Staff photo / Bob Coupland
People enter the SS. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church in Warren, which celebrated its 100th anniversary June 29. A banner above the door reads “I am the vine, you are the branches.”

The church, at the corner of Belvedere Avenue NE and East Market Street, welcomed Archbishop William Skurla, metropolitan archbishop of Pittsburgh, as one of the speakers for the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy.

More than 350 people attended the celebration, which included music by the Pittsburgh Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy Choir.

The Rev. Miron Kerul-Kmec said it is wonderful for the parish to reach a 100-year milestone.

“It shows we are a beacon of hope in the world today. We feel glad to be a part of this community,” he said.

He said the Byzantine Catholic members are very faithful in prayer and enjoy celebrating, with both going together.

“I am hopeful we will continue to be a fruitful parish. We hope all who attend today and those visiting will become part of a fruitful vine in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Kerul-Kmec said.

Elaine Vislosky, a member of the parish since she and her husband, Harry, were married in 1957, said she is thankful that God has brought the church to 100 years.

She said the first church started at the old Central School on School Street in Warren where divine liturgies began and then moved to the current location where fundraising took place to build the new church in 1955.

The parish was founded in 1925 and has had many dedicated and caring pastors and church members, she said.

Vislosky said in the Byzantine rite of the Catholic Church, the pastors are allowed to be married as long as they were married before they became a priest.

They can’t become a priest and then get married. In the Roman Catholic rite, priests are not allowed to get married.

She said the parish has hard working members who, at Easter, Christmas and other times of the year, help local charities by donating money. The parish has members who have helped prepare and serve meals at the St. Vincent de Paul dining hall in Warren for 20 years.

“The church is a very important part of my life,” Vislosky said.

The church has a cemetery on Hewitt Gifford Road in Lordstown that recently had a new sign installed.

The parish school opened in September 1955 at the Benedictine Sisters convent on East Market Street, with the new school built in 1957. It served the community for 50 years with students in grades kindergarten to high school. The sisters staffed the school. After the sale of the school, the money was used to renovate the church.

In 1990, an independent living senior citizen building with 43 apartments called Infant of Prague Manor opened on Kenmore Avenue. The Benedictine convent was located on Squires Lane and after it closed, the nuns moved to Infant of Prague Manor.

Vislosky said the celebration is the culmination of years of planning and hard work by the parishioners. A banquet also was held to mark the centennial.