ST. STEPHEN NEMANJA ORTHODOX CHURCH
216 Park Avenue, Bisbee, Arizona 85603
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 5666, Bisbee, Arizona 85603
UPCOMING AT ST STEPHEN NEMANJA
A lot has been happening in recent months, and more lies ahead as we near the end of the calendar and liturgical year. Here is a schedule of upcoming services through January 7 (Christmas day according to the Old Julian Calendar followed in the Serbian Orthodox Church).
- Sunday November 23 (= November 10 on the Julian Calendar): Typika/Obednitsa Service with Communion led by Dn. Joseph Josephson,10:00 AM, followed by refreshments in the hall. Singers – and those who would like to join our little choir - please gather in the hall with Popadija Ronnie-Sue at 9:10 AM for some rehearsal time before the service.
- Sunday December 14 (= December 1 on the Julian Calendar), Divine Liturgy with Fr. John Erickson and Dn. Joseph Josephson, 10:00 AM, followed by Lenten-style refreshments in the hall. Singers, please gather in the hall with Popadijas Helen and Ronnie-Sue at 9:10 AM for some rehearsal time before the service.
- Sunday December 28 (= December 15 on the Julian Calendar), Sunday of the Forefathers, Typika/Obednitsa Service with Communion, led by Dn. Joseph Josephson, 10:00 AM, followed by Lenten-style refreshments in the hall.
- Tuesday January 6 (= December 24 on the Julian Calendar), Christmas Eve Badnje Veche, with symbolic burning of the yule log followed by seasonal singing, 6:30 PM in the hall.
- Wednesday January 7 (= December 25 on the Julian Calendar), Divine Liturgy for Christmas Day, 10:00 AM, followed by festive refreshments in the hall.
On the Julian Calendar followed in the Serbian Orthodox Church, the feast day of the Holy Apostle Philip falls on our American Thanksgiving Day, November 27, and the pre-Christmas fasting season, or “Philip Fast,” begins the next day, on November 28.
HISTORY OF ST STEPHEN NEMANJA
The Serbian Orthodox presence in Bisbee goes back to the late 1880s. While some of these early immigrants went into business, most went to work in the mines. Their importance for the local economy can be seen in Bisbee’s “copper man” statue, for which a Serbian miner served as model. Many of these early immigrants became American citizens, but they retained a love for the Orthodox Christian faith of their homeland. Newspaper articles document visits by early priests for baptisms and special occasions – most notably Fr. Sebastian Dabovich, American-born son of Serbian immigrants who was canonized in 2015 as St. Sebastian of Jackson and San Francisco.