About Saint Andrew the Apostle [Ukrainian] · Lancaster, Pennsylvania
St. Andrew the Apostle Ukrainian Catholic Church is a Byzantine (Eastern-rite) Catholic mission congregation in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania area, administered by the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia. The community gathers every Sunday at 1:00 PM for the Divine Liturgy in English and Ukrainian in the chapel of the former Dominican Monastery of the Immaculate Heart on Lititz Pike in Manheim Township. Bilingual religious education classes for children and adults, an active outreach to war-affected Ukraine, and a warmly hospitable spirit characterize this small but devoted mission parish.
- Patron
- Saint Andrew the Apostle (the 'First-Called')
- Rector
- Rev. Roman Sverdan (Pastor of Nativity of the BVM, Reading, PA, and Administrator of St. Andrew Mission, Lancaster — assignment effective May 1, 2020)
- Diocese
- Archeparchy of Philadelphia (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church — a Byzantine Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with Rome)
Why belong here
If you are a Ukrainian Catholic — or simply drawn to the Byzantine liturgical tradition celebrated in two languages — St. Andrew offers a rare thing in the Lancaster area: a full Sunday Divine Liturgy (1 PM) in English and Ukrainian, along with weekly religious-education classes (catechism, Bible study, and Tradition) for children and adults, and a tight-knit community that welcomes newcomers with fellowship after Liturgy. It is also a small, agile parish with a deeply lived outreach, having rapidly organized humanitarian aid shipments for Ukraine during times of crisis.
Mass times at Saint Andrew the Apostle [Ukrainian]
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday — one half hour before Divine Liturgy (approximately 12:30 PM)
About the Mission
St. Andrew the Apostle is a Ukrainian Greek Catholic mission in the Lancaster, PA area, under the Byzantine-rite Archeparchy of Philadelphia — an Eastern Catholic Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. It is administered by the pastor of Nativity of the BVM Ukrainian Catholic Church in Reading, PA and ministers to Ukrainian Catholics and English-speaking faithful in Lancaster County.
Worship & Liturgical Schedule
The community gathers each Sunday for the Byzantine Divine Liturgy — celebrated in a bilingual mix of English and Ukrainian — inside the chapel of the former Dominican Monastery of the Immaculate Heart on Lititz Pike. Because the parish is a small mission, the schedule is intentionally simple: one Sunday Liturgy, with confessions heard beforehand.
- Sunday Divine Liturgy — 1:00 PM (English and Ukrainian)
- Confession — approximately 12:30 PM (half hour before Divine Liturgy)
- Fellowship after each Liturgy
Religious Education (English & Ukrainian)
Every Sunday, in conjunction with the Divine Liturgy, the mission offers catechism, Bible study and Tradition classes for both children and adults. Classes are conducted bilingually in English and Ukrainian, reflecting the parish's dual-language character.
- Children's catechism
- Adult Bible study
- Tradition (Tradytziya) class — formation in the customs and liturgical patrimony of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
History of the Worship Site
For years the mission has celebrated its Divine Liturgy in the chapel of the Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of the Dominican Cloistered Nuns, 1834 Lititz Pike, Manheim Township. The monastery was built in 1955 to house nearly 40 contemplative sisters. By 2021 only four remained and the community was formally transferred to Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx. The 35,000-square-foot property was purchased for $3.5 million by CHI St. Joseph Children's Health, which is converting it into a private K-12 school (the Mary Francis Bachmann School). The buyer publicly committed to preserve the chapel and invited St. Andrew Ukrainian Catholic Church to continue holding its Sunday-afternoon services there.
Outreach to Ukraine
The parish's most visible pastoral initiative in recent years has been its response to war in Ukraine. On Sunday, February 27, 2022 — its first service after the Russian full-scale invasion — Rev. Roman Sverdan preached in both English and Ukrainian on the power of forgiveness to roughly two dozen parishioners, many of them immigrants from western Ukraine. The community organized 40–50 boxes of food, clothing, blankets, tourniquets and painkillers that were shipped through Poland to civilians and soldiers in Ukraine. As one parishioner told the Lancaster Online, the mission is "our little island in America."
- Rapid-response humanitarian aid drives for Ukraine
- Continued prayer and solidarity with the Ukrainian homeland
- Donations of supplies and money welcome
Clergy & Leadership
Because St. Andrew is a mission rather than an independent parish, its priest also serves as pastor of Nativity of the BVM Ukrainian Catholic Church in Reading, PA.
- Rev. Roman Sverdan — Pastor of Nativity of the BVM (Reading) and Administrator of St. Andrew Mission (Lancaster); assigned by the Archeparchy effective May 1, 2020; previously Pastor of St. Michael Church in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Links to Other Ukrainian Catholic Parishes
Through its administrator, the mission is closely tied to its sister parish Nativity of the BVM in Reading, PA. Its archeparchial listings are maintained on the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia's website.
- Nativity of the BVM Ukrainian Catholic Church, Reading, PA (sister parish)
- Archeparchy of Philadelphia (Ukrainian) — ukrcatholic.org
Visit, Contact & Practical Information
Visitors are warmly welcomed. The mission can be reached by phone or email through the Archeparchy office; in-person visits are best timed for the Sunday Liturgy and the post-Liturgy fellowship that follows.
- Address: 1834 Lititz Pike, Lancaster, PA 17601
- Phone: (610) 376-0586
- Email: [email protected]
- Social: facebook.com/ukrainianchurchlancasterpa
- Informational page: nativitybvmchurch.wixsite.com/st-andriy (bilingual English / Ukrainian)
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Mark Fesniakprior to May 2020
Pastor of Nativity of the BVM Church in Reading, PA and Administrator of St. Andrew Mission in Lancaster, PA; reassigned May 1, 2020 to Pastor of St. Nicholas Church in Minersville, PA and Administrator of Nativity of the BVM in Middleport, PA.
- Rev. Roman SverdanMay 1, 2020 – present
Came from Pastor of St. Michael Church in Cherry Hill, NJ and Administrator of St. Nicholas Church in Millville, NJ; assigned simultaneously as Pastor of Nativity of the BVM in Reading and Administrator of St. Andrew Mission in Lancaster.