| What is now St. John's Byzantine Catholic Church was once St. John's Greek Catholic Church. The church family began meeting in 1910 in Lyndora, Pennsylvania, a small town that sprang up around the steel mills about 40 miles north of Pittsburgh. Most of the people in Lyndora were immigrants, many from the Carpathian regions of Czechoslovakia. They brought with them their religion and traditions. They had no official church building at the time, and met in a hall which they rented for $10 a month. They met here for a little over 2 years, while planning to build a true church building. The contract for the church was made on August 28, 1912. This is why 1912 is considered the "true" beginning of the church, and the year from which we count our anniversaries. Though the parish had a building, they had some difficulty in getting a priest. Many of the early priests who served the church stayed only a short time. For a short time, the parishioners even used the services of priests from the Russian Orthodox Mission, though there was a condition that all the customs and traditions of the Greek Catholic Church would be adhered to. The church grew, and thrived. Eventually the members raised enough money to purchase lots at the Rose Hill Cemetery, to build a rectory adjacent to the church, and to buy a lot for parking. It took until 1923 for the church to become a true Greek Catholic church once more. |
