To the administrator of The Byzantine Forum:
I wonder if you would be willing to post this to the forum (of which I am not a member - the computer signup process is too daunting for some of us). It was posted on the Orthodox list (Indiana) and might be of interest to some of your members.
Thank you for your consideration.
Michael
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Your Grace, Reverend Fathers, Brothers & Sisters in Christ:
I have been a member of this list for approximately 2 years. I rarely write anything, but I do enjoy spending what little free time I have reading the mail from other contributors. I now feel, though, that I have something of interest to contribute. I am a parishioner of St. John the Baptist Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Mayfield, PA. A few years ago our parish was approached by certain individuals about an Orthodox Church in Sheppton, PA. Sheppton is a small town located approximately 60 miles from Mayfield. For those of you who have knowledge about Northeast Pennsylvania, you know that Sheppton is near Hazelton, McAdoo, Frackville and Shenandoah. This little church is not only one of the oldest, but possibly the oldest Orthodox Church located in the northeast part of Pennsylvania. The church is named after St. John the Baptist. At on time, this small parish was the only Orthodox Church located in this specific area of the state of Pennsylvania.
St. John's in Sheppton once has a large number of parishioners; however, as many churches in the coal region, the membership declined due to the death of parishioners, lack of employment causing younger parishioners to move out of the area, opening of other Orthodox Churches in the nearby communities, etc. Twenty years ago, the last Liturgy was served in this small church. The doors were shut and it had been vacant until recently. It was sold to a private contractor who never checked out the interior of the church when he made the purchase. He was interested in the land, not the building itself. After settlement was final and he received the keys, he walked into the building and couldn't believe his eyes! After 20 years, the exterior was weather beaten, but the inside was WELL PRESERVED! The Iconostas is fully intact, the Altar is standing in place with 2 Crosses and 2 Candles lying on top, the Table of Oblation is still there, he found priest and altar server vestments in the Altar, candle stands in front of the Iconostas. In the choir loft there stood the choir stands with sheet music on them, 2 bells in the belfry in very good condition. The floors, walls, ceiling and rafters are as sound as the day they were laid. This is only a brief description of this wonderful miracle!!!
The contractor could not find it in his heart to tear down this tribute to God. He asked around as to whether or not any church would be interested in the religious articles- perhaps even the building. The Amish were interested in the lumber, but it would have defeated the contractor's purpose of sparing this House of God. Anyway, to make a long story longer, our parish of St. John's in Mayfield, has taken upon itself the responsibility to restore this Orthodox Church. This past summer a new roof was put on so this costly end of repair is taken care of by parishioners and friends of St. John's. Due to inclimate weather of the region, the exterior wood of the church is dried, but we are looking for methods on how to restore it without replacing it. We are trying to keep the original church in tact as much as possible.
The purpose of my writing this, I suppose, is to see if any of you out there would be interested in helping with the preservation of this Orthodox Church. Donations towards the reconstruction of the church would be greatly appreciated. We realize that we need to add a handicap entrance to the church, we need to clean the interior walls, ceiling, floor and iconostasis. The restoration of the existing Icons is needed along with a fresh coat or two of paint for the interior walls.
If you check out our parish's web page which is
www.stjohnsroc.org [
stjohnsroc.org] you will be able to see photos of exterior and interior of the church in Sheppton. As I mentioned earlier, the new roof is on; however, we still have to develop and add photos of this project to the web page.
Any information you may need on this matter should be found on the web page; however, if you have any questions that are not answered you can e-mail me at otec@icontech.com and I hope to have the answers.
If in someway you can help with this project financially, your donations will be GREATLY appreciated. Such a treasure as this church cannot be neglected nor lost. We, as Orthodox, should help to restore the beauty of this church and the Orthodox Faith within this community of Sheppton.
With much anticipation and gratitude, I Thank You!
Sincerely,
Nathaniel Sorochka
