< Home
< Home
|
Anchorage, Alaska
In the later part of the 19th century, Jesuits missionaries made attempts to convert the native Russian Orthodox in Alaska to Catholicism by using the Byzantine Rite. They met with little success. In 1957, the Most Reverend Nicholas Elko, Exarch of Pittsburgh, was approached by the Congregation for Eastern Churches to launch another attempt in Alaska. Bishop Elko sent two priests, the Reverend Demetrius Darin, a recent convert from Orthodoxy and native Alaskan, and the newly ordained Reverend Robert Bayusik to Juneau, Alaska in June, 1958. Working with the few scattered Byzantine Catholics living in Alaska and some Orthodox, Father Darin remained in Juneau, and Father Bayusik went to Anchorage at the beginning of August, 1958.
In Juneau, Father Darin met with little success and returned to Ohio by the end of 1958. With six families, Father Bayusik remained in Anchorage where he began cultivating a small Byzantine Catholic Community. Those first years he used Holy Family Church in Anchorage for Divine Services. He purchased property on the southwest corner of Arctic Boulevard and 22nd Avenue in December 1958. The following March he purchased a former mess hall from nearby Fort Richardson. The building was moved to the new church site where it was renovated into a church, a rectory and small office. That September, Bishop Elko blessed the newest church of the Exarchate: Saint Nicholas of Myra.
The parish grew very slowly but steadily under the leadership of Father Bayusik. Roman Catholics joined the parish along with Byzantine Catholics. With no Orthodox Churches in Anchorage, some local Orthodox families attend Saint Nicholas. In time, Saint Nicholas became the mother church of the Saint Innocent Russian Orthodox Cathedral and of Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church when some Orthodox families left Saint Nicholas to found their own parishes. Some Orthodox families chose to remain and are still active members to this very day.
After four years in Alaska, Father Baysuik was transferred back to the lower 48, and the Reverend John Kasarda became Pastor. Father Kasarda remained in Alaska only two years during which the 9.2 “Good Friday” Earthquake occurred. While there was much damage to Anchorage, Saint Nicholas suffered no major structural damage.
After the earthquake, Bishop Elko reviewed the situation of the parish. He concluded that Saint Nicholas was a failure and should be closed. In July, 1964, Bishop Elko sent the Reverend Michael Artim to Anchorage in the hope he would become discouraged enough to petition the Bishop to close Saint Nicholas.
Fortunately Father Artim faced the challenge ahead of him with determination as he saw a future for our Church in Alaska. He rolled up his sleeves, began organizing the parishioners, sought out new parishioners, organized religious education classes and sport teams for the children, promoted ethnic dinners and other fund raisers to help retire the debt, and worked as a pharmacist for a time to support himself. Within a few short years, the membership had grown considerably, and the debt was retired. He also remodeled the church, installed an iconostasis, and placed an onion-shaped dome on the church. From Kodiak Island in the south to Point Barrow in the farthest north, he celebrated the Divine Liturgy in order to minister to his far flung parishioners as well as to educate the Roman Catholics in our liturgical tradition. A severe heart attack in 1985 forced Father Artim to retire from pastoral ministry. Raised to the rank of Mitred Archpriest by the Most Reverend George Kuzma, Bishop of Van Nuys, in 1995, he remained in Anchorage, assisting his successors whenever possible until his death on October 29, 2001.
The Reverend Joseph Hutsko was appointed Pastor in 1985. Attempting to renew the parish liturgically, he met with much resistance, but won the admiration of parishioners by his pastoral zeal and his role-up-the-sleeves attitude to manual labor around the parish.
In 1989, the Reverend Stephen Greskowiak became Pastor. He stressed education that slowly brought the congregation back to its authentic Byzantine roots and saw the church grow with young families. In 1994 he embarked on a building project with the help of a very generous benefactor who financed and built a new church hall with a full basement and garage and renovated the rectory. In his wisdom, Father Greskowiak told the congregation that it was their responsibility to pay for the renovation to the church. They wholeheartedly threw themselves into the project that produced a new iconostasis, new altar furniture, a shrine area and new seating.
In 2001, the Right Reverend Archimandrite Wesley Izer, SDB was assigned as Administrator of Saint Nicholas. He also stressed personal growth through adult education classes on Liturgy and Scripture. He worked to strengthen the ties with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Anchorage. During his tenure, a Mission in the Mat-Su Valley, fifty miles north of Anchorage, was established for parishioners living in that area. Blessed Theodore Romzha Mission - Wasilla
With the consent of the Most Reverend Roger Schwietz, OMI, Archbishop of Anchorage, the Most Reverend William Skurla, Bishop of Van Nuys, appointed the Reverend J. Michael Hornick as Administrator of Saint Nicholas in 2006. Father Hornick is well known to the parishioners as he served as a adjunct priest for the last twenty-seven years.
Our current pastor is the Reverend James Barrand, who is new to Alaska, and is finding his current assignment challenging and exciting. Please come and introduce yourself.
Today the Eastern Catholic Church in Alaska is small. Only one Eastern Catholic jurisdiction—the Holy Protection of Mary Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Phoenix established in 1982—has one parish and one mission in the whole State of Alaska. While our Church may be seen as small, we are a vital part of the Catholic Church to which we add the richness of our Byzantine Catholic faith.
|
||
|
Copyright © 2004-2010, St. Nicholas of Myra Byzantine Catholic Church, All Right Reserved a catholic church, Byzantine, orthodox catholic, eastern Christian, eastern catholic, Christian church, roman catholic, orthodox Christian, Greek orthodox, icons, Jesus, Christ, Icon of Our Lady of denali catholic church Byzantine Church Orthodox ALASKA ALASKA ALASKA Anchorage Icons Domes Blessed Theodore Romzha Byzantine Catholic Mission |
