Parish History

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Orthodox Church:

A Living Parish

Parishes are living things.  They must learn to adapt and thrive in new and challenging environments, or they simply wither and die.  Healthy parishes grow, they mature, they evolve, they re-invent themselves to meet the changing needs of their people and their communities. They embrace change. They can look and feel very different from one point to the next. Parish life is the product of a subtle and complex interplay between the parishioners, who give shape and form to the body, and the priest, who provides direction and care for the soul. For ninety years, since 1927, Sts. Cyril and Methodius has changed, grown, matured, and evolved.

We are certainly not the church we were ninety seven years ago when a small group of predominantly Russian and central European Slavic immigrants first gathered together to worship. Meeting in private homes, or at St. John’s Episcopal Church on 26th and Mineral, they struggled to bring a parish to life. Finally, in 1927, Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church was formally incorporated by the State of Wisconsin and organized as a parish of the Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Church in America – the forerunner of the current Orthodox Church in America. Through the dedication and commitment of the first Parish Council – Moisey Svishoff (the first Council President), Efin Semutkin, Arkip Satonin, Emil Ushakov, Victor Cevan, John Kostuck, Joseph Eshkevich, and Paul Chernish – and with the spiritual guidance of the first permanent priest, Fr. Nicholas Lezak -- the parish took possession of the existing property at 2505 South 30th Street.

The early years of Sts Cyril and Methodius were difficult. The Great Depression of the 1930s hit Wisconsin and Milwaukee hard.  People lost their jobs, their homes, and, in some cases, their families. This was especially true of immigrants, most of whom were employed in some of the hardest hit industrial and manufacturing sectors of the economy.  Nevertheless, despite the odds, the parish purchased the house next door to the church to serve as the rectory, as it still does. On May 29, 1940, in less than fifteen years, they fully paid off the mortgage, taking free and clear title to the entire church property.

Since its founding in 1927, twenty-four priests have served at St. Cyril and Methodius. Notably, Fr. Igor Tkachuk and Fr. Paul Lazor (later Dean of Students at St Vladimir Seminary). Our current pastor is Fr. Elijah Mueller.

The parish had many ups and downs, but gradually declined because of many issues. The decline was especially sealed, for the younger Americanized generations, by remaining too attached to the use of Slavonic. Slavonic was no longer useful and comprehended by the parishioners. The broader Church, the Orhtodox Church in America, had turned already for a long time toward the use of English as a lingua franca. This was necessary to make the services open to new people that would be drawn to the faith or for multiple ethnic groups to be able to access it through a common language.

In 1981, English became the standard liturgical language of the parish – the first Orthodox church in Milwaukee to do so.  This change to English language usage was no insignificant event, for it opened our parish to a rich and vibrant mix of peoples and cultures.  It was our first step to becoming the multicultural parish we are today. Truly, coffee hour, with a stunning range of ethnic tastes and aromas, would never be the same again!

1984 and 1985 were momentous years for Saints Cyril and Methodius. First, in 1984, Fr. Thomas Mueller and his family moved to Milwaukee to become the new pastor. Second, using the resources brought by the parishioners of Holy Protection Orthodox Church, which merged with Cyril and Methodius in the 1970s, a new addition was added to the church, doubling its size. We made serious and difficult strides to represent this diversity not only in who was there, but in how we celebrated the liturgy and sang the hymns that showed our faith. Unfortunately the architectural changes remain unfinished, over these many years, and we look forward to completing them.

Since that time, Saints Cyril and Methodius has transformed itself again and again. Even though the original families are gone, true to the holy mission of the original founders, the parish has opened its arms to Orthodox peoples of all races and nations. Many are immigrants, and many are the children and grandchildren of immigrants. Over the years we have been blessed by people from across Europe, Asia, and Africa. We have been, and in many cases still are all different ethnicities. In our faces you could see, quite literally, the diversity and unity of Orthodoxy that spreads from Addis Ababa to Russia. the largest group remains Ethiopian.

But we are more than just an immigrant spiritual haven. We have also been a beacon that has brought many people to our door and has opened Orthodoxy to them.  Many of our parishioners are converts to Orthodoxy.

Sts. Cyril and Methodius has taken its message into the community. We provided clergy and other support for Holy Theophany Mission in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, and we have conducted campus ministries at both Marquette University and at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. We have been instrumental in the establishment of chapels communities in Waukesha, West Bend, Plymouth, and more to come.  For years we have been active members of MICAH, a faith based community organization. We have operated an after-school program for neighborhood children and have regularly volunteered at a Women’s Shelter. We built a special “tot lot” on the church grounds for the neighborhood children, filling a gap in urban planning.We are proud to say that Saints Cyril and Methodius has become a force for peace, community, and Christian witness in our corner of Milwaukee.

We have also connected to the broader spiritual deepening of Church life, visiting and connecting to nearby monasteries. In particular, we have visited St. Gregory Palamas Greek Orthodox monastery in Ohio and were present at the blessing of All Saints of Mt Athos Skete, for the blessing of its grounds, presided over by Fr. Elijah, at the request of Archbishop Alexander.

We have also reached out to deal with our place within God’s creation, as stewards of his love for the natural world. We have been involved in ecological initiatives and connected with those who have done significant work in this area. In particular we have connected to urban environmental initiatives and work in rural communities, particularly on Washington Island in Door County and in Milwaukee County. We have made a point of blessing as many Milwaukee county bodies of water as possible: Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnikinnic Rivers and Lake Michigan. This represents our earnest prayer for God to rescue us from the sins of our destruction of the environment, and to bless this space we call home.

Our parish has developed a sophisticated theological life. Our Sunday School program works with children from pre-school through high school. We have increasingly clear theological goals for our educational work. The appointment of Fr. Alexander Golitzin to the theology faculty at Marquette University many years ago had a major impact on the parish. Now “Archbishop Alexander,” he was attached to our parish and is now archbishop of the Bulgarian Diocese and the Diocese of the South. As professor of theology, he attracted a number of young men and women interested in Orthodox scholarship to the university. Many of them joined our parish during their student years in Milwaukee and have enriched our understanding of the faith.  At least five of these students have become priests, and six are currently faculty members at a variety of colleges and universities  – who have taught at Marquette, University of Dayton, Wright College in Chicago, and Concordia University in Montreal, Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and now at St. Vladimir Seminary. Our own Fr. Elijah studied with Archbishop Alexander, and has made what he learned with him, the basis of the education and formation of catechists and deacons throughout our Diocese, in the St. Macrina Institute.

Finally, our parish has been exceptionally blessed to be the site of no fewer than nine ordinations to either the diaconate or to the priesthood, in addition to Fr. Alexander’s elevation to the episcopacy. We are very proud to say that at our 90th commemoration liturgy on September 10th, 2017, His Grace, Bishop Paul, ordained Fr. Dn. Brian Bodien to the priesthood. Can there be a more fitting tribute to God’s work in establishing our community? To Deacon Brian, and to all of the others, we say with love and pride “Axios!”

Our Archbishop Paul, of blessed memory, was a classmate of Fr. Elijah at the seminary, and was present for his and Presvytera Rebecca’s marriage here at our parish. Through this expansion of our parish’s life, we have been connected to many places and people. His memory is particularly strong here, as one who was present for many important events in the life of our parish.

We even have women who have come from this parish and studied in theology or ancillary disciplines, our own Presvytera, Rebecca Luft (PhD in Biblical Studies), and Presvytera Cristina Bucur (PhD in Philosophy and working on another in Counseling)! This truly presents to the Church a riches of hard earned wisdom. We are truly blessed to have special access to this spiritual insight. Both have presented at conferences for the diaconate, and Presvytera Rebecca has taught in and help guide the St. Macrina program since its inception, and represented the OCA nationally and internationally at ecumenical conferences.

There is so much more for the Church to do in our society here in Milwaukee and in the many small ways that we connect with the rest of the world. We should humbly do our best to participate in this great work that God is doing.

Parishes change and grow. They live and breathe, and are born and re-born over and over again. We at Sts Cyril and Methodius remember the past and and hope for God’s future blessings through all his work in us.

Dimitri D. Lazo, Ph.D.

Emeritus Professor of History

Alverno College

minor edits and updates by Fr. Elijah

WEB LINKS, or RATHER SPIRITUAL LINKS in LIVING TRADITION

ARCHBISHOP ALEXANDER Golitzin, of the Bulgarian Diocese of Toledo (OCA) and the Diocese of the South (Dallas, OCA) Professor Emeritus of Marquette. Teacher of Fr. Elijah and many other doctoral students at Marquette (and members of this Church): Fr. Bogdan Bucur, Fr. Silviu Bunta, Fr. Dragos Giulea, Presvytera Iulia Curtright. He was also the confessor of Presvytera Rebecca, Fr Elijah and family.

Archbishop Alexander’s influence has grown as his students have gone off to teach and pastor in many places: in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nebraska, Kansas, Texas, Canada, and St. Vladimir Seminary. However, Archbishop Alexander is connected to two great teachers of the Orthodox world in the 20th century: Metropolitan Kallistos of Oxford and the blessed Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra, a modern saintly elder of Mt Athos. While Metropolitan Kallistos’ influence is evident in the balance, moderation, and careful historiography of Archbishop Alexander’s teaching, the influence of Elder Aimilianos is particularly influential in the spiritual message of Archbishop Alexander’s work, and its emphasis on the powerful Scriptural imagery that runs through the experience of the ascetic writings of the great teachers of the Church.

Metropolitan Kallistos also was influenced by a great elder in his own spiritual path, St. Amphilochios of Patmos. His work in translating liturgical texts (especially the Festal Menaion and Triodion) and the Philokalia, is also fundamental to our ability to access the riches of the Orthodox spiritual life, and, particularly, the beauty of the revival of our very accessible yet mystical tradition of hesychasm. We are popularly exposed to this tradition through learning about the Jesus Prayer, and our participation in the revival of liturgical life that started already in the late 18th century with St. Nikodemos and others, the “Kollyvades” fathers.

TRADITION and LIVING CONNECTIONS

These influences are very important to our connection to deep currents of Tradition in the life of the Church. We are very privileged as a parish to have had a period of time when we nurtured the forming of these deep bonds of tradition. It becomes an important part of our role as a parish in the action of “passing on” that “tradition,” as a noun, etymologically references. Since we are here, where this took place, it is a great benefit to us to also connect to it. To further this, I have made it easier through links to YouTube or other online video.

*Important note: just because one good video is seen on a certain series or channel, does not mean that all things there are trustworthy. Please consult Fr. Elijah before any binge-watching.

ARCHIMANDRITE AIMILIANOS of Simonopetra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuhrWccHC_0&list=PLJfv-7WBa_Hhu0jRfhWcWzYOVzi_lJIxs&index=6

Archbishop Alexander Golitzin, many talks collected:

https://youtu.be/IWB9jvKl3ss?si=ve3CyIXJNSv-wQFk 

Blessed Elder Aimilianos, Orthodox hesychasm

https://youtu.be/UOaAsgVNTfA?si=pJ_0-iKNweVYmoHd 

Blessed Elder Aimilianos, “We Go Up to Jerusalem: the Mystery of the Divine Liturgy”

https://youtu.be/McXi3Pg5xmY?si=3xtRpLk25j8ReUWE 

Blessed Elder Aimilianos, On Christian Martyrs

https://youtu.be/Av4Eg5D3OFk?si=wYc48k2md2bCzUdY 

Blessed Elder Aimilianos, “The Jesus Prayer” 1/3

https://youtu.be/pxiEEZ2uT6s?si=Fjr0gstQSPBxQEoS 

Blessed Elder Aimilianos, “This is the Christian Mystery”

https://youtu.be/rH017FjF_iY?si=cbmokGu9qEwtt6xr 

Blessed Elder Aimilianos, “What is Prayer”

https://youtu.be/1VWwfLy7uCk?si=OyWB8VJe7aKo6tAL video

https://orthochristian.com/142364.html text

Blessed Elder Aimilianos, “A spiritual man is always peaceful” (Part 1)

https://youtu.be/FnOtbKHjQ18?si=NuNyTtQNUKGsAyUN 

ARCHBISHOP ALEXANDER GOLITZIN

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJfv-7WBa_Hhu0jRfhWcWzYOVzi_lJIxs

Archbishop Alexander, a playlist of many talks, sermons, lectures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bp96gEr4fw

Archbishop Alexander, “On the Importance of Mt Athos”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Bp96gEr4fw

Archbishop Alexander, “On Elder Aimilanos”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH3T4PQ3VA4

Archbishop Alexander, “Problems in the Orthodox Church”

https://youtu.be/Jq8jsVC9HQY?si=ijFuBWbv6W09t_ZU 

Archbishop Alexander, “Orthodox Christianity and the Old Testament”

https://youtu.be/AjLJqZ6HDyk?si=EdV1MeHKsWgik_z7 

Archbishop Alexander, “Hierarchy and Liturgy”

https://youtu.be/qfP1h-thvsY?si=oapt73V90xHJt2qX 

Archbishop Alexander, “Liturgy in St Dionysius and St Maximos

https://youtu.be/eeFunYD957Y?si=OnX5Up_4CTEbDzW1

Archbishop Alexander, “Jewish Roots of Ancient Christian Mysticism”

https://youtu.be/Lk3JPa-Flxw?si=tZPmYFTmDU-slhor 

Archbishop Alexander, “Orthodox Christianity and Politics”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMtAP7eV79o

Archbishop Alexander, “On the Question of Universal Salvation”

FR BOGDAN BUCUR, Student of Archbishop Alexander, Professor of Patristics at St. Vladimir Seminary, and member here,

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJfv-7WBa_HgnT1TNW5MVlTwIMoRRFVWK

Fr Bogdan Bucur, playlist of many videos.

https://youtu.be/PMjoD5q-Qs8?si=KbjO4EDpic05EK3Q 

Fr Bogdan Bucur, “Theophany and the Ethical Trace”

https://youtu.be/aAeeCGTh9_I?si=IfBdC3EEsf6Pelh9 

Fr Bogdan Bucur, "Unveiling Jacob's Mysterious Encounter at Peniel”

FR SILVIU BUNTA, Student of Archbishop Alexander and a former member here.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJfv-7WBa_Hjm9cjZWqKfaml6E_j-T9Q8

[Fr Silviu Bunta, playlist of many videos.]

FR DRAGOS GIULEA, student of Archbishop Alexander and member here,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnOtbKHjQ18

Fr Dragos Giulea, “Liturgical Soteriology in the Early Church”

PRESVYTERA IULIA CURTRIGHT, Student of Archbishop Alexander and former member here,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldnZOPoDvBw

Iulia Curtright, “Encounters with Divine Compassion, the Theotokos and Women Saints”

METROPOLITAN KALLISTOS

https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2016/09/metropolitan-kallistos-on-elder.html

Metropolitan Kallistos “Elder Amphilochios”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaH-GyuIDAg

Metropolitan Kallistos, “Philokalia - Lecture 1: Introduction”

DR MARCUS PLESTED, student of Metropolitan Kallistos and present professor at Marquette (successor to the same chair occupied by Archbishop Alexander)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1eWwW-iOEs

Dr Marcus Plested, “St Makarios and the Mystagogy of St Maximos the Confessor”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBwT6XVcWko

Dr Marcus Plested, “On the Philokalia”