Glory to Jesus Christ! Welcome to St. Stephen!
You are welcome here! Join us in prayer and worship of almighty God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
St. Stephen Byzantine Catholic Church, led by the Holy Spirit, is called to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We commit ourselves to welcoming and caring for all of God’s children.
We are a parish of the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Parma,
an eparchy of the Byzantine Ruthenian Metropolitan Church sui iuris of Pittsburgh.
Bishop Kurt (Burnette) of Passaic is our Apostolic Administrator
Very Rev. Robert Pipta has been chosen to become our new bishop.
Archbishop William (Skurla) of Pittsburgh is our Metropolitan.
We are in communion with our holy father Francis, the Pope of Rome
We are in communion with all the other Byzantine Catholic Churches, which are the Albanian Greek Catholic Church, the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, the Bulgarian Greek Catholic Church, the Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia, the Greek Byzantine Catholic Church, the Hungarian Greek Catholic Church, the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church, the Macedonian Greek Catholic Church, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, the Russian Greek Catholic Church, the Slovak Greek Catholic Church, and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, as well as the Alexandrian Catholic Churches, which are the Coptic Catholic Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church, and the Ethiopian Catholic Church, as well as the Armenian Catholic Church, as well as the East Syriac Catholic Churches, which are the Chaldean Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, as well as the West Syriac Catholic Churches, which are the Maronite Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, as well as the Roman Catholic Church.
“Eastern Catholics are in [comm]union with Rome. We share the same faith and the same mysteries, however, our way of expressing them follows the same tradition as the Orthodox Churches.”
– our former pastor Fr. Joseph Radvansky in A Brief Explanation of the Eastern Catholic Churches, Introduction.
Meet our Clergy
Rev. John R.P. Russell, M.Div.
Fr. John is a husband, a father of five, and a priest for the Eparchy of Parma. He has an M.Div. (summa cum laude) from the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Ss. Cyril and Methodius and a B.A. (summa cum laude) in art with a minor in religion from Wabash College. He has a lifelong interest in the arts and before he was a priest he worked as a custom picture framer for fourteen years. In 2014, he was ordained a deacon by Bishop John Kudrick and, in 2017, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Milan Lach.
Rev. Deacon Lawrence Hendricks
Fr. Deacon Lawrence is a husband, a father of two, a deacon for the Eparchy of Parma, and has taught Eastern Christian Formation to Adults and High School Students. He completed his diaconal studies at St. Gregory the Theologian Seminary in June, 1995. He was ordained by the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands of Most Rev. Andrew Pataki on July 30, 1995. He has been involved in Ecumenical Community for over 40 years. He holds a BBA and an MBA and is Certified in Production & Inventory Management by the Association for Supply Chain Management. He has taught tennis for over 25 years.
Liturgical Scheduling
Sunday & Saturday morning at 10:00am
Wednesday & Friday evening at 7:00pm
Under usual circumstances, we celebrate:
- Great Vespers, Matins, & Divine Liturgy for every Sunday & 🕀 Great Feast
- Great Vespers & Divine Liturgy for every 🕁 Feast with an All-Night Vigil
- Divine Liturgy four times a week
- Divine Praises for every liturgical day*
*The Divine Praises are Vespers, Compline, Midnight Office, Matins, First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour, Ninth Hour, & Typika. The Orders for these liturgical services may be found in the Horologion. We usually celebrate some selection of these services for each liturgical day, as indicated on our calendar. Liturgical days usually begin with Vespers in the evening and end with Ninth Hour in the afternoon (though this becomes more complicated during the Great Fast).