Building on faith

(left)Russian Orthodox Church Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco prays Monday before a cross marking the site of a new church near Rogue River. The congregation must raise a half million dollars to build the church, which will be about twice the size of the original.
Bob Pennell

(above)Father Seraphim Cardoza, left, and Kyrill look over a model of the new church.
Bob Pennell

Rogue River will be the site of the first new Russian Orthodox church built on the West Coast in more than 70 years

By Paul Fattig
Mail Tribune
June 10, 2008

ROGUE RIVER — Father Seraphim Cardoza would be the first to tell you the small congregation at St. Innocent Russian Orthodox Church doesn't have the estimated half million dollars needed to build a new church.

But he or his roughly 30 parishioners couldn't have been more ecstatic during ground-breaking Monday on what is believed to be the first traditional Russian Orthodox Church to be built from the ground up on the West Coast in more than 70 years.

"Our first church was put together by good will," Cardoza said of the existing structure created from a small barn in the late 1990s. "We started with zero. One woman gave us $40,000. Somebody came by and wanted to paint a sign for us. Somebody else came by and wanted to donate a bell.

"Some people helping were Orthodox but many were not," he added. "We had so many people helping."

Now the priest is calling on that same faith to build a new place of worship, one that mirrors ancient Orthodox churches in Russia or Greece.

"We have outgrown this one, which is really a private chapel," said Cardoza, 72, whose flowing white beard and white hair contrast sharply with his black cossack and cap. "We want to be a church, not a private chapel."

Among the officials joining him in blessing Monday's ground-breaking was Russian Orthodox Church Archbishop Kyrill of San Francisco. Kyrill, 53, is the ruling bishop of the Western American Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church outside of Russia.

No new church has been built from scratch on the West Coast since one was built in Seattle in 1936, according to Kyrill.

The Russian Orthodox Church, with some 250 million members, is the largest Christian group outside the Catholic Church. Russian Orthodoxy in the U.S. claims about 10 million members.

The new place of worship will be built alongside the existing church located a mile east of the city of Rogue River. It will be about 80 feet long and 35 feet wide, making it twice as big as the current church.

However, unlike the robin's egg blue of the existing building, the new church will be painted with an earth tone as required by the Jackson County Planning Department, which has given the congregation tentative approval for the new structure, Cardoza said.

"It has to blend in with the area — that's fine with us," he said.

But it will have the traditional cupolas — gold onion domes, which signify a candle burning with passion for Christ — and three-bar crosses.

Like the existing building, the inside of the new structure will have colorful paintings of saints, wooden icon stands, candles of pure beeswax filled with pure olive oil and frescoes of religious scenes telling the story of the Bible painted on the interior walls.

"It will be very beautiful, very traditional," Cardoza said. "We don't want it to look like a gymnasium or a classroom — forgive me — like most churches look like. This won't be a place to come and play basketball. It's a place to worship God."

He picked up a model created by Medford architect Charles Beck, who is not a member of the church. However, Beck, an architect since 1963, has designed about 10 churches over the years.

A member of the church had introduced Beck to Cardoza. When Beck heard about plans to build a new church, he made the model.

"Building a model gives them a lot more opportunity to see what is going on," Beck explained. "The biggest challenges will be building the cupolas and the main dome. But there are several ways to do it."

The church will be aligned with the end containing the altar facing east.

"It will be designed so that everyone inside will face the east," Cardoza said. "For 2,000 years, we have always prayed toward the east."

Church members Constantine and Mihaela Tscherny of Grants Pass were there for the ground breaking.

"I've been Orthodox since I was born," Mihaela said, noting she was born in Romania. "We're very excited about this."

The couple own a coffee shop in Grants Pass — Tee Time Coffee Shop — where they have established a donation site for the new church.

"We were very happy to find an Orthodox church this close," she said. "We will help all we can."

For information on the church or how to donate, check out its Web site at stinnocentorthodoxchurch.com or call Cardoza at 582-2128.

Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at pfattig@mailtribune.com.

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