Diocesan Life 100th Anniversary of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church St. Nicholas Church celebrated 100 years of Orthodox Christianity in Cohoes, NY on October 11 and 12, 2014. A Memorial Divine Liturgy was served on Saturday with Fr. Stephan Mack for the founders, benefactors, and beautifiers, including priests and starostas who shaped the growth of St. Nicholas over the last century. We will always carry in our hearts their memories. Bishop Michael, Fr. Michael Fritz, Fr. Peter Olsen, PDn Paul Sokol, and the pastor, Fr. Terenti Wasielewski, celebrated the Divine Liturgy on Sunday. Grammotas were presented to Stephanie Stroyen, Paula Patrician, and Gregory Walko for their outstanding work in preparing the church for the 100th anniversary. The first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in January, 1914 in the upstairs meeting room of a bank in Cohoes. We need to be ever grateful for the Grega, Kopcha, and Guba families who remained steadfast in their Orthodox faith and decided to leave the Greek Catholic Church on Ontario Street in Cohoes, NY and begin a new church for those who wished to remain Orthodox. These three families spearheaded the formation of our church. The new Orthodox parish bearing the name of St. Nicholas became a beacon for new immigration from Lemkovyna and Russia. Cohoes offered them a future in the new land of opportunity. With manufacturing booming at the turn of the century, Lemkos settled here and joined the church. During this time the metrical books record an era where marriages were performed regularly, baptisms were abundant, and funerals were few. We nurtured a “Little Lemkovyna.” St. Nicholas Church offered a piece of the old country, where they could use their language, practice their culture, and thank God for all the blessings they received. It gave them comfort to know that they could still be Lemkos in a strange land and not have to assimilate. Po-nashomy was heard everywhere, while English was slow in being adopted as their “every day” language.
This first wave of immigrants had nothing on their backs. They came penniless, expecting no handouts, did not know English, and often came with no relatives to greet them with open arms. This story is so typical of many of our parishioners who ventured across the ocean. They were hardworking and determined to have a better life here in America.
Spring/ Summer 2015
As the first generation Americans emerged, some of them assimilated by intermarrying and leaving the church, while others married within the church and carried on another generation. Over the last 100 years the Geleta, Shewczyk, Cherniak, Kobylar, and Serbalik families, among others, have been particularly dedicated. As the parish became larger, organizations began to prosper and socialization surrounded the church. Within those families each was known by their nickname like: Bronko, Clem, Duck, Lefty, and Dolly. This new generation propelled new ideas and with it came the longing for a new church building. Despite not having much, people pooled their resources, and the project emerged. Construction, though prolonged because of a shortage of steel during WWII, eventually was completed and the present church was consecrated in 1942. As time went on, many from the first generation wanted English in the Divine Services, and some wished that Christmas would coincide with their American friends. We began to see English used in the Sunday Liturgies with Fr. Eugene Serebrennikoff in the late 1950’s. By the early 1980’s the church adopted the newly revised Julian calendar which shifted Christmas to the 25th of December. The assimilation process had taken its course, and an American Orthodox church established its roots here in Cohoes. It is estimated that the average life of a church is only 40 years. We can see that we have doubled and Continued on page 23
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