HR0513 LRB095 12414 KXB 37495 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to congratulate the Very Reverend
4 John Elias Kuchta and the congregation of St. Nicholas Orthodox
5 Church in Joliet on the 100th anniversary of the church; and
 
6     WHEREAS, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Joliet, Illinois,
7 will celebrate 100 years of Orthodoxy on Sunday, September 23,
8 2007, with His Eminence, The Most Reverend Job, Archbishop of
9 Chicago and Diocese of the Midwest, concelebrating
10 Hierarchical Vespers on Saturday, September 22, 2007, and
11 Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday, September 23, 2007; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Joliet's oldest Orthodox church was founded in
13 1907 to minister to the Russian, Serbian, and Greek immigrants
14 who settled in Joliet after leaving their native lands because
15 of oppression and difficult economic conditions; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Church founders and benefactors made many
17 sacrifices to build and support the parish; and
 
18     WHEREAS, St. Nicholas is among those pioneer parishes that
19 provided a spiritual and cultural home for thousands of
20 immigrants who left homelands in the old country around the
21 turn of the century to settle in America; and
 

 

 

HR0513 - 2 - LRB095 12414 KXB 37495 r

1     WHEREAS, From very modest beginnings, the St. Nicholas
2 parish persevered through two World Wars and a great depression
3 and succeeded in preserving and nurturing the faith and
4 spiritual life of five generations of Orthodox faithful; and
 
5     WHEREAS, In 1909, parishioners began worshipping in a
6 church building at 208 Clay Street, which became the first
7 Orthodox Church building in the city of Joliet; in 1959, the
8 parish purchased land for a new church, and in 1966 moved into
9 their current St. Nicholas Orthodox Church building at 1000
10 Barber Lane in Joliet; and
 
11     WHEREAS, The Very Reverend John Elias Kuchta came to St.
12 Nicholas Orthodox Church in 1956 as a young priest serving his
13 first parish, and has served the parishioners of St. Nicholas
14 for over 50 years while selflessly carrying out his duties, and
15 earning the love, respect, and admiration of the St. Nicholas
16 parishioners and his fellow clergyman; therefore, be it
 
17     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
18 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
19 congratulate the Very Reverend John Elias Kuchta and the
20 congregation of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Joliet on its
21 100th Anniversary of the church; and be it further
 

 

 

HR0513 - 3 - LRB095 12414 KXB 37495 r

1     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
2 presented to the Very Reverend John Elias Kuchta as a symbol
3 our esteem.