Small blessing of Church in Denver

With the blessings of His Grace Maxim, Bishop of the Western American Serbian Diocese, V. Rev. Fr. Ilija Balach Dean of the Butte Deanery, conducted small church consecration service in Lakewood, Colorado. On the feast day of St. prophet Zachariah and Righteous Elizabeth (parents of St. John The Baptist) the first Serbian Orthodox church in Colorado, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, was opened.

Officiating with Proto Ilija were Rev. Fr. John Armstrong from the neighboring St. Herman parish (OCA) and host priest Fr. Radovan Petrovic. Vespers was served a day earlier on Friday. Early in the morning on Saturday, September 18, 2010, a small consecration service with the procession took place with the presence of many faithful. After entering the church and blessing all the walls and the entire altar and the Holy Trapeza, Fr. Ilija blessed the Iconostas as well. During the liturgy the choir from the St. Herman church sang the responses. Fr. Ilija expressed his gratitude for being honored to officiate in this historic event in the life of this young parish, and thanked Fr. John for participating, and Fr. Radovan and his parishioners for making this event even more exciting.

Father John also thanked the St. John parish and congratulated them on the remarkable work they have done. Also, Fr. John briefly talked about the long time friendship between two parishes (St. Herman's and St. John's). At the end Fr. Radovan thanked the choir and everybody for participating and invited all to join in the lunch / picnic prepared by the parishioners of St. John's.

Source: www.serborth.org