Храм Святителя Николая (Шривпорт)

St. Nicholas is located in Shreveport, which is situated on the Red River in Caddo Parish, in the northwest corner of Louisiana. It was founded as a mission station in 1994 by several local families with a vision for Orthodox worship in English and sharing the love of Christ with the local community. A proper history of the parish, however, must begin with an event that took place nearly a century ago. On February 24, 1914, St. Raphael Hawaweeny was on his way to Beaumont, TX, when his train stopped at Union Station in Shreveport. There he was met, according to his journal, by members of the local Syrian Orthodox community. At that time there was no Orthodox church in Shreveport, and these faithful were eager to obtain the bishop’s support for the founding of one. They invited St. Raphael and his archdeacon to stay the night with them, which they did. St. Raphael spoke with them at length, encouraging and advising them. During their time together, the local faithful “decided to found an Orthodox Syrian church under his pastoral care and asked him to appoint a priest for the community.” For reasons known to God alone, the founding of this church was postponed for many decades. Nevertheless, we consider the establishment of our parish to have been the fulfillment of the holy desire conceived by our forbears at that meeting with St. Raphael. Through his prayers, along with those of our heavenly patron, St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of some of those Syrian Orthodox Christians now have an Orthodox church home. It is a home not only for those of Syrian descent, however, but for all who have found a spiritual place of refuge at St. Nicholas: Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians, Romanians, Louisianians, and more.

Since 1995, we’ve watched nearly a generation of children grow up immersed in Orthodox worship in English, something for which those who were parents of small children when the parish was founded are deeply grateful. We’ve also reached a number of milestones along the way, including the purchase of our property, the completion of our present building in February, 2002, and the consecration of our Holy Table in September of 2009. We strive to keep our attention on Christ by emphasizing spiritual growth within the St. Nicholas community, even as we seek to expand our efforts to share the Orthodox Faith with the greater Shreveport community. A notable recent development has been the establishment of a joint outreach committee with St. George Greek Orthodox Church, called the St. Peter the Merciful Orthodox Outreach. Our dreams include the continued deepening of the spiritual life of our parish and the construction of a permanent temple on the south side of the present building. Now almost a century has passed since St. Raphael’s visit to our city sparked a desire to found a local parish under his pastoral care. Thanks be to God, through St. Raphael’s prayers we find ourselves under the pastoral care of another bishop after his own heart, His Grace Bishop BASIL. We trust that by God’s grace we will continue to grow in love for God and for one another, and that the Lord will use our humble church family for his purposes within the surrounding community.