Saint Michael [Ukrainian]

History of St. Michael's Parish

St. Michael's was founded by Ukrainian (Ruthenian) Catholic immigrants who began settling in the Shenandoah anthracite-coal region in the 1870s. In 1884 they petitioned Metropolitan Sylvester Sembratovych of Lviv for a priest, and the 27-year-old Rev. John Woliansky was sent from Galicia. He celebrated the first Ruthenian Catholic Vespers in Kern Hall on the evening of December 18, 1884. From this parish Father Woliansky launched the Brotherhood of St. Nicholas (1885), the first Ukrainian choir, reading room, evening school, and cemetery in the United States, as well as the first Ukrainian newspaper, Amerika (1886). A frame church on Center Street was blessed on November 21, 1886. As the parish grew, a larger Byzantine church and rectory were built on Oak and Chestnut Streets in 1908, with the first Liturgy in that church celebrated on Palm Sunday 1909.

• Founded 1884 — first Ukrainian Greek-Catholic parish in the United States
• First Divine Liturgy in the U.S.: December 18, 1884, Kern Hall, Shenandoah
• First church blessed: November 21, 1886 (Center Street)
• Larger Byzantine church built 1908–1909 (Oak & Chestnut Streets)
• 1908 church and rectory destroyed by fire, April 7, 1980
• Present church cornerstone blessed and first Divine Liturgy celebrated November 27, 1983
• Pennsylvania Historical Marker placed at the parish

The 1980 Fire and the Rebuilding

On the morning of April 7, 1980, fire destroyed the 1908 Byzantine church and the rectory, together with their priceless antiques, religious art, and icons. Worship was immediately moved to the church hall on West Center Street, and planning for a new building began at once under the leadership of the then-pastor, Father John Bura. Construction of the present Byzantine-style church on South Chestnut Street began in August 1982, and on November 27, 1983, the cornerstone was blessed and the first Divine Liturgy celebrated in the new edifice. Father Bura later became Auxiliary Bishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

Clergy

The parish is currently served by Rev. Bohdan Vasyliv as Pastor, with Very Rev. Mark Fesniak as Administrator, and Rev. Ihor Demydas also listed among the clergy on the Archeparchy directory entry. Inquiries, bulletin requests, and sacramental arrangements are handled through the parish office on South Chestnut Street.

• Rev. Bohdan Vasyliv — Pastor
• Very Rev. Mark Fesniak — Administrator
• Rev. Ihor Demydas — Parochial Clergy

Ministries and Parish Organizations

St. Michael's has a small but historically significant network of parish organizations, the oldest of which — the Brotherhood of St. Nicholas — is itself a foundational institution of Ukrainian American life. Liturgical and choral ministries trace their origin to the first Ukrainian choir organized by Father Woliansky in 1885.

• Brotherhood of St. Nicholas — founded January 18, 1885; the first Ukrainian fraternal brotherhood in the United States
• Parish choir — descended from the first Ukrainian choir in America (1885)

The First Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Institutions in America

From this single parish in Shenandoah, Father Woliansky launched the institutional backbone of Ukrainian Greek-Catholic life in the United States. These pioneering ministries — brotherhood, choir, school, press, and cemetery — all originated here in the 1880s and shaped Ukrainian American religious and cultural identity for generations.

• Brotherhood of St. Nicholas — January 18, 1885 (first Ukrainian fraternal brotherhood in the U.S.)
• First Ukrainian choir in America — 1885
• First Ukrainian reading room (chytalnia) — 1880s
• First Ukrainian evening school in the U.S. — 1880s
• First Ukrainian newspaper, 'Amerika' — August 15, 1886
• St. Michael's Cemetery — first Greek Catholic cemetery in Shenandoah

Contact and Visiting the Parish

St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church is located on South Chestnut Street in Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, in the heart of Pennsylvania's anthracite region. Parishioners and visitors can reach the rectory by phone or email, and the parish maintains both its own website and a directory page on the Archeparchy of Philadelphia site.

• Address: 114 South Chestnut Street, Shenandoah, PA 17976
• Phone: (570) 462-0809
• Fax: (570) 462-0517
• Email: [email protected]
• Parish website: https://www.stmichaelsfirst.com/
• Archeparchy directory: https://ukrcatholic.org/parish/st-michael-the-archangel-ukrainian-catholic-church-shenandoah

Anniversaries and Recent Milestones

St. Michael's regularly marks the major anniversaries of its founding, most recently in December 2024, when Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia traveled to Shenandoah to concelebrate the 140th anniversary of the first Ukrainian Greek-Catholic service in the United States. The parish is also the recipient of a Pennsylvania Historical Marker recognizing its pioneering role and its 1983 rebuilding in the Byzantine style.

• 1884 — first Ruthenian Catholic service in America at Kern Hall
• 1983 — blessing of the cornerstone and first Divine Liturgy in the present church
• 2013 — Pennsylvania Historical Marker placed at the church
• 2024 — 140th anniversary of the parish marked by Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak