers. The services will be followed by an open reception in the Parish Hall of Saints Peter and Paul Church.
The Orthodox Church in America (OCA) was originally founded in the 18th century as a mission and later became a diocese in the Russian Orthodox Church, uniting within one fold Orthodox Christians of various national backgrounds and traditions.
It subsequently developed into a self-governing metropolitanate, which was known as the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church of America, one of 15 self-governing Orthodox churches around the world.
Among the bishops of the OCA, the metropolitan enjoys primacy, being the first among equals. As primate of the OCA, the metropolitan supervises the internal and external welfare of the church and represents it in its relations with other Orthodox churches, religious organizations, and secular authorities.
The local church’s history started in 1915 three years after the John-Manville Corp. constructed its first building in Manville when a group of families of Russian heritage met to organize a parish of the Orthodox faith.
With the blessing of the ruling bishop, Archbishop Evdokim of New York and under the leadership of Father Peter Semashko, the rector of Saints Peter and Paul Church in South River, this was accomplished.
In the beginning, the parish consisted of a small group of believers that rented a building in a lumber yard on North Main Street. In this makeshift structure, with bare necessities, the divine services were held.
In 1916, an 18-foot by 37-foot wooden chapel was built by the parishioners themselves. In 1922, the structure was destroyed by fire. Undaunted by this misfortune, the parishioners realized the need to build a larger church. Today’s sanctuary was consecrated in 1936.
The members of today’s parish include residents of five New Jersey counties as well as Manville residents.
For additional information, visit the parish Web site, www.ssppoc.org, and the OCA Web site, www.oca.org. The parish’s phone number is 685-1452.

