Diocesan Life SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Manville, New Jersey Celebrates 100 Years Summer 2016
by Archpriest Fr. James Parsells, Jill Peterson, Larissa Mattei, and Pam Stone Over the weekend of October 3-4, 2015, the faithful of SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, Manville NJ, celebrated the community’s 100th Anniversary. Every Sunday morning for the past 100 years, a Divine Liturgy has been celebrated, with church bells ringing, a choir singing, and the faithful gathering in prayer. Services are also held on many days throughout the week with the same joyful solemnity of the Orthodox Christian faith. In 1915, a small group of worshippers rented a building in a lumber yard on North Main Street in Manville. With just the bare necessities, the parishioners—many of whom came to work at the
Photo by Nicholas Kita
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Johns Manville Corporation—built a strong bond. Their ethnic backgrounds were mostly from Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern bloc countries. With the blessing of Archbishop Evdokim of New York and under the leadership of Father Peter Semashko, the rector of SS. Peter & Paul Church in South River, the small group began to worship at this location. In 1916, the parish purchased the property on Washington Ave in Manville where the church sits today. The parishioners constructed an 18 foot by 37 foot wooden chapel. This structure was destroyed by fire in 1922, rebuilt, and again destroyed by fire in 1935. Immediately after the fire in 1935, the church building was reconstructed and has been the parish’s home ever since. During this time nearby land was also purchased, for a parish cemetery. In 1962, the church suffered another fire
with extensive damage to the sacristy area and was immediately refurbished. After completing the church repairs in 1963, plans for the building of an education and social building began, and were completed in 1965. Over the years, the tight-knit community was composed of large extended families that would pray together and then return home on Sunday to enjoy large dinners and fellowship. Today, the families are smaller and more ethnically diverse, but the parish gathers after the Divine Liturgy to enjoy a hearty coffee hour together, serving for many as the new extended family. The language of the services has changed over the years from Church Slavonic to English, following the prescription of St. Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, who taught that services should be conducted in a country’s language. This change opened the door to people from all over the world to worship together. Worship has remained at the heart of who we are as the People of God at SS. Peter & Paul Church. Over the years, the parish has continued on the path of good liturgical services and offers worship not just on Sundays, but multiple times during the week. The physical church has been cared for and maintenance and repairs have been done to upgrade and preserve the building. Repairs took place for the stained glass windows, bell towers, and cupolas. Chandeliers were replaced and refurbishing was done to the iconostas. Church furnishings, icons, liturgical items, vestments and alter coverings were also replaced or upgraded. One of the most remarkable achievements has been the adornment of the inside of the church by noted iconographer George Filippakis, with the assistance of parishioner and parish iconographer, Austin Kachek. The ceiling and every wall inside the church are now adorned with beautiful icons. Everywhere where one looks, their eyes are met with magnificent color and an entrance into the eyes of our Lord, the Theotokos, and many of our beloved saints. The generosity, love, and free will offering of parishioners, and the grace of our Lord has enabled SS. Peter & Paul to be the beautiful church that it is today.
