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Congratulations on the 90th anniversary of the Sobor

Поздравление от Епископа Иренея

It was on September 24, 1924, exactly 90 years ago, that the Very Reverend Archimandrite Antonin Pokrovsky served the first Divine Liturgy for this Community, dedicated to the Restoration of the Holy Resurrection Temple in Jerusalem.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, it is with joy in my heart that I greet you on this occasion, of your 90th anniversary. Ever since that first Divine Service, Holy Resurrection has continued to be a community centered on generosity and dedication to the spiritual welfare of the Orthodox people here
in Vancouver. Many of the Orthodox parishes in the area found their origin here. Holy Resurrection continues to bring comfort and help to all those who come to her in need.

For the past 90 years all its dedicated Pastors and faithful have made this church the spiritual stronghold it is. It has seen growth and the future is also in growth and defense of the Faith.

May the blessing of our Saviour and loving God, and His beloved Mother continue to overshadow you all and guide you in your struggles for the Orthodox Church and its flock in Vancouver.

May you continue to nurture our beloved Flock in love and faith for many more years.

With Archpastoral blessing,
IRÉNÉE
Bishop of Québec City
Administrator of the Archdiocese of Canada


Поздравление от Архиепископа Лазаря

Поздравление от Епископа Варлаама
Поздравление от настоятеля Собора Протоиерея Михаила Фурика

My warmest congratulations and best wishes with my profound prayers of thanksgiving in honor of 90th Anniversary of our beloved Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Sobor, the most cordial blessings go to the Church Committee, Sunday School children and their teachers, Subdeacons, Altar boys and all the parishioners with their families, friends and most distinguished guests.

The 90th Anniversary marked the beginning of the Holy Resurrection Church’s tenth decade and the next century of service to God and people, also to our country Canada.

My dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ! At this time also we give our most sincere thanks to our Lord, Father God, for every way in which our predecessors-fathers and forefathers were guided, helped and blessed from the very first decision to build to the successful completion of the church building of Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Parish in Vancouver.

In memory of those of this Parish who in the course of its ninety years have passed into the great beyond, leaving behind them in all that they have done a monument more enduring than stones or words themselves, this book is reverently dedicated.

Especially to be remembered on this occasion are the mothers and fathers whose loving care was an inspiration to their children.
Also to be remembered all the clergy who formerly served in this Church and whose ministration was a solace and a comfort to the both the young and all the Holy Resurrection Parish.

On this the 90th Anniversary let us thank God for his love for us and the benefits this love brings. Let us thank Him for the wisdom and guidance He has given this parish throughout the decades.

On the behalf of our entire parish I would like to express our most sincere appreciation and gratitude first of all to his Grace Irenée, Bishop of Quebec City, the Administrator of Archdiocese of Canada, for his spiritual guidance and his prayers. His Grace’s yearly visits to Vancouver are greatly appreciated by all of us.

We also are greatly thankful to Protodeacon Nazari Polataiko, episcopal secretary, who comes every year to our Patronal Feast Day celebration. Our warmest thanks go out to all distinguished priesthood, eminent guests and all people who will pray with us at the Divine Liturgy of the 90th Birthday of our beloved Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Vancouver, BC.

God bless you all with many, many fruitful and happy years to come.

Поздравление от Матушки Генриетты Сомовой
Поздравление от старосты Артура Костихи

This year, Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Sobor, the first Orthodox Church established in Vancouver in 1924, “Mother Church” of our Diocese, is celebrating its 90th anniversary.

This is a big event in the life and history of the parish. I wish to express my congratulations and best wishes to our rector, the Very Reverend Michael Fourik, Matushka Elena, their family, Church Council; Choir and Choir Director and all Members/Parishioners.

The church has experienced many changes over the years. The church itself was relocated to its present location as new construction in 1954, and is an enduring, well known landmark, with its cupolas, bell tower and bells.

One of the biggest changes I have observed over nearly 40 years has been in how the congregations has changed so much, from mostly an older group of parishioners to the very active, vibrant and younger congregations we have today.

Sadly, most of the children and grandchildren of the original parishioners has drifted away. For years, there was little real growth, and we slowly lost our older members. Now almost all are gone.

Real growth did not come until immigration increased, especially after circumstances allowed and promoted this. Slowly, more and more people started attending, many have stayed. The congregation has steadily grown in recent years and is mostly of a younger age as opposed to the fewer older people now.

It is wonderful to see so many young families and adults regularly attending and supporting the church and bringing life back to the Parish. The future now looks very promising!

With love in Christ to all,
ARTHUR KOSTIHA, Starosta

Поздравление от Павла Сорокина

I first entered the Holy Resurrection Church in the spring of 1993 when I was a student at SFU, and was strongly impressed by Fr. Andrew. I enjoyed the friendship of the Russian theatre troupe who formed the Assistance to Immigrants group in the parish.
Under their influence and the influence of Fr. Andrew I was baptised here in 1994.
When I immigrated to Canada on Christmas eve in 1996, I walked to church the next day through the snowdrifts. A short while later, I rented a basement suite from one of the parishioners and helped as best I could, serving as altar helper for a while, working with the archives.
After I embarked on the accounting career path, I was appointed Treasurer in 2004 and have been performing that obedience ever since. It has been wonderful to see so many families join our parish, and sad to see some of them to move to other cities.
We have accomplished a lot in the last 15 years under Fr. Michael`s leadership and pastoral guidance. Thanks to the Montessori Pre-School, the parish is now on a very solid financial footing, but still I urge all parishioners to donate on a regular basis, and also to support the Archdiocese of Canada through the St. Tikhon Orthodox Stewards program.
We need to support the central administration, the planting of new missions and the training of new priests and deacons for Canada. It is sad that to this day our parish produced no seminarians; I hope to see the day when some of our young men will hear the calling.
We have made many improvements in the building. We have a very efficient Church Council, acting as one. We have a group of dedicated helpers who sacrifice a lot of their time to cook and wash dishes, tend the garden, clean up and perform maintenance, decorate the church… God bless you all!
Congratulations and best wishes!
With love in Christ,
PAVEL SOROKIN, Treasurer

Поздравление от семьи Грунцевых
Поздравление от семьи Георгия и Наталии Поворознюк
Поздравление от Светланы Рогожиной
Поздравление от семьи Нохриных
Поздравление от семьи Михаила и Раисы Колесниковых
Проздравление от семьи Алексея и Глории Заянчковски

Hello, my name is Alexey Alekseevich Zayonchkovsky, I am Russian and I am a parishioner of the Holy Resurrection Church in Vancouver, Canada. I have been a member of this church since 2004 and I live in Birch Bay, Washington.

For 30 years I lived and worked in the southern part of the United States, where there were no Russian churches or Russian people. So when I retired, I moved back to the northwest, where I had had a home since the 1950s.

We originally came to Canada with my brother Nikolai from Shanghai, China. My brother and I were born in China, in Canton, where our father worked for Chinese customs. In 1934 our family moved to Shanghai, where we lived until the early 1950s.

After the communists came to China, we decided to immigrate to Canada. In October 1951, my brother and I came to Vancouver to study at the University of British Columbia because our father insisted that we get a good education.

In 1953, my parents and my younger sister Tanya arrived in Vancouver. My older sister Olga came to Canada back in 1950. Thus the entire family left China and gathered in western Canada.

In Shanghai we had several beautiful Russian churches, including the cathedral church. I remember my father taking us to church and that was my first introduction to the Orthodox religion. My father sent me and my brother to a Catholic school in Shanghai to study English. We spoke Russian at home and English at school. This gave me the opportunity to study English and compare Catholic and Orthodox rites.

As a result, I preferred our Orthodox rituals, which turned out to be more interesting. When I returned to this church in 2004, I was glad to see many newly arrived Russians in Vancouver and a priest who spoke Russian.

Soon after I returned to this church, I met my wife Anastasia, known to most as Gloria, and we were married in this church. My father always wanted me to marry a Russian girl, so I did.

I would like to say about our priest. I have known Father Michael since he was appointed to this parish. He is a very good person, I like him very much and I think he is a great asset to our church, not only for his hard work and dedication, but also for his efforts to provide for the spiritual needs of the Russian people.

When I first saw Father Andrei, he reminded me of a typical Russian priest that I had seen in Shanghai. I really liked Father Andrei, he was a very sincere person, truly a strictly Orthodox priest.

We met Archbishop Seraphim during his various visits to our church. I like him, at first I thought he was Russian, but then they told me that he wasn’t, but that’s normal. I find him very friendly, talkative and easy to talk to. I’m sorry that he has some legal problems now and that he was replaced by another bishop. I hope this all gets cleared up.

I remember Father James McLuckie, he was a wonderful priest, spoke good English, a very good man, and I often enjoyed talking to him.

I also liked how Father Slipko helped Father Mikhail during the service. He served in English, and Father Mikhail served in Russian, which was good for non-Russian speaking parish members.

Going back to my family tree, you may be wondering what I did in Shanghai and how I got there. My father was born in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1894. He entered the naval school and became a lieutenant in the Russian Navy. Unfortunately, due to the revolution, he was sent to Vladivostok to serve as a naval officer, where he trained sailors at the naval school. When the Bolsheviks arrived in Vladivostok, he was unable to swear allegiance to them due to his religious beliefs and his oath.
Thus, in 1920 he decided to leave Russia and went to Manchuria.

After leaving, he had no money, so this time was very difficult for him. During that period, my father had to study English and Chinese (Mandarin) languages. He worked in various places, including as a second officer on passenger ships plying between Shanghai and Hong Kong. Finally my father got a job with Chinese customs in Canton. Then he fell in love with my mother and they got married in Canton. About three years later we moved to Shanghai.

In Shanghai, my father was promoted to a higher position in Chinese customs. He really loved his job and they respected him, and so he did a lot of good for Russian speakers in China. Most Russians were poor, and he had the opportunity, financially speaking, to be a little better off than most of them. His naval training and knowledge of navigation served him very well in his new job. My father never talked much about his past, but while doing genealogy, I learned that he was a descendant of a Russian nobleman from the Tver province. I also learned that my mother was a German baroness from Courland, Latvia.

In 2000, I learned that my great-great-grandfather Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bestuzhev was a famous Decembrist from St. Petersburg. In 2002, I traveled to Vladivostok to meet some of my distant relatives and descendants of Bestuzhev. Together we went to Selenginsk, visited the Bestuzhev Museum and his burial place. It was all very interesting for me and I really enjoyed the trip.

Overall, I would like to conclude my speech by saying that I am glad to have the Russian Orthodox Church in Vancouver, and I am also glad to be a part of it.

My hobbies: travel, photography, genealogy and history. Every time my wife and I go to Russia, we always visit Orthodox churches, light candles and pray.

Gloria Zayonchkovsky:

I would like to add a few words. This interview is dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Council.

It is a great honor and privilege for me to be a member of our parish since 1997.

I worked closely with Father Andrei Somov and Father Mikhail Furik. I was in the parish when we moved from the Russian Orthodox Society to the Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Council, which became a very important event.

I would like to see how church life continues. I am very glad that so many young families are visiting the Holy Resurrection Cathedral, and I hope that this will continue for many years to come. Thank you.

Поздравление от Ирины Навернюк
Поздравление от Наталии и Юлии
Поздравление от Василия Барышникова
Поздравление от Александра Оводова

Александр Оводов у монумента Святому Николаю Чудотворцу, Барри, ИталияДорогой отец Михаил, дорогая матушка Елена, дорогие прихожане,
От семьи Оводовых мы поздравляем всех с 90-летием прихода!

Господь привел нас в этот храм в ноябре 2000 – на первой неделе после нашего прибытия в Канаду. Перед этим по работе пришлось побывать во многих странах, в 1993-2000 мы с семьей были в Польше – я работал в Посольстве РФ в РП, затем вышел на пенсию, и просил Господа позволить что-то сделать для семьи, для детей в условиях роста социальной напряженности и непрекращающейся перестройки в нашей стране.

Четырнадцать лет в Канаде прошли как один год. Сейчас у нас есть уверенность, что все мы здесь по Воле Всевышнего, и миссия всего прихода: своим жизненным примером утверждать Православие в этой стране (слова Владыки Серафима).

Поскольку грехов и гордыни у нас накопилось немало, Канада лично для меня стала чистилищем. Три с половиной года не было работы, хватался за все. И вот однажды понимаю, что пришло смирение, что я получаю некое временное прощение за прошлую трудную, но обеспеченную жизнь, что мои дорогие по-серьезному православные предки молятся за нас, что наши собственные молитвы услышаны…

За эти годы дети Герман и Анастасия окончили школу, университеты, нашли работу. Герман женился на любимой девушке Наталии. Господь сподобил нас посетить множество Святых мест в России, Финляндии, Израиле, Иордании, Италии и США. Наши наставники в лице Владыки Серафима и отца Михаила познакомили нас с насельниками местных монастырей в Гибсонсе и Девдни. Нам повезло быть в близких отношениях с отцом Андреем Сомовым и отцом Джеймсом Маклаки, Царствие им Небесное!

Наша Духовность значительно укрепляется посещениями нашего храма Святыми Чудотворными иконами и мощами, церковными службами и праздниками, молебнами, установившимися в приходе обычаями, встречами в кругу прихожан. Отец Михаил неустанно, с каждой службой и проповедью, вкладывает в нас понятия Православия и стремление к Вечной жизни.

В Храме мы чувствуем себя как в большой семье. Большинство знает друг-друга, беспокоится, часто старается помочь, поддержать. Каждая служба в нашем Храме становится в чем-то предвкушением будущей жизни. Мне представляется, что Господь может позволить всем нам, собранным здесь судьбой в единое целое, так вместе и проследовать в Царствие Небесное, где и продолжится наш общий праздник единения с Господом.

С Праздником Вас, Православные!

Всегда с Господом,
Александр

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