Our Parish

The Orthodox Faith, lived in common

Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Cathedral is an Orthodox Christian parish under the leadership of Archbishop Michael of New York in the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA). The OCA is in communion with the Eastern Orthodox Churches of the world. All services are in English with bits of Slavonic and Greek. Beginning with an original population of Slavic peoples from what is now Ukraine and Poland, the parish now includes peoples from a wide variety of backgrounds (both from places that are traditionally Orthodox and places that are not) all joined together to try to follow Christ in every way according to the faith delivered by the apostles, taught by the church fathers, and passed on by each generation.

Whether you are exploring Orthodoxy for the first time, seeking a parish home in Jersey City, or returning to the Faith of your fathers, you are welcome here. Come as you are.

The life of the Church, shared in common

Orthodox Christianity understands the Faith as something lived. St. Paul uses many organic and developmental images like "growing to the fullness of the stature of Christ." It's about the development of humanness, "becoming a human being" as St. Ignatius of Antioch said in the apostolic era. If that's what Orthodoxy is about, then you can't study Orthodoxy without loving others: it's a change of heart or nothing at all. Words about God are just the meaningless clanging of a cymbal without acts of love, Paul says. And love, like faith, is dead if it is not embodied in the things we do.

St. Augustine said "a Christian alone is not Christian at all." He knew that every part of the body of Christ needs the whole body; the limb of a body and the branch of a tree don't grow when divided from the whole. In becoming a Christian everyone signs up to support and pray for one another; the Church is meant to take care of one another as Christ cared for us. That's a tall order, but the effort to fulfil that high calling is the building project of our own souls as well.

With the knowledge that a life close to God implies closeness with His body, the people of the parish, we have to recognize that life in a parish can't get reduced to only Sunday morning. Therefore, the coffee hour following every Sunday Liturgy is a full meal to give a starting point to the connections that, along with prayer, constitute this community. Men's and women's groups meet regularly. Families gather for potlucks and baby showers. Friends gather for work projects. House blessings at the beginning of the year bring the priest to bless it as "the little church." Hikes, rectory parties, park days, and pilgrimages punctuate the year. And if circumstances turn hard, prayer and practical help will come. By God's grace, this is meant to be a beginning to what God calls every person to.