Pittsburgh Archdiocese to celebrate centennial November 11-12
Festivities marking the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania’s 100th anniversary will culminate with the celebration of the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral here on Saturday, November 12, 2016.
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, will join His Eminence, Archbishop Melchisedek and the clergy and faithful of the archdiocese for the weekend, which will open with the celebration of Great Vespers on Friday evening, November 11. A banquet will follow Sunday’s Divine Liturgy at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Center, McCandless Township, PA. Reservations may be made by contacting Rebecca Danchenko at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or 412-478-7252.
A number of youth activities, including a presentation at the banquet, have been planned, and a commemorative book will be issued. Additional information may be found on the archdiocesan web site.
Chairing the Centennial Committee is Deacon Alexander Cadman, who is being assisted by Archpriest William Evansky, Chancellor; Archpriest Michael Senyo, Dean of Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral; Deacon Seraphim Truckley; Dr. John Schultz, Rebecca Danchenko and Danielle Ilchuk.
Established in 1916 in part as a missionary outreach to the substantial number of immigrants from central Europe who had been attracted to the region with the promise of work in Pennsylvania’s mines, mills, railroads and farms, the archdiocese had as its first hierarch His Grace, Bishop Stephen [Dzubay]. It was in Pittsburgh that the Federated Russian Orthodox Clubs—known today as the Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in America—was born in 1927. Since that time, the archdiocese has grown exponentially and today ministers to faithful of many different backgrounds in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and southeastern Ohio. Archbishop Melchisedek has served as the archdiocese’s ruling bishop since his installation in June 2009. The archdiocese was the first in the Orthodox Church in America to initiate a permanent diaconate program in the 1970s. Among its many ministries, the archdiocese’s Saint Cyril of White Lake Food Pantry, based at one of its oldest parishes—southside Pittsburgh’s Saint Mary Church—addresses the needs of the poor and homeless throughout the city. The archdiocese also sponsors ctive youth ministry and catechetical programsa and an expansive parish development ministry.