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Archangel Michael Orthodox Church
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About Archangel Michael Orthodox Church
Unchanged and unconfused forever, indivisibly and inseparably Godhead and manhood were united in the One Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Son of God became incarnate to make people partakers of the divine nature (II Peter- 1:4), to free them from sin and death, and to make them immortals.
Uniting ourselves with Christ, we receive divine grace which gives human nature strength for victory over sin and death, and the Lord Jesus Christ has shown people the way to victory over sin by His teaching, and he grants them eternal life, making them partakers of His eternal kingdom by His Resurrection. In order to receive that divine grace from Him the closest possible contact with Him is necessary. Drawing all to Himself by His divine love, and uniting them unto Himself, the Lord has united to each other those who love Him and come unto Him, uniting them into one Church.
The Church is unity in Christ, the closest union with Christ of all who rightly believe on Him and love Him, and all their union is through Christ.
St. John Maximovitch
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Our life began in 1896 as the "Archangel Michael Greek Catholic Union Lodge," founded by steel workers from modern Slovakia. The Lodge gave birth to a parish in 1901. After the death of the initial Greek Catholic priest, and encouraged by ongoing discrimination from Denver's Roman Catholic bishop, a petition was sent to Bishop TIKHON of San Francisco (Saint Tikhon of Moscow Apostle to N. America) to be received into Orthodoxy in 1903.
In 1905, the first full-time Orthodox pastor was sent, Priest Vladimir Kalneff. That year also witnessed a visit from Bishop TIKHON, who was jubilantly received by Pueblo’s Russins, Serbs, Greeks and Bulgarians. It was then that the Pueblo Greeks received a blessing from Bishop TIKHON to construct their own church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, which is located two blocks from St. Michael’s.
A massive flood of the Arkansas River destroyed the original church (and much of Pueblo) in 1921. Many parishioners salvaged only their children and moved empty-handed to higher ground. Under the leadership of the longest-serving pastor, Fr. Theodore Grishan, the Colorado Fuel & Iron Co. was approached for help. The CF&I, which employed most of the men in the parish, sold a new site on higher ground for one dollar, and had architectural plans drawn up for a new temple.
The Rockefeller Foundation donated funds for the new church, as did Mr. Vaso Cukovic, a colorful figure in Denver's Serbian underworld. The building was completed in 1925, and consecrated by Bishop THEOPHILUS of Chicago on September 15, 1929.
After 27 years as pastor, Archpriest Theodore Grishan reposed in 1946. His successor, Archpriest Peter Pripisnoff, served a further 20 years. The rest of the twentieth century was an uncertain period for Pueblo and Archangel Michael, with the bankruptcy of the CF&I, massive unemployment, demographic decline and frequent clergy turnover.
Today we are, by God's grace, growing once again as we preserve and live the more than two thousand year Christian faith which has been handed on to us. We are a family of people struggling to live our lives centered around the true worship of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are Americans from various backgrounds and recent immigrants. An average Sunday finds some 40-50 worshippers praying in our beautiful temple. Our present pastor is Fr. Zechariah Lynch. He and his wife Natalia have five children.
Please visit us, and experience the ancient Christian faith in one of Pueblo's oldest churches.
Our Pastor Fr. Zechariah, his wife Natalia and Children
St. Tikhon
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Orthodox Church in America
"I write in order that you may know how one ought to be conducting oneself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
1 Timothy 3:15
