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| Our First Church |
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| St John the Baptist - 10 Seymour Street burned in 1902 |
The early settlers who came to Yonkers from Galicia and the Carpathian Mountain region of Eastern Europe had a common
desire - to have a church and organize a benevolent society that would support their needs. They wasted no time. First they
located a small church to rent on the lower east side of Elm street. They then called on the North American Diocese for a
Priest and organized a Brotherhood society, which they named “The Society of St. John the Baptist”.
A charter was issued July 26, 1898 to the members who were naturalized citizens: Peter Shymansky, Theodore Shymansky, Ephraim
Perich, Leonty Kowall, and Michael Guth. Other members of this organization were: Harry Bobak, Simon Turchick, Frank Joseph
Misner, Akilina Misner, Irene Soma, Isadore Smerek, Joakim Harshany, Myron Harshany, Damian William Prokopchak, Dimitri Dran,
Theodore Rusinko, Theodore Ketz, Timothy Kolar, John Hotz, Michael Semanonko, Jacob Kurilo, Andrew Sweda, Simon Kozar, Nestor
Penkala, and Joseph Varchol.
Archbishop Nicholas sent Rev. Ptolomy to serve the first Liturgy on July 9, 1898.
In September, 1898, Bishop Tikhon (later Patriarch of all Russia) visited the church and appointed the Rev. Vladimir Zotikoff
as rector. This was a temporary arrangement until a church of their own could be built.
A gift of three bells,
an essential item for a church, was donated by Theodore Bybel. The women of the church were also active in the church and,
in time, organized their own benevolent society - St.Olga’s Society. The parishioners contacted church authorities
in Mt. Athos, Greece and were sent Bishop Serafin as rector. In 1904 a house at 46 Seymour Street was bought with enough adjoining
property to build a new church. The house became the residence for the priest and served as a temporary church while construction
was begun on a new brick church. Many obstacles confronted the workers, but finally their efforts were rewarded and the church
was completed in 1905. The iconastas for this church was built by hand by Mr. Misner as well as the staircase to the choir
loft and other wooden items. Many of these are still part of the church today.
Rev. Benedict Turkevich was appointed
the first pastor and the church was consecrated in 1906 by Bishop Tikhon. The church was renamed “Holy Trinity Russian
Orthodox Greek Catholic Church.” During Rev. Turkevich’s eight year tenure, the parish grew with new families
and children necessitating the addition of a school to the rectory.
Rev. Turkevich returned to Russia in 1914 and the
following priests served between 1914 and 1917: Rev. Elias Klopotofsky, Rev. Ignatious Lachno, and Rev. Feodor Obushkevich.
On July 7, 1917 Rev. John Kushwara was assigned to the parish and guided the church through the depression years.
Despite the problems faced, icons were added to the church, and windows were replaced with stained glass. Membership increased
and an addition was proposed and built. The church addition was consecrated by Bishop Adam on
Decoration Day, 1933.
In 1937, however, a divison occurred amongst parishioners resulting in the removal of Rev.
Kushwara and the appointment of Rev. Joseph J. Pishtey on June 15, 1940.
Rev. Pishtey’s 32 year tenure was
marked by membership growth to over 400 families and tremendous expansion of Holy Trinity’s facilities. A new iconostas
was installed, property was purchased in the rear of the church, an education building as well as a new rectory were built,
and the church mortgage was paid in full.
On Tuesday, November 2, 1972 Rt. Rev. Mitred Protopresbyter Joseph J.
Pishtey fell asleep in the Lord. On March 4, 1973 V. Rev. Vadim Pogrebniak was installed as rector. Under Fr. Pogrebniak’s
spiritual leadership adult religious education classes were held, a Junior “R” Club was formed, weekly church
bulletins were now distributed, and the Sunday school was reorganized.
On October 5, 1973, a Russian-Slovak Cultural
Heritage Day was held. This event was tremendously successful both in bringing together the parish and in educating the surrounding
community about the importance of the Slavic heritage and its impact on the city of Yonkers.
In late 1977, Fr.
Pogrebniak was reassigned and a number of priests made their contributions during the next 13 years: Fr. Vladimir Sovyrda
(1977-1981), Fr. Daniel Pavelchak (1981-1986), Fr. John Mason (1986-1988), and Fr. Joseph Kreshik (1988-1990).
The
1980s were marked by a period of division in the parish. Many members either left or were suspended. It was a dark period
for the parish. The parish desperately needed strong leadership to reunite and resolve their differences.
In September,
1990 Very Rev. Yaroslav Sudick was assigned to the parish. Fr. Sudick’s first mission was to restore and repair the
parish buildings and grounds which had fallen into disrepair. The church was also in debt by over $100,000 from a recent interior
icon restoration. Fr. Sudick embarked on a program of renovation and repair of the property, reorganized the debt and solicited
donations from parish members to sponsor individual icons that were installed. Within three years the debt was paid, the buildings
were repaired and the church still had some money in its treasury. Fr. Sudick at the same time began lobbying the church hierarchy
to lift the suspensions that were impeding the unity of the parish. Within 5 years this was accomplished and almost all members
were reinstated to “good standing” status. Fr. has been active in other causes as well. A desperate call for the
plight of orphans in Russia brought an active campaign to solicit funds to help buy food and clothing. Father organized a
benefit concert featuring the Dessoff Choirs of Manhattan that was attended by over 1,000 people and personally went to Russia
to deliver to Patriarch Alexy II over $25,000 in monetary contributions and clothing for these children.
Fr. Sudick’s
mission has been to create a church that its members can be proud to come to and proud to showcase to the surrounding community.
His tenure has been marked first by a period of repair and healing and now a period of stability and growth. As the church
celebrated its Centennial it had once again entered a period of unity. Its mission is now growth in order to position itself
for the future. Its primary focus is on its children to make them feel that this is their lifelong home. It is only in so
doing that the church will continue to grow well into the future. After all, with the children come the parents and grandparents
and relatives and friends.
May God bless and preserve this parish for many, many years!
View our history in great detail by clicking the following chapter
by chapter links
EDITOR'S NOTE: A comprehensive and extremely detailed (largely
pre-1940's) history of Holy Trinity was compiled by Rev. Aaron Archer in 2003. Father undertook this project as part of
his Master's Thesis. His belief was that the experience of Holy Trinity during the early part of the 20th century mirrors
that of the Orthodox Church in America at the same time. The Thesis exists in text form and is several hundred pages in length.
If you are interested in reading it, two copies reside at St. Vladimir's Seminary Library in the Crestwood Section of
Yonkers. Or if you prefer to read it on line at our website, the following links provide each of the 7 chapters from his thesis
(footnotes/references have not been included in our online version) shared with his permission. Copyright ©Rev. A. Archer
2003
Introduction
Chapter 1 1898-1915
Chapter 2 1916-1917
Chapter 3 - 1917-1930
Chapter 4 1930-1940
Chapter 5 - 1940-1972
Chapter 6 - 1973-1978
Chapter 7 - 1977 - 1990's
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| Rev. Benedict Turkevich |
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| Rector 1906 - 1914 |
Born March 14, 1873 in the city of Kremenets to Volyni (Western Ukraine) in the family priest. Brother to Metropolitan
Leonty (Turkevich). He graduated from the seminary Volyn Moskovsky spiritual Academy (1898). In 1898 he was sent to the United
States to serve as a missionary. He was sent to Holy Trinity Cathedral in the city of Chicago where he was a Reader. Married
to Feodore Antonovne Putkovskoy (1900). Moved with his family to New York, where he served in St. Nicholas Cathedral. Deacon
(1902). Priest (1902). Holy Ghost Church in the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut (1902-1905). Holy Trinity Church in Yonkers,
New York (1905-1914). He was also the editor of the newspaper "Svit ", the official publication Russian Orthodox
mutual aid societies (Russian Orthodox Mutual Aid Society). In 1914 he returned to Russia and then traveled to Warsaw, where
continued his priestly ministry. He died April 13, 1928 in Warsaw.
| Rev. John Kushwara |
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| Rector July 7, 1917 - June 14, 1940 |
| Fr. Joseph Pishtey |
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| Rector 1940 - 1972 |
Joseph J. Pishtey II was born on April 6, 1899, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, of parents who were Carpatho-Russian immigrants.
His theological education included attending the St. Tikhon's preparatory school before graduating from St. Platon's
Seminary in Tenafly, New Jersey. After graduating from the seminary, Joseph served as a choir director in a number of Pennsylvania
parishes.
He married Susanne Padick. They had three children, two sons Joseph J. III (who became a priest) and Wallace,
and a daughter, Sonja.
On June 16, 1924, Joseph was ordained to the priesthood by Metropolitan Platon at St. Nicholas
Cathedral in New York City. Subsequently Fr. Joseph served in parishes in Terryville, Connecticut, and Old Forge and Olyphant,
Pennsylvania. He arrived at his last parish, Holy Trinity Church in Yonkers, New York in 1940, where he served until his death.
While serving at Holy Trinity Church, Fr. Joseph also served as secretary-treasurer of the Metropolitan Council from 1946
to 1964. In 1964, he was appointed to the position of Chancellor of the Metropolia by the Synod of Bishops. In his position
as chancellor Fr. Joseph was a member of the delegation that carried out negotiations with the Church of Russia for the eventual
granting of autocephaly to the Metropolia. This involved travel to meetings in Geneva and Tokyo as well as in New York.
After the grant of autocephaly in 1970, he became the first to bear the title Chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America.
He continued to serve as chancellor until his death in New York on November 2, 1972. He was buried at the cemetery of St.
Tikhon's Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania.
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