St. Vladimir Orthodox Christian Church - Trenton, New Jersey

812 Grand Street; Trenton, NJ 08610

Orthodox Christianity

Who We Are

As Orthodox Christians, the main aspect of our life is to live and proclaim the Gospel of Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. By allowing Christ to be the center of our lives and to live according to his teachings, we bring Christ to others. This is how St. Vladimir continues to grow! We continue to grow in faith and in love and we welcome everyone to join us in prayer, worship and fellowship.

To learn more about the Orthodox Christian Church, our beliefs and our way of life,  we invite you to explore our resources under "Parish Life," "Worship" and "Ministries." You can also explore our diocesan website (OCA-Orthodox Church in America) and the link is on our Home Page.

Parish History

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St. Vladimir Orthodox Church

The founding of St. Vladimir Orthodox Church began in October, 1915, when a group of approximately 30 Russian immigrants met and decided to organize a parish focused on ministering to the same population. At first the Divine Liturgy was served in a vacant church, but as the congregation grew the parishioners decided to build a church of their own using traditional Orthodox Christian architecture. They bought a parcel of land near the vacant church they had been using and, to save money, the parishioners dug out the land for the basement and foundation with their own hands. In 1917 the church building was completed and consecrated, and in 1918 the parish was incorporated in the state of New Jersey. During that same year, another tract of land was purchased to serve as the parish cemetery. Firmly established, the parish continued to grow and prosper despite the strife and political changes in Russia that continued to affect the lives and morale of the parishioners.

In 1926 Fr. Vladimir Lilikovich became pastor and during his five years of service the parish took on new life. A parochial school was established and in 1927 the Sisterhood of the Assumption of the Theotokos was organized. In 1932 Fr. Stakhy Borichevsky became pastor, an office he held until 1949 when he was succeeded by Fr. Paul Shafran. Fr. Paul served in this capactiy until 2002, when he was granted retirement and attached as Pastor Emeritus. Fr. Martin Kraus served the parish from 2002-2007.  Archpriest Eugene Vansuch was assigned to the parish in January 2008 and served for three months until his unexpected falling asleep in the Lord on March 23, 2008.  May his memory be eternal!  Fr. Jason Vansuch, son of Fr. Eugene Vansuch, replaced him shortly thereafter, remaining as pastor through June 2013.  Fr. John Diamantis served as pastor from 2013-2015.

*Our wonderful pastor is now Fr. Volodymyr Chaikivskyi. Fr. Volodymyr and Matushka Oksana are originally 

 

 

 

from Ukraine. They have two young children: daughter Anna and son Nicholas.

 

As the church community continued to grow, in 1942 the parish built a two-story rectory. Five years later, additional land was purchased to expand the cemetery and another two lots were bought adjoining the rectory on Grand St. In 1951, the growing parish community made it necessary to enlarge the church building. After the enlargement was completed a new iconostasis was installed and the interior of the building was renovated. A decision was made to adorn the interior walls with Byzantine iconography and Mr. Pimen Sofronov was hired to design and execute the frescoes. After completing his work at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Syracuse, NY, Mr. Sofronov arrived in Trenton in 1954 and began his work with the icon of Christ for the iconostasis. After working day and night for two years, Mr. Sophronov completed the magnificent iconographic frescoes in 1956.

As the parish continued to grow in number it became clear that a church hall was needed to accommodate its educational and social activities. In 1959, Mr. Feodor Bonderchuk donated a corner plot of land next to the church in memory of his daughter, Daria. A few years later, a building fund drive was held and the hall was built. Daria Hall was dedicated on November 22, 1964. Another large and unexpected gift of land was received in 1965 when Mr. Peter Traskewicz donated more than ten acres of land in Hamilton Square to be used as a recreation area in memory of his wife, Nadezhda. Several men of the parish, led by Mr. John Chanczewsky, built a large picnic pavilion of steel. In 1997 the picnic grounds were the site of the parish's first carnival, held May 21-24. St. Vladimir is fortunate to have these wonderful facilities to support the many activities in our parish!

 

COME GROW WITH US!                        COME PRAY WITH US!