Historic groundbreaking ceremony for new cemetery at St. Sava Merrillville – Saturday, Nov. 12

By November 11, 2016 General Information/News

We invite you Saturday, November 12, 2016 to the Holy Liturgy and Groundbreaking Ceremony of the newest Orthodox Cemetery in the midwest as we prepare grounds available to all people of Orthodox Faith at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church at 9191 Mississippi Street in Merrillville, Indiana.

His Grace Bishop Longin from the Diocese of New Gracanica and Midwestern America will serve Holy Liturgy along with Visiting Clergy beginning at 10:00 a.m. with the groundbreaking on the Cemetery site adjacent to the church taking place at approximately 11:45 a.m. A luncheon in the Pavilion at St. Sava will immediately follow.

For more than 100 years St. Sava Church has been a part of the Orthodox community helping to serve the spiritual and cultural needs of Northwest Indiana. Our Church in Merrillville was consecrated 25 years ago and our newly constructed pavilion has been providing state-of-the-art hall rental facilities since it was completed in 2014. With deep roots in the Northwest Indiana and the Chicagoland region, our spirit for building to serve the Lord is strong and the construction of this Orthodox Cemetery continues in this spirit.

The Cemetery will serve all people of Orthodox Faith regardless of specific ethnic affiliation. Parishes with ethnic designations such as Serbian, Greek, Russian, and other ethnicities may employ languages other than English in worship to a greater or lesser degree but the Orthodox Faith is one and the same.

It is with this sense of unity and sameness in Orthodox Faith that we prepare the grounds at St. Sava for the servants of the Lord who have fallen asleep. There are few physical spaces in the midwest where such places of rest exist within walking distance of an Orthodox Sanctuary, along with the resources to assist with pre-planning various aspects of burial arrangements fitting the Orthodox Traditions.

With this Groundbreaking Ceremony we take new steps to serve all people of Orthodox Faith, the living from all the various Orthodox ethnic traditions and those falling asleep with the Lord.

We humbly request Clergy, Church Executive Board leadership members, and faithful members of all Orthodox Churches to join us in this Groundbreaking Ceremony as we create this sacred space on the grounds of our Orthodox House of worship at St. Sava Church Saturday, November 12, 2016.

We encourage everyone, including community members, local officials, and news media to join us for this special occasion, inviting you to the Holy Liturgy at 10:00 a.m., the groundbreaking at approximately 11:45 a.m., and the luncheon immediately following.

Please contact us with questions or to RSVP at 219-736-9191.

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