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Metr. Nicholas Leads Patronal Feast at St. Elizabeth Church in New Jersey
A patronal feast became a celebration of both a beloved saint and a priest whose four decades of ministry helped build a thriving Orthodox parish.
ROCKY HILL, NJ — St. Elizabeth Church celebrated its patronal feast on July 18 with a hierarchical Divine Liturgy led by Metr. Nicholas of Eastern America & New York, who also recognized Fr. David Straut for four decades of priestly ministry and his longstanding service to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR).
The celebration drew clergy and faithful from across the region, with the church filled by parishioners and visitors honoring the Holy New-Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Metr. Nicholas brought relics of St. Elizabeth and Nun Barbara from the Synodal Cathedral of the Sign in New York City for the veneration of the faithful. During the service, James Whitaker was tonsured a reader before being ordained a subdeacon, while Rdrs. Innokenty Yanovsky and Michael Calabrese were also ordained subdeacons.
The Synod of Bishops honored Fr. David by awarding him the right to wear the miter in recognition of his 40th anniversary of priestly ordination. Following the Liturgy, Fr. Serge Lukianov presented him with a jeweled cross on behalf of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, while Matushka Faith received an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Fr. David, a former Methodist who embraced Orthodoxy in the early 1980s, established St. Elizabeth Church as an English-language mission in 1998 before the parish purchased its Rocky Hill temple in 2004. He said the parish's pan-Orthodox character and commitment to welcoming worshippers from every background reflect its mission to share the Orthodox faith. The day's festivities concluded with a fellowship meal in the parish pavilion.
Previously, the UOJ reported that ROCOR faithful honored St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco.
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