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Philadelphia, PA
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Church Address:
9230 Old Bustleton Ave,
Philadelphia, PA 19115
Web: http://homepage.mac.com/aliciaj17/sspeterpaulhome1.html
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Founded in 1915
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Parish Contacts
V. Rev.
Stephen Siniari, Rector
Office: 609-348-4070
Email: ssiniari@covenanthouse.org
V. Rev.
H Gregory Dudash, Attached
32 Aspen Way
Schwenksville, PA 19473
Home: 610-287-3981
Email: frduck@verizon.net
Rev. Dn.
Gregory Vrato, Attached
9729 Lochwood Rd
Philadelphia, PA 19115
Home: 215-673-6984
Email: Greg.Vrato@prisons.phila.gov
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Lay Leadership
Mrs. Christina Murianka, Choir Director
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Directions
From North and South
Take I-95 to Academy Rd exit. Follow Academy Rd to the 2nd traffic light, Willits Rd. Turn left onto Willits Rd, which turns into Welsh Rd. Follow Welsh Rd across Roosevelt Blvd (US Rt 1) to Old Bustleton Ave (at the 7-11 store). Turn left at Old Bustleton, church is half a block on the right. Parking is available behind the church, as well as directly to the right of the Church, courtesy of the Galzerano Funeral Home, in their parking lot.
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Schedule of Services
All services are in English.
Sunday Morning
10:00 AM Divine Liturgy.
Wednesday Evening
7:00 PM Akathist
Great Lent
Lenten Services as announced.
Wednesday Evenings in Great Lent
7:00 PM Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts followed by Adult Education and Lenten "covered dish".
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Ministry Groups
Tonsured Readers
Stephen Murianka, Kakhaber Okropiridze, Gregory Shaloka.
Parish Library
Our parish is collecting artifacts from Albanians arriving in the early part of the 20th Century for our Founders Archives Section: icons, books, photos, documents, etc.
Contact: Stuart Barenbaum
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Librarian
Parish Choir
Under the adept leadership of Ms Christina Murianka, the Parish Choir is continuously learning new variations of hymns as well as perfecting the traditional ones.
Ladies Society
Not only does the Ladies Society sponsor fund-raising activities, such as "Hot Dog Sundays" and the Christmas Bazaar, they also provide assistance and comestibles for Fellowship every Sunday after Liturgy and for Memorials. Correspondingly, they serve the poor in cooperation with St John's hospice and Covenant House in center city Philadelphia.
Church Council
Aside from overseeing the basic operations of the Church, the Council, under the leadership of Stephen Murianka, is continuing with both small and large projects. The upstairs hall was renovated with new paint, tables, curtains and pictures. New carpeting will be added soon. The Sunday School will soon have new bookshelves and storage cabinets. The long range goal is either an expansion of the current Church building or the construction of a new Church edifice.
Church Library
We are attempting to catalogue all of our books so they may be made available for use by our parishioners.
Fellowship
Coffee hour and Fellowship is held every Sunday immediately following Divine Liturgy.
Sunday School
Our Sunday School is divided into 3 different age group: the 5-7 year olds, taught by Rose Shaloka, the 8-10 year olds taught by Stuart Barenbaum and the 11-13 year olds taught by Christina Reeves. The 5-7 group will be covering Bible stories, starting with the Old Testament and working their way into the New Testament. The 8-10 group will cover heroes of the faith who have responded to God's call. Through these examples of faith, loyalty, self-sacrifice, obedience, justice and social responsibility, the students learn to respond to God in terms of personal faith and the basics of Christian morality. The 11-13 year olds will be covering the New Testament and exploring practical aspects of the Christian adventure: How to worship, how to know God's Will, how to enjoy God's gifts, and more.
Contact: Reader Gregory Shaloka
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Coordinator
Basic Church History Class
Conducted by Stuart Barenbaum. Dates and Times to be announced.
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Upcoming Events
No Information at this time
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Parish Background
SS Peter and Paul was founded in 1915, serving the first Divine Liturgy on December 25 of that year. The priest appointed to serve was Fr Naum Cere, the building was a rented facility at 4th and Sharswood Sts. Three years later, the community had gathered enough funds to purchase the church building at Hancock and Oxford Sts. The new building was renovated by parishioners and was consecrated by then Archimandrite, Theofan S Noli, on January 12, 1919.
Fr Marko Kondili served the parish from that time until 1928. Fr George Suli endured the sacrifices of the Great Depression with the parish. Fr Nikolla Prifti served the parish from 1934 until his falling asleep in 1941. From 1943 through the difficult years of the Second World War, the parish flock was tended by Fr Christo Costa. In the postwar years, the parish was cared for by Fr Haralamp Dode, Fr Costa Belba, and Fr Diogen Econom.
In 1949, another transition took place. Far ahead of many local Orthodox parishes, the choir began to sing responses in English, thanks to the publication of the reanslation work of then Bishop Theophan Noli. Ordained to the priesthood in June 1949 by Bishop Noli, Fr Stephen Lasko served the parish from 1951 to 1955. He was followed by Fr Constantine Noni, formerly the Abbot of the Monastery of Kalishti, Albania. Many of our current parishioners received the sacrament of marriage or baptism through Fr Noni. Under the pastorate of Fr Vangel Avgerinos, who served from 1958 to 1961, the parish made further progress, using English as the language of the Liturgy and for the reading of the Gospel. From 1961 until 1964, the pastor was Fr Ernest Tsonis, among the first of the American-born clergy, and the first to use the Theological Fund for his seminary studies at St Vladimirs in New York.
Through another transition, and the formation of the Albanian Archdiocese as a part of the soon to become autocephalous Orthodox Church in America, Fr Gregory Fontaine served the parish from 1964 through 1969. The following year, Hieromonk Roman Serdynski came to serve SS Peter and Paul. He had returned to Philadelphia for treatment of a kidney ailment. It was through the efforts of Fr Roman that the seed was planted to find a new parish building, in the northeast part of the city. During Fr Roman's extended grave illness, and after his falling asleep in September 1974, the parish was served by Fr Basil Horsky. Fr Basil was retired, but came to serve with saintly humility and great love. Shortly after celebrating his 80th birthday at the parish, he served the last Liturgy of his life with us.
It was then that Fr John Rachko, who travelled 62 miles wach way from Bethlehem, PA, came to serve the parish. Through his spiritual care and fatherly guidance, the parish finally achieved the goal of relocating to a new church facility. Once again, the parishioners gave of their time, efforts, talents and finances to make the needed renovations.
In 1983, Fr Antony Bassoline came to served the parish for a six month period, which became ten years. He was a fiery preacher, a scholarly theologion and a talented linguist. It was Fr Antony who shaped the Liturgical form we now use, blending the Slavonic Typicon, used in our Liturgy of the Word, with the Byzantine Typicon, used in the Liturgy of the Faithful. At the untimely falling asleep of Fr Antony, the parish was blessed to be served by Fr George Gregory, who had only just retired. He, too, came for a period of months, which became five years. And he, too, travelled a considerable distance, often when a more cautious man would not have come. Through his steadfastness, the unity and stability of the parish was maintained. As Fr George had so graciously agreed, when a priest became available for permanent appointment, he returned to retirement.
That gift came to us in the person of Fr Stephen Siniari. Baptized at SS Peter and Paul, his spiritual journey has been an extended and mission-oriented one. Even while Fr Stephen continues his work of ministering to the needs of the poor and the homeless, we rejoice at the work of the Lord in bringing Fr Stephen, Priftesha Margot and their family home to us.
SS Peter and Paul is a parish of acceptance, diverse peoples, spiritual seeking, and great joy because it has been so well cared by its pastors and people. We hope you will join with us singing the responses and in sharing our full liturgical involvment.
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