St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral

Description

The St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox parish was founded in 1949, shortly after World War II, when immigrants who fled Communist Ukraine began arriving in the United States. Services for the 65 families were held in various rented premises in Washington, DC, until a building was purchased on 16th Street and converted into a church.

In 1986 eight acres of land were purchased in Silver Spring, Maryland, and construction of a church in the classical Kozak Baroque style began, designed by architect M. Nimtsev.

That same year news of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster stunned the world with the tragic news, and the parish was moved to dedicate their church building to the memory of all those who perished in that disaster. The victims of Chernobyl are unfailingly commemorated at every Divine Liturgy.

The church building was completed in 1987 and was consecrated on April 24, 1988 – a thousand years after Rus’-Ukraine became a Christian State.

The patron saint of the church is St. Andrew The First-Called, and a mosaic commemorating his prophesy on the hills of Kyiv was installed on the frontal exterior wall of the church building.

The church is a cathedral, and the Eparchial Bishop is His Eminence Metropolitan Antony, Archbishop of Washington and New York who resides at the Metropolia Center in S. Bound Brook, NJ.

The parish leader is Father Volodymyr Steliac who serves the parish since 2001.