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Published by the
Argus Leader, October 22, 2005
Building woes are a blow to
fledgling Serbian church
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Other churches offer to help raise money for basement
fix
JILL CALLISON
jcalliso@argusleader.com
October 22, 2005
LENNOX - A church that 20 immigrant families spent
months renovating could crumble at the whim of a
cruel frost.
All Saints Serbian Orthodox Church, northeast of
Lennox, has been told it needs to replace its
basement or the church could one day soon implode
on itself as its base collapses.
For a small congregation of members who delayed
personal goals until they had a church of their
own, the news is devastating.
"We wanted to have our own church before we
bought our own houses even," says the Rev.
Sasha Petrovich, whose bishop in Serbia assigned
him to the mission congregation in 2003.
Now, in debt to a Serbian Orthodox congregation in
Omaha, All Saints members are left stunned by the
additional cost that faces them, an estimated
$40,000 to jack up the church and replace the
basement.
Two Presbyterian churches in Sioux Falls are
offering to help and hope to turn fund raising
into an ecumenical effort.
"First Presbyterian and Westminster both
would like to participate in assisting with this
project," says the Rev. Val Putnam of
Westminster Presbyterian.
"I can't say what we'll give dollars-wise,
but we have committed ourselves financially in
ways of supporting this."
Westminster members originally hoped they could do
the necessary work, but the renovation needed is
beyond their abilities.
The churches hope to work with the mission
committees of various other churches and
denominations to further assist All Saints.
"This group truly came over here as refugees,
fleeing from religious persecution," Putnam
says. "To have something happen to their
church, I think, is taking a toll on the
congregation."
All Saints members - 20 families and one
individual - came to the United States from the
former nation of Yugoslavia, Petrovich says. They
lived in a heavily Muslim area and saw their homes
and cemeteries destroyed before they were forced
to leave in the unrest.
All Saints members originally divided their time
between two churches, First United Methodist,
which loaned them its chapel for a year, and
Westminster Presbyterian, which still provides
space for religious classes and dance rehearsals
for their troupe, the Serbian Orthodox Dancers.
When All Saints began looking for a church to buy,
members found prices in Sioux Falls too expensive.
The rural Lennox property seemed ideal, with a
house next door to house Petrovich, his wife,
Maria, and their three children.
When no bank would loan them money, viewing the
congregation as a poor risk, a Serbian Orthodox
congregation in Omaha went into its savings for a
15-year mortgage to All Saints. The church was
consecrated in September 2004.
The congregation helped the former owner remove
his materials from the church and began renovation
work.
One of the most important steps was to build an
iconostasis, or icon stand. The wooden wall
displays the icons that are an essential part of
the Orthodox tradition.
All Saints' icons came from Orthodox churches
around the United States; some are 100 years old
and hand-painted, Petrovich says.
"It is a little treasury of culture that
preserves the history of icons donated from other
churches," he says.
All Saints' members worked in shifts to repair the
former Presbyterian church building, which
Petrovich describes as having been abused.
"It was a miracle how fast we managed to get
the church in shape," the pastor says of the
work that was done this past summer.
But the miracle faded when the church members
finally were able to enter the basement after a
pipe-organ maker's supplies had been removed. They
found walls that had been shifted from their
original foundations by years of frost pushing in
on them.
Petrovich acknowledges his congregation has had a
difficult time accepting this setback. But he
likens it to Moses leading his people through the
desert when they became desperate for water.
God came through then and satisfied their thirst.
Petrovich believes that will happen again.
"I try to encourage people that God still
will work in mysterious ways," Petrovich
says. "He just expects us to show their
faith."
Reach reporter Jill Callison at 331-2307.
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