St. John wraps centennial celebration
LYNDORA — The centennial year observances at St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, 105 Kohler Ave., will come to a close Sunday with a visit from Metropolitan Archbishop William C. Skurla of the Byzantine Catholic Archeprarchy of Pittsburgh and a 3 p.m. banquet at the Atrium, 1031 New Castle Road, Prospect.
The 40-member choir from the Byzantine Catholic Archeprarchy of Pittsburgh also will perform.
The archbishop will celebrate the divine liturgy at the 10 a.m. service at the church and will be the principal speaker at the banquet, according to Father Leo, St. John's pastor.
“He will begin the services by blessing the new icons,” said Father Leo, referring to the new artwork installed in the church by icon artist Michael Kapeluck of Carnegie.
Kapeluck's icons behind the altar and on the church's ceiling aren't the only additions made during the church's anniversary year, said John Baycura of Lyndora, a member of the church's centennial year committee.
“We've done some renovation,” Baycura said. “We've painted the walls and the ceiling, added the iconography, tiled the altar space and replaced the church carpeting.”
Baycura's family and the church share a long history.
Baycura's grandfather, who also was named John Baycura, carved the church's original altar screen. According to his grandson, John Baycura was a prolific carpenter and woodcarver who made nine altar screens for churches during his lifetime.
Baycura said the screen he made for St. John was his last. He was a founding member of the church, said Baycura, and traveled back and forth between the United States and Europe.
The family of Helen Meaders, 93, of Lyndora, a lifelong member of St. John, also is intertwined with the church.
Meaders said the Carpatho-Rusyns, a Slavic ethnic minority who lived along the Carpathian Mountains in central Europe and who came to Butler to work in the steel and railcar industries, banded together to begin the parish in 1912 and start work on a church building, which was completed in 1913.
“The original church was built by our parents, but the whole community helped,” said Meaders. “Armco donated the steel used, and Pullman- Standard lent its cafeteria to be used for church services.”
The present church was erected on the site beginning in 1954 with construction completed in 1955.
Meaders said her mother, Mary Ligas, was a member of the church's Mothers Club which held perogie sales to help pay for the new church's construction.
“They raised $300,000 through three years of perogie sales, which was the debt to build the new church,” said Meaders.
Father Leo, who also serves as abbot of Holy Trinity Byzantine Catholic Monastery near Saxonburg, replaced the Rev. Robert Oravetz, who was transferred to Indiana County in October.
Father Leo said the centennial year finds St. John with a congregation of 120 families. Services are at 4 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. Sundays.
Asked about plans for the next 100 years of the church, Baycura said, “We don't have a goal, but we have a lot of hopes I would say.”
“The church congregation is starting to get older. Most members are above 50 years old. As they age and die off, the community is losing members and there are no young families to replace them,” he said.
“Those of us that are left are trying to keep the church active and thriving,” said Baycura.
