Храм святой Елизаветы (Паулсбо)

Fr. Vadim of St. Spiridon’s in Seattle Washington regularly visited elderly people in the Poulsbo area since 1980. By 1994 there were seven families commuting from Poulsbo to Seattle for Divine Liturgies. In 1994, St. Spiridon’s acquired another priest, Fr. Timothy Perry, the time was finally right for Fr. Vadim to start a “Westside” mission.

The new mission started off meeting at a local funeral home two Saturdays a month. Later services were held at St. Bede’s in Port Orchard. Unfortunately, the mission did not do as well as they hoped and in June of 1996 Fr. Timothy was reassigned to an “Eastside” mission in Kirkland.

The original demand did not dwindle, but rather grew as more Orthodox families moved to the Kitsap area. In June 2000 Fr. Vadim decided to give it another try with two major differences: services were now held on Sundays, and services were held at St. Peter’s Church in Suquamish.

There were now 23 families on the mailing list and thanks to extensive advertising, 45 people showed up for the Mission’s first Divine Liturgy on June 11, 2000. The mission was off to a much better start and among its parish it had; three readers, a trained choir director, several experienced singers, and numerous people who had served on parish councils elsewhere.

In January 2001 the mission council was formed and decided on a list of possible patron Saints. Eight months later, in August 2001, His Grace the Right Reverend Tikhon recognized the mission and placed it under the protection of St. Elizabeth the New Martyr of Russia.

In February of 2002 the Mission’s fortunes switched again when Fr. Michael Dunbar of St. Spiridon’s had back surgery and Fr. Vadim was no longer free to conduct the Liturgies. Up until this point the Mission showed steady growth with a peak of 51 families on the mailing list. The Dean of Missions, V. Rev. Ian MacKinnon, arranged for Fr. David Shank from Oregon to be the new priest-in-charge. While Fr. David Shank faithfully came every other week for Vespers as well as Divine Liturgy, the changing leadership circumstances were finally taking their toll and attendance hit an all time low of 15.

The Mission council steadily worked toward a full time priest; their new Dean of Missions, Fr. Matthew Tate, was of great assistance. Finally, in July 2003 Fr. Christopher Swanson from Passaic New Jersey arrived in time to serve the Divine Liturgy on St. Elizabeth’s feast day. Within one month of his arrival, attendance was back up to 40 for Divine Liturgy, and Vespers attendance tripled. Since that time attendance has been steadily increasing.

Адрес:
Rev. Christopher Swanson,
Acting Rector
6534 NE Plum St.
Suquamish, WA 98382
frc@stelizabethorthodox.org

St. Elizabeth Mission
20714 State Highway 305, Suite 2F
Poulsbo, WA 98370
(360) 598-9700

Источник: www.stelizabethorthodox.org