Changes

New York City’s City's first presence of Orthodoxy can is traced to 1870, when Father [[Nicholas Bjerring]], a convert from [[Denmark]], was directed by Metropolitan Isidore of St. Petersburg to open the first Orthodox Church in New York City. Services for the congregation were held in a chapel within Fr. Nicholas’s Nicholas's house. In 1885 the Russian government withdrew its support due to the small membership.

A later period (from 1958 to the present) might be called the “time "time of mission". This is characterized by parishes located in suburban areas (rather than the industrial centers of the first period), by the often pan-Orthodox or pan-ethnic make up of the congregations, and by the resulting use of English as the primary liturgical language. Here, the pastoral work of Fr. John Nehrebecki, Dean of the New Jersey [[Deanery]] for most of the last thirty years, should be mentioned. Under his guidance the following churches were founded: *Christ the Saviour Church, Paramus, NJ (1960) *Holy Resurrection Church, Wayne, NJ (1964) *Holy Trinity Church, Randolph, NJ (1964) ([http://www.holytrinityrandolph.com/HstyPt1.html history])*Holy Trinity Church, Rahway, NJ (1968)*Church of the Holy Transfiguration, Pearl River, NY (1968) ([http://www.holytransf.org/history.shtml history]) *Holy Apostles Church, Saddlebrook, NJ (1969) *Annunciation Church, Brick Town (1970) ([http://holy-annunciation-church.org/parhist.html history])*Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross, Cherry Hill/ Medford, NJ (1973) ([http://www.ochc.cc/background.htm history]) *St. Gregory Palamas Mission, Flemington, NJ (1981) *Establishment of the St. Herman Community Chapel, located at West Point, NY. Other Later Parishes (NJ):*Holy Transfiguration Chapel, Princeton, NJ (1964)*Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow Mission, Rocky Hill, NJ (1968) ([http://www.mogoca.org/welcome.html history])*St. Gregory Palamas Church, Glen Gardner, NJ (1981)*Holy Spirit Church, Wantage, NJ (1988)*St. John Chrysostom Mission, Absecon, NJ (1990) Other Later Parishes (NY):*St. Sergius of Radonezh Chapel Oyster Bay Cove, NY (1958)*St. John Chrysostom Church Woodside, NY (1958)*St. George Church Buffalo, NY (1962)*St. John the Baptist Church Rochester, NY (1964) ([http://www.stjohnsroch.org/whoweare.html history])*St. Gregory the Theologian Church Wappingers Falls, NY (1964)*Monks of New Skete Cambridge, NY (1966)*St. Andrew Church Dix Hills, NY (1966) ([http://www.standrewsoca.org/history.html history])*Nuns of New Skete Cambridge, NY (1969)*[[Ss. Cosmas and Damian Adult Home (Staten Island, New York)|SS. Cosmas and Damian Adult Home]] / St. Ireney Chapel Staten Island, NY (1977)*Companions of New Skete Cambridge, NY (1982)*Three Hierarchs Chapel Crestwood, NY (1982)*St. John the Theologian Church Shirley, NY (1984) ([http://www.stjt.org/history.html history])*St. Mary Magdalen Church New York, NY (1985) ([http://www.saintmarymagdalen.com/OurChurch.htm history])*Christ the Saviour Church Milton (Ballston Spa), NY (1988)*St. Innocent Mission Oneonta, NY (1997) ([http://www.geocities.com/st_innocent_mission/Parish-History.html history])*Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery Otego, NY (1997)*St Nino Mission Brooklyn, NY (2004) ===Overlapping Period===In between or overlapping these two periods, there are several diocesan parishes which, while being organized primarily to meet the needs of immigrants coming out of the Second World War, have also ministered to those who have come from particularly Slavic lands throughout this century and to this day. These parishes would include: *Our Lady of Kazan Church, Sea Cliff, NY (1942); *Nativity of the Holy Virgin Church, Jackson, NJ (1946); *Church of the Mother of God, Mays Landing, NJ (1966).  Other parishes throughout the Diocese, even within the suburbs, have needed to consider the incorporation of recent immigrants from former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, which has required some flexibility in pastoral and liturgical practices. ==Related articles==*Protopresbyter [[Alexander Warnecke]], chancellor emeritus. ==Sources==''Who, What, and Where We Are: A History of the Diocese of New York and New Jersey'', Compiled and Edited by Mary Ann Bulko and Fr. John Shimchic, 1995 Heidelberg Press [http://www.oca.org/DOCindex-councils.asp?SID=12 All-American Sobors and Councils] [[Category:Dioceses]][[Category:OCA Dioceses|New York and New Jersey]]