On Wednesday, December 18, the eve of the feast of Holy Hierarch Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, St. John the Wonderworker Church began services at her newly constructed temple, after having worshipped in rental spaces around Lewisburg, PA, in the Central Susquehanna Valley of Northern Appalachia, since 2015.

Parishioners, inquirers, and neighbors rejoiced at the opening of the new church, which sits on six acres including a small cemetery and room hopefully for future expansion. The new location is in Winfield, PA, in Union Township, just south of Lewisburg, and is the only ROCOR parish in Central Pennsylvania.

The parish began with the blessing of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Hilarion and earlier encouragement by then-Bishop George (Schaeffer), with Hieromonk Claude Vineyard having come out of retirement to pastor the new mission at its inception nine years ago. Almost all the mission members are converts, and the parish is connected with nearby Bucknell University’s Orthodox Christian community as well.

Members and friends rejoiced in the new space, and they continue with beautification efforts both inside and outside, including plans for an "onion dome" and cross to be installed on the roof hopefully this spring.

The first services at the new temple, including the Nativity of our Lord, also marked a transition as Priest George Sharonoff, after five years as rector, moved to a new assignment for mission work in St. Stephen Church in Old Forge, PA. Priest Paul Siewers assumed duties as rector at St. John. He also is Orthodox chaplain at Bucknell, where he is a professor specializing in Christian literature.

"We are so grateful to the Diocese for the love and support extended to us in our birth as a mission, first by Metropolitan Hilarion of blessed memory, and then by Metropolitan Nicholas, who has been steadfast and nurturing in his archpastoral care, and by so many others," said Fr. Paul. "Without the grace of God and that support, and the selfless and caring pastoring first of Fr. Claude and then of Fr. George, who grew the mission over the past five years, we would not be here today."

The mission as it moves into the new building has just started an "Introduction to Orthodoxy" course online for local inquirers and members wishing to refresh their understanding of the faith, supplementing an in-person weekly Bible Study conducted by Fr. Paul at the Bucknell bookstore for the community, together with a new daily video Gospel reading with commentary from Church Fathers. In addition, regular campus dinners for Orthodox students are being planned. In recent years, the parish has increased offering of services to include weekly Vigil and also all of the major feasts.

For Theophany, the mission plans for the second year to bless the nearby Susquehanna River. In advance of the proclamation of the Trinity at Theophany, a large print of St. Andrei Rublev’s Trinity icon, the Hospitality of Abraham, was installed in the new Church this week as well.

The mission’s members and catechumens have journeyed to Orthodoxy from varied backgrounds, including Lutheranism, Catholicism, Southern Baptist, Assemblies of God and various other Protestant sects, as well as from neopaganism, Unitarianism, and Christian Science. As pilgrims on earth, they offer thanks to God for their new Church home, and for their Church family in "the family of Israel" (Jeremiah), the Orthodox Church, and in ROCOR.

For more information on the mission, and for a link to donate to help with further improvements to the temple, please see www.stjohnthewonderworker.com, or contact priestpauls@pm.me, 570-863-9039.