Saint John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church
Pastor:
Rev. Oliver Hebert, TOR
Address:
719 Chestnut Street
Northern Cambria, PA 15714
Phone:

814-948-8242
Fax:
814-948-8252
E-mail:
n/a
Web site:
n/a
DIVINE LITURGY SCHEDULE
Saturdays:
5:30 pm
Vigil of Holy Days:
see bulletin or call ahead
Holy Days:
see bulletin or call ahead
Confessions:
5:00 pm Saturdays
GREAT FAST (LENT) SERVICES
Wednesdays:
alternates between Northern Cambria and Patton parishes; call for info
Fridays:
alternates between Northern Cambria and Patton parishes; call for info
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Eastern Christian Formation (ECF):
10:30 am Sundays September thru 1st weekend in May; includes SS. Peter & Paul in Patton
Adult Education:
see bulletin - especially during 40-day fasts
SOCIAL/ANNUAL EVENTS
Combined Parish Picnic:
usually at end of August


Today, families of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church can trace their roots to northeast Slovakia, the County of Saris, southeast Poland, the counties of Krosno, Sanok and Nowy Sacz in the Semko Region and villages near Uzhorod, including Dubovka and Jovra/Storoznycja, located in present day Ukraine.

The large majority of Greek Catholic immigrants who settled in the Barnesboro local area were Carpatho-Rusins. They came to Patton, Hastings and Barnesboro in the 1890's to work in the bituminous coal mines and other industry which was growing. There was no Byzantine Catholic church established in the area at that time. They had to attend church in Ramey, Clearfield County (founded 1893) or SS. Peter & Paul in Punxsutawney, Jefferson County (founded 1894). They traveled to these churches for baptisms and weddings. At other times of worship they met in peoples' homes and sang the Vespers and Matins, whose melodies and texts they knew by heart.

Father Cyril Gulovich, OSBM, who came to Barnesboro from Ramey, became the pastor of the new St. John the Baptist Greek Catholic Church. He is recognized as the first spiritual father of the parish.

In the fall of 1897 a small frame church and rectory stood on a parcel of land donated by the Barnes Coal Company. Father Gulovich blessed the Holy Altar and icon screen on July 4, 1902. The church was decorated in the traditional Rusin style of the immigrants' Carpathian Mountain homeland. The icon screen spanned from the floor to the ceiling, and the icons were painted by Father Stephen Zacharias.

During the first decade the membership of St. John the Baptist Byzantine Church included not only Barnesboro residents but also many people from surrounding towns, even into Indiana county. As the population of the surrounding towns continued to grow, new churches of the Byzantine faith were built, reducing the membership of the Barnesboro parish. One of the churches established in 1907 was the Holy Ascension Greek Catholic Church in Arcadia.

In 1907 the Basilian monk from Ukrainian Galicia, Stephen Soter Ortinsky, was named the first bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Church in the United States. Approximately a year later, there arose a serious conflict within St. John the Baptist between those who supported the new bishop and those who did not. Those who felt the new bishop was a supporter of Ukrainian nationalism eventually organized a new Greek Catholic parish in Spangler, now known as St. Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church. After peace was established between the Greek Catholics in Barnesboro and in Spangler, both parishes came under the jurisdiction of Soter Ortinsky.

Following the death of Bishop Ortinsky, the Vatican divided the Greek Catholic Church in America into two jurisdictions. St. Mary's parish voted to be part of the Ruthenian jurisdiction entrusted in 1924 to Bishop Basil Takach.

St. John the Baptist Church was destroyed in 1924 by an accidental fire which began in the choir loft.

Father Denis Girecky was appointed to the parish in 1926 and, through perseverance and untiring work, he and his parishioners were able to build a new brick church on Chestnut Avenue in Barnesboro.

The lives of the Rusin immigrants revolved around the church. As part of that life they formed various brotherhood lodges throughout the local towns.

In 1990 the Steeple of St. John's was replaced with a golden dome.

St. John's celebrated their centennial in September 1997. As part of the preparation for the centennial celebration, the interior of the church was thoroughly cleaned and painted. An icon screen lost in the fire of 1924, was added to complete the tradition of Byzantine decor.

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Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh
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Telephone: 412-231-4000 | Fax: 412-231-1697

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