Bethlehem, Pennsylvania USA
Orthodox Church in America
A small number of Russian Orthodox believers came to South Bethlehem in the years between 1910 to 1914. They intended to earn money and return to Russia to settle down and raise families. It was not to be. Famine, war, and Depression kept them in the US. Visiting priests met spiritual need and the church was formally founded in 1916. The present building was consecrated in 1979, dedicated to St Nicholas the Wonderworker. Parish facilities were expanded and the interior of the church renewed with installation of icons on the walls and ceilings, by iconographer Dennis Bell, in 2001.