Descent of the Holy Ghost Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America
/ Our Parish
Our Parish: Administration | Facebook Group | Ladies Auxiliary
History of Romanian Orthodox Church in NWI

We are an English speaking Orthodox Church founded by immigrants from Romania.  Our church is no longer made up of only Romanians; we are a diverse gathering of Americans from many ethnic backgrounds.  However, we are proud of the history of our church.  We hope you enjoy this bit of history of our church; Descent of the Holy Ghost Romanian Orthodox Church.

Many Romanian immigrants found their way to Northwest Indiana in the early 1900's. The community of faithful Romanians in Gary soon felt a need to come together and establish the church on October 11, 1908.

The first Divine Liturgy was on December 25, 1908. The work of the church continued and the cornerstone of the new church, located at Hayes and 19th Streets was consecrated on October 31, 1909.

The Gary Romanian Orthodox Community continued their spiritual growth and began looking for a new place to worship. In 1961 they began to organize a building fund drive to raise money for a new church. The fund raising efforts continued and by March 18, 1963 the Parish House at 6075 Harrison Street and the property for the church was purchased at the current Merrillville.  On March 7, 1967 a building committee was formed and the community began planning their new facility. It wasn't too long that the cornerstone was consecrated they broke ground.

The facility finally saw completion with the consecration of the church on September 29-30, 1973 where the faithful community continues to worship.

We continue to pray for those who prepared the way for us at every Liturgy and honor their memory and our Romanian heritage. Today, when you come to visit our parish, you will hear the hymns and prayers of our ancient faith – the Faith of the Apostles – in English.

We pray that God will continue to guide us and grant us victories as Orthodox Christians in North America for many more years.

 

750 W 61 Ave, Merrillville, IN, 46410

Office Phone: (219) 980-0374

dohgorthodox@gmail.com

Celebrating 115 years as an Orthodox Community in Northwest Indiana