The continued existence of Saints Sergius and Herman of Valaam is a testimony to the veracity of the Faith and indomitability of the Holy Spirit. The mission began with a small handful of women in the basement of a family home and now is housed in a former Catholic Church. This community has not only survived but thrived in a rugged and isolated region despite repeated setbacks and evolving leadership. Over the years, the church has been served by a number of visiting priests when finding one willing to move his family here proved impossible. It could never have survived without the faithful leadership and devotion of its founders, who trusted the Holy Spirit to guide them through repeated trials and disappointments. We have learned to find strength in our challenges and courage in our community and can see the fruits of our labors.
The transient nature of a university town means that while we have a higher percentage of students who will only live and worship here for a limited number of years, it has also presented the opportunity to engage with young, vibrant people in their college and graduate school years. These students bring brawn to the parish workdays and their engineering expertise to our computer systems. Their vitality and ready service as altar servers, readers, and singers are a joy to the locals who worship here. The university has also been a means of bringing the faith to the world. Since Father’s ordination to the priesthood in 2019 (he was previously the permanent deacon here), he has catechized and baptized six students.
The congenial community has also enabled cradle Orthodox students to strengthen their faith and take it on as their own. We spend the time training them in the tones and structure of the services, knowing that we will never reap what we sow. We prepare them to go serve other parishes with their gifts, and we are grateful for their larger service.
One of our new projects is renting rooms in the rectory to male Orthodox college students. In exchange for their assistance with services, snow removal, and basic maintenance, the students will receive formation and a very reasonable rental price. This is a unique opportunity for both the parishioners and the students and creates a beautiful relationship that is beneficial to all.
Living in an economically depressed region is a challenge, but it also gives us an opportunity to be present to others. We take seriously the Lord’s command to feed His sheep in both material and immaterial ways. We provide regular meals after weekly catechism, weeknight services, and Sundays and operate a food bank. During the early days of COVID, Father’s wife and children assembled and distributed boxes of food and basic cleaning supplies to families who were quarantined without the financial means to afford the loss of work. The parish community regularly takes up a collection to provide toiletries for the elderly through another organization that distributes parcels as well as collections of diapers and wipes for the local crisis pregnancy center’s diaper bank.
As we approach the thirtieth anniversary of our founding, we strive to be generous with what has been given to us. As we have been blessed to receive gifts of liturgical items, we pay it forward by sharing with other smaller missions in our region. We feel that we are finally hitting our stride, and we know that we have done so only with the generosity of others who have been moved by God.
Our current physical projects include new siding and interior decorating. We also want to re-gravel the parking area and purchase a new play structure for the benefit of our growing population. Since Father’s ordination just over five years ago, he has baptized eighteen souls, several of them children. We currently have three catechumens, including an infant, and will receive another catechumen before Pascha. We need to purchase more tables and chairs for coffee hour to seat the newest members of our community, and we have rearranged our rooms to accommodate us all. We find that parishioners linger long after coffee hour and enjoy the time that they spend together.
Other plans include advertising so that we can continue to bring the Good News to our neighbors as well as the creation of a physical lending library and a collection of digital videos for catechetical purposes. Father’s experience as a university philosophy instructor provides him with experience in creating educational programming. Father currently has two sons at Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, New York. With the graduation of the elder son in only a few weeks, one who has not yet married or been assigned elsewhere, he hopes to expand the catechetical offerings and the ability to refine the training of altar servers.
Saints Sergius and Herman is a community unlike any other, and we are all so grateful to call it our home. The funds of generous donors to Share the Faith allow us and other smaller communities to continue to do the work that we do so that more souls may be brought to Christ and more people may find comfort in the Lord. May God, who is never outdone in generosity, bless abundantly the donors and leadership of Share the Faith.
