View source for St. Nicholas Church (Kenosha, Wisconsin)


[[File:Stnickkenosha.jpg|right|thumb|px200|St. Nicholas, 2014]]

St. Nicholas Church is a church of the [[Diocese]] of Chicago and the Midwest of the [[Orthodox Church in America|OCA]].  The parish was established in 1912, and the current church building, designed by Archpriest James Piateski, was completed in 1930, and since 1987 has been designated a Kenosha local landmark.  

==History==
As the city of Kenosha grew at the beginning of the 20th century by virtue of being part of the industrial belt on Lake Michigan between Chicago and Milwaukee, Slavic immigrants began to settle in the city.  One of these immigrants was a man by the name of Max Petelin, who, with his sister Tatiana, encouraged their group to attend religious services with other Slavs.  At this time, there was no Orthodox Church in the area, so eventually the group in Kenosha requested that a priest come up from Chicago to conduct services.  The first services were held in the Petelin home, but the space was not sufficient for the numbers wishing to attend on Holy Days.   For a time, space was rented at St. Matthew Episcopal Church in Kenosha, but the expense made it prohibitive in the long term.  

The group realized that they would need to organize and create an income base, and on 1 May 1912, a meeting was held that founded the church and later that month, the St. Nicholas Orthodox Brotherhood Mutual Aid Society was established, providing a means for members to help each other and to build an actual building of their own.  

In 1916, a half-block lot was purchased, and the church hall was finished in 1918.  It was also in 1918 that St. Nicholas was able to get its first full-time priest, Priest-Monk Peter Zaichencko.

St. Nicholas' second priest, Archpriest James Piateski, was also an architect, and he designed and oversaw the construction of the parish's church building, which was completed in 1930, and consecrated by Metropolitan Platon of the Russian Metropolia and His Grace Feofil, Bishop of Chicago. 

In 1973, a fire destroyed much of the church, and it took nine months to rebuild.

St. Nicholas celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2012.

==Clergy==
*[[Hieromonk Peter Zaichenko]] 1918-1922
*[[V. Rev. James Piateski]] 1922-1938
*[[V. Rev. Peter Dubrovski]] 1939-1940
*[[V. Rev. Alexander Pyza]] 1941-1947
*[[Rev. Prokopius Povarnitsin]] 1947-1948  
*[[Rev. Alexander Fedoronko]] 1948-1955
*[[Rev. John Miller]] 1955-1957
*[[Rev. Michael Dirga]] 1957-1958
*[[Rev. Stephen Jula]] 1958-1959 
*[[V. Rev. K. Kaminsky]] 1959-1963
*[[Rev. Andrew Goidich]] 1963-1966   
*[[Rev. Theodore Orzolek]] 1966-1973
*[[V. Rev. M. Targonsky]]  1973-1974
*[[Hieromonk Alexander Cutler]] 1974-1975
*[[V. Rev. Alexis W. Fedec]] 1975-2005
*[[Fr. Stephen J. Hrycyniak]] 2005-present


==Sources==
* St. Nicholas 100th anniversary book
*[http://www.kenosha.org/departments/development/pdf/HP_archive/StNicholas.pdf A Look Back in Time] City of Kenosha site

==External links==
*[http://stnickskenosha.org/ St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin]

[[Category:Churches]]
[[Category:USA Churches]]