St. Nicholas Church (Kenosha, Wisconsin)
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.
Rectors of St. Nicholas Church
- 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
