October 7, 2014
Brooklyn, NY: New Church Building Consecrated for St. John the Baptist Parish

On Saturday, October 4, His Eminence Hilarion, Metropolitan of Eastern America & New York, visited the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, and led the Lesser Consecration of a new church building for St. John the Baptist parish.

The new Church of St. John the Baptist occupies the building of a former Methodist church; only a small dome and the distinctive three-bar cross above the entrance give any hint as to its function as an Orthodox church. The parish has been searching for a new home for several years, moving from one property to another. Once this ideal location was found, benefactors and volunteers from among the parishioners actively helped to arrange and organize the church property for liturgical use. On Friday evening before the consecration, workers were still putting the finishing touches on the building. But by Saturday morning, the church was ready to receive clergy, parishioners, and guests from neighboring parish communities, arriving for the celebration.

Co-serving with First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad were parish rector and New York City dean Archpriest Alexander Belya, Archimandrite Alexander (Belya; Dean of Florida), Archpriest Andrei Sommer (senior priest of the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City), Archpriest Petro Kunitsky and Konstantin Gavrilkin (clerics of New Martyrs of Russia Church in Brooklyn), Hieromonk Photius (Oulanov; cleric of Holy Virgin Intercession Church in Glen Cove, NY), Protodeacon Nicolas Mokhoff and Deacon Dionysius Lvov (clerics of the Synodal Cathedral), and parish Deacon Petr Utkin.

Upon completion of the service, His Eminence presented Michael Kadar, directory of the construction company that handled the renovations, and parish warden Ivan Belya with the highest award of the Russian Church Abroad – the Synodal Order of the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God, 3rd Class. Active volunteers and laborers – Vadim & Olga Fedorov, Mikhailo Gechka, Inna Stoyan, and Andrew & Marina Andreyev – received diocesan gramotas for their contributions to beautifying the new church.

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese