SS. Peter and Paul Church

Bayonne, New Jersey

SS. Peter and Paul Church

Founded 1922

Diocese: Diocese of New York and New Jersey

Deanery: New Jersey Deanery

Address

98 W 28th St
Bayonne, New Jersey 07002

Email:

Website: sspeterandpaulbayonne.org

Office: 201-436-3244

Parish Contacts

Rector
Home: 201-436-3244

Lay Leadership

Rdr. Stephen Wasilewski
Acting Parish Council President
Home: 201-960-4352
Mr. Yuriy Galkin
Choir Director
Mrs. Marge Kovach
Church School Coordinator

Directions

From the New Jersey Turnpike
Get off at exit 14A. Continue ahead on Ave E to 29th St. Turn right onto 29th St and continue three blocks to J.F. Kennedy Blvd. Turn left onto J.F. Kennedy Blvd, and in one block turn left again onto 28th St. The Church and parking lot are on the corner of J.F. Kennedy Blvd and 28th Street.

From Staten Island via Bayonne Bridge
Take the Kennedy Blvd North exit. Turn Left onto J.F. Kennedy Blvd. Continue to follow J.F. Kennedy Blvd for 1.4 miles, until 28th Street. Turn right onto 28th St. The Church and parking lot are on the corner of J.F. Kennedy Blvd and 28th Street.

Schedule of Services

5:00 PM Great Vespers and Confessions.
Saturday Evening

9:30 AM Divine Liturgy followed by the Fellowship Hour.
Sunday Morning

6:00 PM Great Vespers or Vigil.
Eves of Great Feasts

9:30 AM Divine Liturgy.
Mornings of Great Feasts

For a complete list of upcoming services or changes in schedule, please visit the Monthly Calendar on the parish website, or call the parish rectory.

Confessions are heard following Vespers/Vigil or before Divine Liturgy.
Confessions

Parish Background

In 1918, Archbishop Alexander Nemolovsky, of the Russian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America and the Aleutian Islands, authorized a group of Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants from Hungary to establish a new parish, named Ss. Peter and Paul’s, in Bayonne, New Jersey. This group organized the Carpatho-Russian American Citizens Club in 1919, which was instrumental in organizing the new parish. The parish was incorporated on December 22, 1922 by the State of New Jersey, and this date has since been regarded as the founding of the parish. A month later a house on West 27th Street and two lots of land on West 28th Street were purchased as the rectory and site of the church. Construction of the church was completed in September 1924. In 1936 construction began on a new church building (the current one), which was completed in May 1938. As Bayonne’s only structure of Russo-Byzantine architecture, the new church became a local landmark. In the years that followed improvements such as new bells, a chandelier, iconography on the walls, stained glass windows were added to the church. A parking lot was built in 1957 and the house adjacent to the church was bought in 1964, which was later demolished, and a new rectory built, in 1980. New wall icons for the church were painted in 1972.

Over the course of its 100+ year history, Ss. Peter and Paul’s was served by thirteen parish priests: Rev. Alexis Nikolin, V. Rev. John Chepeleff, V. Rev. Michael Perhach, V. Rev. Constantine Buketoff, V. Rev. John Kopystansky, V. Rev. Damian Krehel, V. Rev. Theodosius Kiryluk, V. Rev. Michael Chanda, Rev. Ivan Mirov, V. Rev. Nicholas Fedetz, V. Rev. Arkadiusz Mironko, Rev. Igor Kseniuk, and V. Rev. W. Sophrony Royer. The parish has had twenty-seven presidents of its parish council since 1922:  Andrew Bascik, Benedict Benda, Theodore Benda, Kenneth Bianchini, John T. Brelinsky, Mark Cap, Leon Chomiak, John J. DeMay, John S. DeMay, Samuel DeMay, Paul Duda, Stephen Fedorko, Stephen Korbelak, Stephen Kostura, Stephen Kuzmich, Peter Lopen, Andrew Pelehach, Robert Pierce, Joseph Plaskon, Nicholas Skripak, Stephen Skripak, Peter Smerick, John Wanko, Dr. Michael Wanko, Stephen Wanko, Thomas Wanko, and Reader Stephen Wasilewski. There have also been numerous officers and trustees who have dedicated their time and services to the parish council since the parish’s founding.

The parish has had four affiliated organizations: the Ss. Peter and Paul’s Ladies Guild (now defunct), the Carpatho-Russian American Citizens Club, the Bayonne Alpha “R” Club, and Lodge #100 of the Russian Brotherhood Organization of the U.S.A. Parishioner John Wanko is the national presiding officer ofthe Russian Brotherhood Organization of the U.S.A.