Vicar’s Visit to the Parish of St. Nicholas In Red Bank

On August 26, after the Divine Liturgy at the Skete of the Protection of the Holy Theotokos in Buena Vista, NJ, Archimandrite Alexander, the Vicar of the Slavic Orthodox Vicariate of America, visited the parish of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Red Bank, NJ. 

Its Rector, Archpriest Rostislav Zadorozhny, welcomed the Vicar and gave him a tour of the church and parish house.  He described the life of the community at present.  This year the church dome was restored and the cross on the eastern facade was consecrated. 

The parish of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Red Bank was founded in 1950.  The church building is over 110 years old.  The parish experienced periods of ups and downs. In the 2010s, the former rector under ROCOR (Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia) did everything he could to close the parish and destroy the church building.  Only the prayers and determination of the faithful parishioners saved the church from a complete destruction.  By the start of the 2020s, the church building was in desperate need of repair.  Upon the community joining the Slavic Orthodox Vicariate, the restoration of St. Nicholas began.  Seven years after services stopped, the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the newly remodeled church. 

The revival of the community was in great part due to the efforts of the Warden and Parish Council who fought to maintain the community despite the efforts of ROCOR to close it.