News
Holy Cross Church Honors 'Founding Lady' Lynn Siry
A New Jersey parish honored Lynn Siry, whose vision helped shape the parish and inspired its meaningful name.
MEDFORD, NJ — The Orthodox Church of the Holy Cross (OCA) in Medford honored one of its founding members, Lynn Siry, with a special luncheon on July 19 following the Divine Liturgy, recognizing her decades of service and her role in establishing the parish in 1973.
Siry helped found the community alongside her husband, Dennis, and Alex and Stacy Leon, working with Abp. Peter and Fr. John Nehrebecki, dean of the New Jersey Deanery, to establish the parish. After her husband’s repose in 1986, Siry remained active in the parish before recently moving back to South River, New Jersey, to be closer to family.
In a congratulatory letter, Abp. Michael of New York and New Jersey praised Siry’s contributions, calling her the parish’s “Founding Lady” and noting her involvement in every stage of the church’s development, from its first services to the construction of its current building. The Archbishop wrote that she and the other founders helped create “a place where those who over the past six decades have called Holy Cross Church their home” could find spiritual belonging.
Reflecting on the choice of the parish’s name, Siry explained that the founders considered names associated with various saints before choosing the Holy Cross. She recalled: “How about we name it — the Church of the Holy Cross — because everyone knows something about that?” She responded, “It was a perfect choice.”
The name, she said, represented something central to the lives of all saints and to every Christian’s relationship with Christ.
Previously, the UOJ reported that a parish marked 45 years with a mortgage-burning ceremony.
Read also
