125 Years of Prayer and Service: Honoring the Legacy of St. John the Baptist Parish

May 31, 2025

By Maria Ivaniv Lonchyna

The history of the parish of St. John the Baptist in Northampton dates back to 1900. It was then that people from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania came together to buy land, build a church, and organize a parish so that they could have spiritual support. The parishioners, who worked hard in the valley, gave a lot of resources so that the church could be built and they would have a place to gather and pray together. Thanks to the hard work of the parishioners and priests, the parish grew, and the church was built. Then the parish house was built, and in 1916 land was purchased for the old cemetery.

A major step in the development of the parish was the organization of an evening school, which was first supervised by the church cantors, and then for some time by the Basilian sisters. It was important for the parishioners that their children knew the Ukrainian language and had catechisis. Later in 1950, the parish opened a full-time school, which by 1957 had more than 200 students enrolled in the newly built school building, which opened its doors in 1953. The school was run by the Sisters of St. Basil. So that the students could get to school, Father Stepan Chehansky, bought a school bus and for 9 years he himself drove the children to school. Father Stepan was a long-time pastor of St. John the Baptist and for 36 years he took care of the parishioners, various church organizations and the liturgical life of the parish. After the death of Metropolitan Joseph Schmondiuk in 1978, Father Chehansky also served as the Apostolic Administrator of the Philadelphia Archeparchy for one year.

The uniqueness of the parish of St. John the Baptist is also that it became the mother parish for the neighboring parishes of the Lehigh Valley. In 1918, the parishes of St. Josaphat in Bethlehem, PA (11 miles from Northampton) and St. Vladimir in Palmerton (12 miles from Northampton) were created. In 1921, the parish of the Holy Ghost was created in West Easton, PA (16 miles) and in 1950, the parish of the Immaculate Conception was established in Allentown, 8 miles from Northampton. The number of parishioners from those cities grew and over time it was difficult for people to get to the parish, so they began to organize church life closer to their homes. This movement affected the number of parishioners of St. John the Baptist, but this did not harm the active development of the parish.

The church, as well as its life, is created by people. They are the ones who enrich and build the life of the parish with their gifts. So, Robert Stets, by baking prosphora and Easter cakes, Mykhailo Prosak by directing the choir, Rose Barner by taking care of the cleanliness of the parish, and Petro Rusyn by taking care of the parish cemetery, built and shaped parish life over many years. Their work is now faithfully continued by the current parishioners who organize parish holidays, glorify God with singing, take care of the church and its cleanliness, and pray for vocations for our church in America. The fruit of this prayer is the vocation of Nick Sharga, who is now a seminarian in our archeparchy.