Centennial Year Church Events

June 12, 2005 -   A walking tour of South River churches, some of which are shown below, was sponsored by the South River Clergy Association on Sunday afternoon, June 12. For the record, the houses of worship which participated with their addresses is as follows: (1) Congregation Anshe Emeth Temple - 88 Main Street; (2) Conklin United Methodist Church - 42 Main Street; (3) Corpus Christi Church - 100 James Street; (4) Holy Trinity Episcopal Church - 90 Leonardine Avenue; (5) Old School Baptist Church - 64-66 Main Street; (6) St. Mary of Ostrabama Church - corner of Jackson Street and Whitehead Avenue; (7) SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church - 76 Whitehead Avenue; (8) St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church - 20 William Street; (9) St. Euphrosynia of Polotsk Belarusian Greek Orthodox Church - 284 Whitehead Avenue. Immediately below are shown many of South River's houses of worship, many of which participated in the tour. The "tour", which was more of an "open house" than a formalized group tour, was followed by a picnic for the participants at our picnic grounds, Seven Acres. Visitors proceeded to the various houses of worship at their own pace and in their own order of preference. Further below are some scenes from the interiors of several houses of worship and the picnic which followed.

You may click on any of the photos above to view an enlargement.

The first stop on your reporter's tour was a visit to Congregation Anshe Emeth Temple. Not only is this house of worship closest to your reporter's home, it also made sense for him to begin his tour here in a chronologic sense since the Jewish religion was extant many thousands of years prior to the beginning of the Christian Era. In the photos above and below we see the Sanctuary and Sacred Temple Scrolls found in every Jewish synagogue.

A few steps down Main Street from Congregation Anshe Emeth Temple is the Conklin Methodist Church. A sign outside welcomed visitors (above left). An interior which is white, symmetric, and simple - characteristic of churches of many Protestant denominations - is what this reporter found in the interior of this church, above right and below.

Corpus Christi (Latin for "Body of Christ") Roman Catholic Church is located at the corner of James Street and Kamm Avenue. Your reporter did not enter this house of worship on the tour, however, he has passed this church hundreds of times on the way to our church cemetery further down Kamm Avenue. Nonetheless, Corpus Christi Church has many outdoor religious displays for a visitor to view. Above is statuary depicting the Crucifixion of Christ. There are a number of kiots surrounding the perimeter of the church's parking lot depicting the Stations of the Cross and major feast days (an example is below left). Below right is a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary.

(Below) Corpus Christi Church has a beautiful outdoor depiction - perhaps the largest such display on the church grounds - of the Nativity of Christ.

You may click on the photo above to view an enlargement.

You may click on the two photos immediately above to view enlargements.

At the corner of Jackson Street and Whitehead Avenue is St. Mary of Ostrabrama Roman Catholic Church. Your guide has passed this church many thousands of times in his travels between his own church and home and yet has never had the opportunity to enter this church. The elaborately decorated interior in the Roman Catholic tradition, with beautiful stained glass windows, provided much which caught the camera's eye (photos above and below).

You may click on the photo above left to view an enlargement.

Above left, there are two Altar tables (foreground and background). The original Altar table in the background has a beautiful relief of The Last Supper (above right). The two photos below show additional detail from the front portion of St. Mary's Church.

You may click on the photo above left to view an enlargement.

Continuing your guided tour, this reporter then traveled down Whitehead Avenue, past his own Church and up a little further along Whitehead Avenue to visit St. Euphrosynia of Polotsk Belarusian Greek Orthodox Church. He was greeted there by the church's rector, V. Rev. Stavros Rousos. Archpriest Rousos had done much preparation for his visitors by setting out a Chalice set, wedding crowns, priest's vestments, and the like in an attempt to explain the Eastern Orthodox faith to those who entered this house of worship. Above right, V. Rev. Rousos is shown standing next to his favorite icon - an icon of the Virgin Mary (Theotokos). Beneath the icon, in Church Slavonic, are the words, "O Lord, save thy people and bless thine inheritance...". In the photo above left, the Iconostasis - or icon screen - separates the Sanctuary from the main body of the church. The icons which comprise the screen may vary from church to church but an icon of the Virgin Mary is always to the left of the Royal Doors and an icon of Jesus Christ is always to the right of the Royal Doors.

Above left, Father Rousos had put on display a complete set of priest's vestment for visitors to see. Above right, the elaborate chandelier hangs from a skylight in the center of the church.

In the photo above left, a Chalice set is in the foreground with the opened Royal Doors - revealing the Altar table in the Sanctuary - in the background of the photo. In the photo above right an icon of the Theotokos and her Son, Jesus Christ, and a processional banner with an icon of the Savior are visible.

Above left is another icon - that of St. Sophia and her three daughters - Faith, Hope, and Love (Charity). Above right, another icon of the Mother of God. Below, a closer look at the left portion of the Iconostasis includes icons of St. Nicholas and St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Your reporter's last stop was his home parish church - SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church at 76 Whitehead Avenue. The outer doors were open in greeting and the inner glass doors were kept closed to keep the conditioned air inside for anticipated visitors who toured on a very warm and humid day (above left). Above right, a brochure explaining our church and the Orthodox Faith was set out for visitors. Below left, Church President (Starosta) James Kornafel stamps the program of a visitor. Validation of the program was possible at each church for those who had set out to visit as many houses of worship as possible and wanted proof of their visitation. Below right, Rev. David F. Garretson, rector of SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church, greeted a visitor and pointed out our Church's iconography.

Photos above and below show Rev. Garretson explaining the history of our church in particular and the Orthodox Faith in general to those who had come for visitation. He spoke well and freely to these topics and answered visitors' questions readily.

The open house visitation of houses of worship was concluded at 4:00 p.m. and then it was on to SS. Peter and Paul Church's 7 Acres picnic grounds for a gathering of people of all faiths. Since it was Rev. Garretson's "home field", he assumed the role of "Master of Ceremonies", introducing the assembled clergy (above left) and the Mayor of South River, Mr. Szegeti (photo above right, second from left). A brief prayer was said (below left) and then it was time (below right) to eat!

Games were available for the children at the picnic. The two photos above and the four photos immediately below show an interesting game involving whipped cream. A paper plate with a word written on it (above left) was covered in whipped cream and when a plate was thus prepared for each child, they had to place their hands behind their backs and remove the whipped cream quickly enough to reveal their particular word before their competitors accomplished this feat. This game was not available when your reporter was a child. The children got their faces covered in whipped cream in the process but, as the photos show, they clearly had a good time!

Below, regular viewers of this Website will recognize parishioners of SS. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in the photos below.

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