Growth
and a favorable job market in the city of Columbus figured
greatly in the expansion of St. Gregory’s. Professionals,
researchers, scholars and undergraduates from diverse regions
of the United States and abroad came to the city. The Orthodox
who favored prayer in the English language came to St. Gregory’s.
Although
no ethnic culture was preferred, the customs of many Orthodox
lands worked their way into parish life. The choir regularly
sings music arranged from Byzantine, Romanian, Bulgarian,
Greek, Serbian, Ukrainian and Russian melodies.
By
1985, St. Gregory’s scheduled its first annual
meeting. By 1985, a church school was in place. By 1998, St.
Gregory’s was incorporated. From 1986 to 1992, many
young families with children entered the community.
“With
this new growth, the congregation became cramped by
the limitations of its rented space. St. Gregory’s
marked the end of its first decade by moving into its
own campus-area building, a former Cadillac showroom,
located in the inner city.” |
“The
church was sparse and there were few icons and no iconostasis;
we had no altar covering whatsoever, and virtually all of
our liturgical vessels were donations from other churches.
Father Dan had all of two sets of vestments. But we were rich!”
wrote Elaine Rentel for the 1999 consecration of the church
building.“We
wept at the great gifts God had bestowed on us. We joyfully
received the food of the Kingdom, and we sang glorious hymns
of praise,” she added.
:: An Important Meeting ::
While
traveling in Russia sometime later, Father Rentel met Nikolai
Mukhin, a renowned artist in Jaroslavl, who was eager
to paint for Orthodox churches in the United States. Mukhin
visited Columbus in 1996 to survey the church and to design
an iconostasis and other artwork.
With
great faith, members pledged their dollars toward the beautification
of their church. Two years after Mukhin’s visit, nine
crates of icons and wooden embellishments arrived safely.
Nikolai Mukhin and his artists began painting and installing
in the steamy hot days of September 1998. Visitors, believers
and nonbelievers, academicians, linguists, artists, newspaper
reporters, photographers, historians all came to watch the
transformation. The faithful came to pray and give thanks
once again.
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