St. Vladimir's Church — Lopez, Pennsylvania

CONTACT US

St. Vladimir Orthodox Church

127 Main Street [P.O. Box 211] Lopez, PA  18628

Visit Us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LopezpaOCA

Rectory Phone:  570-928-8909

Fr. Dennis Hendershot (attached)  607-598-2225 and frdkh1@aol.com

SERVICE SCHEDULE

The Sunday Divine Liturgy is on the first and third Sundays of the month at 10 A.M.

Note:  It is always best to call for service times and services.  Fr. Dennis is a retired Priest attached to our parish and will be living over an hour away.  There are NO other Orthodox Churches nearby.

ABOUT US

St. Vladimir Orthodox Church is a parish of the Orthodox Church in America and is in the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania.  See below for a little introduction on “Who We Are.”

LOCATION

We are located in the town of Lopez, Pennsylvania in the midst of the “Endless Mountains,” so-called because as many as seven mountain ranges converge here in north central and northeast Pennsylvania, the major ones being the Appalachians (Allegheny’s) and the Catskills (Poconos).  Two of the most beautiful parks in the East are within 2o miles of Lopez, World’s End State Park and Ricketts Glen State Park.  When visiting or vacationing in this area- and you should! – come worship with us!

Lopez has an interesting history.  You can read about the town and current news/events here.

WHO WE ARE…

Many residents and visitors to Lopez refer to St. Vladimir’s as the “Russian Church on the hill”  and our social hall is the “Russian Hall.”    We have a long history in Lopez (106 years!) and have been a big part of the community.   We are glad to be here and proud of the role we have played in this community as “the Russian Church on the hill.”   But there are some things you need to know about our Church, especially in these times.

St. Vladimir’s does have it’s roots in Eastern Europe and Russia.  Like many immigrants who made their way to this great country to make a better life for themselves, whether it be for economic reasons or to escape political systems (communism!);  they were able to bring with them their Faith and traditions and to worship in their own language.  We brought to Lopez the Orthodox Christian Faith.  We built our Church and we worshipped in Church Slavonic, our native church language.  Many of us spoke Russian or Ukranian or Slovak in our homes.  We were at first an “exotic” addition to Lopez and then we were Lopez neighbors and friends.  Isn’t America great?

Now many years have passed and the descendants of these brave and faithful founders are no longer known as “the Russians,” but as Americans.  Many have kept their Orthodox Faith and now worship in their native tongue, ENGLISH.  Others coming from a variety of religious traditions (or no religious background at all) have since joined us.  They became members of St. Vladimir’s not because it was “Russian,” but because they found their spiritual “home” in the Orthodox Christian Faith.

We are the Christian Church.  We worship and pray to the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.  Our roots are in the Apostles.  Our teachings are from the Holy Scriptures (the Bible) as interpreted through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Our faith has shown an amazing consistency for nearly 2000 years.  We still recite and confess the original creed, the “Symbol of Faith” established by the one Christian Church in 325 and 381 A.D. (the Nicene Creed) at every Sunday service.

At the center of our life is communion with the Risen Christ, therefore our Faith is not just a “belief,” but a way of life.