50 Years at Princeton

On the campus of Princeton University the start of the 2014-2015 academic year was specially marked by the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Orthodox Chapel of the Transfiguration. This milestone was highlighted with Vespers and the Divine Liturgy served by His Beatitude Metropolitan Tikhon and Diocesan Hierarch Bishop Michael the weekend of September 20-21. The Sunday after the Elevation of the Cross, designated as National College Student Sunday in all Orthodox churches in the United States, is considered the birthday of the Princeton OCF and Chapel, founded in 1964 to serve the University and local community.

The services included Bishop Michael’s tonsure of Theogenes (Adedoyin) Teriba as Reader; he is a graduate student originally from Nigeria, presently earning his doctorate in the History of Architecture department. After the Liturgy, Bishop Michael presented Diocesan Gramotas to four members of the congregation for their long standing devoted service, and Metropolitan Tikhon presented a Synodal Gramota to the Chapel community as a whole.

The Chapel is considered a Diocesan “institution” rather than a parish, as services are conducted only during the academic year, starting the first Sunday after Labor Day and continuing every Sunday through Pentecost. In addition to Sunday Liturgy, services are held on Wednesdays during Great Lent, Holy Week and Pascha, Christmas, and Epiphany Eve. OCF meetings take place regularly on campus and include special lectures, Bible study, social events, and community service endeavors. Special miniretreats have been sponsored on campus as well as trips to several monasteries.

The congregation, ever-changing due to its academic nature, includes undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff, and a large number of local residents, some but not all with ties to the University. The town and local area include numerous other academic institutions which contribute members to the congregation: the Institute for Advanced Study, Westminster Choir College, Rider University, The College of New Jersey, and Princeton Theological Seminary. The Chapel is truly Pan-Orthodox and includes members of a plethora of nationalities and jurisdictions. Weddings, Baptisms and Chrismations are regularly celebrated, along with typical parish social functions.

Transfiguration Chapel’s initial chaplain was Father Constantine Buketoff, appointed upon retirement from his parish in Brooklyn. In the summer of 1965 Professor John Turkevich was ordained as Chaplain, serving through 1988. Father John, the eldest son of Metropolitan Leonty, was the Higgins Professor of Chemistry at Princeton, a renowned educator and scientist. An eminent lecturer at the national level, Father John was also known for his succinct and thought-provoking three minute sermons. An award was established in Father John’s memory to perpetuate his dedication to higher levels of scholarship and devotion to the Orthodox faith. This year, at the banquet following the Liturgy, Metropolitan Tikhon presented eight Turkevich awards. Over the years, dozens of deserving Orthodox students have been recipients, thanks to the generous donations of alumni and members of the Chapel community. Similarly, the Chapel has supported member participation in OCF and OCMC sponsored missionary trips over the years.

In 1989 Father Daniel Skvir, Princeton ’66 and one of the founders of the Chapel, succeeded Father Turkevich. Protodeacon Michael Sochka has assisted him for the past fifteen years (even though he is a Yalie!). Other initial OCF members in the early 60’s include Timothy Ware (now Metropolitan Kalllistos), Michael Danchak, Michael Warhol, Fr. Anatole Lyovin and Fr. Arthur Liolin. (Another active presence from the beginning has been Tamara Turkevich Skvir, presently leader of the talented Chapel choir.) Before the founding of the Chapel, OCF members would attend services in other Orthodox churches, frequently journeying down to Trenton where they were warmly welcomed by Father Paul Shafran, who remains after a half century a close and special friend and benefactor of the Chapel, often joining to con-celebrate the Liturgy. Prior to the Chapel’s founding, occasional services were conducted on campus by visiting priests from the area.

For the first eleven years, Father Turkevich was frequently joined at the altar by Fr. Georges Florovsky, distinguished Orthodox theologian/scholar/author. It has been noted that Fr. Florovsky spent more time in Princeton than in any other locale during his 86 years. Transfiguration Chapel and the OCF sponsor the Florovsky Memorial Lecture, inviting prominent theologians and artists to speak on their areas of interest as they pertain to Father Georges’ career. Speakers have included Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware), Peter Brown, Jaroslav Pelikan, Oleg Grabar, Vladislav Andrejev, and Bishop Michael among others. Princeton being an international magnet, the Chapel has also hosted an impressive number of clergy and lay visitors: two Patriarchs, six Metropolitans, countless Bishops and priests, many being alumni of Princeton, and, of course, scholars from the world over.

Perhaps more than most parishes, Princeton’s Chapel of the Transfiguration is a transient community: students graduate, academics on sabbatical at the University or Institute come and go. But for important periods of time, for students and many others, the Chapel is a vibrant spiritual home for Orthodox faithful on an especially beautiful and famed university campus.

At the same time, the Chapel has been blessed with a devoted core group of faithful who have supported this community for decades. It continues to thrive and welcomes short and long term visitors to join in its Orthodox worship and programs.