Sister Churches Program of Seattle travels to St. Petersburg

Thursday, February 4 (OCADOW) - Bishop BENJAMIN and Mr. Barry Migyanko arrived in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia to take part in the visit of a delegation from the Sister Churches Program of Seattle to St. Petersburg (SCPS). The work of the SCPS began in the late 1980’s when members of several Christian Churches of the Seattle area reached out to help struggling Christian Churches, both Orthodox and non-Orthodox, of St. Petersburg. Over the years, delegations have traveled from back and forth from both countries beginning with the visit of then Metropolitan ALEKSEI to Seattle. Students have been invited to study in the United States through the efforts of this group and support given to Orthodox and non-Orthodox congregations as they tried to recover from decades of Soviet rule.

One of the fruits of this program is the work of Children’s Hospice in St. Petersburg which our own diocese has supported. Fr. Alexander Tkachenko, the founder of the Hospice, was a CPE student in Seattle and, upon returning home to Russia, immediately saw the need for hospice care. The Hospice services hundreds of Russian children and teens suffering from cancer and other diseases. Largely through Fr. Alexander’s efforts, land has been given by the authorities of St. Petersburg for the construction of a building in which the doctors and other care-givers can better serve the suffering of the city. It was the first such program in all of Russia.

Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Bishop BENJAMIN and the diocesan administrative assistant, Reader Barry Migyanko, were met by Fr. Alexander and taken to the Moscow Hotel across the street from the St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra where they joined the other delegates for a dinner. They were joined by Archimandrite Zacchaeus, the rector of the St. Catherine representation church of the OCA in Moscow. The other members of the SCPS delegation include: Pastor Dennis Anderson of Bethany Lutheran Church, Seattle; Father John Anderson of the St. Seraphim Cathedral of Dallas, TX (OCA); Peter Anderson, of the Ecumenical Commission of the RC Archdiocese of Seattle; Father Ralph Carskadden from the American Episcopal Church, now retired and a member of the SCPS board; Richard and Jane Carter who have been involved in establishing “parish partner” relationships between individual parish churches of the Seattle area and St. Petersburg; Jay and Lynne Charleston of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America; Father Mark Miller rector of the St. John’s Episcopal Church in Seattle and former student of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy; Nicole Nazzaro also a SCPS board member and film maker who would like to make a film about the Children’s Hospice; Priest Christopher Swanson of St. Elizabeth Orthodox Church, Poulsbo, WA and Priest-in-Charge of our new mission in Spokane, WA; and Sister Charlotte Van Dyke SP of the Sisters of Providence who has been a hospital administrator and director of corporate relations for a major health care system.

The first full day of the delegation’s program began with the Divine Liturgy at the little church of the Smolensk Cemetery that St. Xenia of St. Petersburg secretly helped to build. His Eminence, Metropolitan VLADIMIR of St. Petersburg and Lagoda graciously blessed Bishop BENJAMIN and the Orthodox members of the delegation of join him and Bishop AMVROSY, dean of the Theological Academy, in the celebration of the Liturgy and a Moleben on St. Xenia’s feast day...

Complete article and many more photos here.